|
|
|
Breaking the Size Barrier with One-Legged Calf Raises |
|
|
|
|
Written by Stephen E. Alway, PhD, FACSM
|
|
Monday, 23 April 2007 |
Perhaps you have come to the conclusion that you just weren't born with good calf genes. No matter how hard one trains, those stubborn calves never want to grow up into cows. Then there are the few individuals who occasionally come along with outstanding meat deposits on their lower legs that defy the ordinary. This instantly raises the desire to clone them, then add these "mutant" calf genes to the deficient lower pinnings we might possess. But short of a major push by Congress to fund research into increases in muscle mass for the lower legs, we are left with the more mundane, but nevertheless achievable, task of trying to generate some additional muscle fiber in the cross-sectional area on the lower limb through plain hard work.
Unless you wear nothing but long pants, you will be unable to neglect underdeveloped calves for fear that your underpinnings might be mistaken for the "handles" of a low-fat turkey drumstick or a leg of a near-cloned avian relative. That is because the calf muscles are equally visible from the front, side or rear. A good way to begin your calf attack is to mix up your lower leg routines and change exercises in and out of your program. If you have not "enjoyed" the torture of seated one-legged leg heel raises, you can look forward to a new era of calf pain and progress.
The Muscles
Although the medial and lateral heads of the gastrocnemius muscles are activated, the seated one-leg calf raise preferentially activates the deep muscles of the calf. The most important of the deeper muscles of the lower leg is the soleus muscle. This broad flat muscle was so named because of its resemblance to the sole, a flat fish. The soleus lies deep to the two gastrocnemius muscle bellies, but you will be able to feel this muscle if you take your hand and press your finger tips into both the medial and lateral sides of the gastrocnemius. It is, however, more visible from the lateral side of the leg just below (towards the heel) the lateral gastrocnemius. It forms one of the distinct lines that are visible in a bodybuilder when he is in a side chest pose or some other pose from the side.
The soleus muscle is horseshoe-shaped where it attaches to the tibia and fibula bones of the lower leg. Its fibers anchor to the Achilles tendon, which in turn attaches to the calcaneous (heel) bone of the foot. The primary function of the soleus is to plantarflex the ankle joint (which raises the heels from the floor), but the gastrocnemius also has the same function. Unlike the gastrocnemius, the soleus does not cross over the knee joint, so the soleus will contribute fully to heel raises (plantar flexion) whether the knee is extended or flexed. The advantage of doing the heel raise in the seated position is that the gastrocnemius muscles are largely taken out of the action, leaving the soleus and the other deep muscles of the lower leg to do the lion's share of work. The soleus has a very good blood supply (unlike the gastrocnemius muscles) and it's almost unfatiguable with moderately light resistances. However, with heavy loads, the blood supply is shut off and the soleus muscle will scream for oxygenated blood.
Three other deep leg muscles are plantar flexors and they assist the soleus (and gastrocnemius) muscle in seated calf raises. The flexor digitorium longus muscle is a long flexor of the toes. It is attached on the medial side of the leg along the tibia bone in the lower leg. Its other end is anchored on the bases of the lateral four toes. The tibialis posterior muscle is a large and very deep muscle in the posterior compartment of the lower leg. It originates on the lateral part of the tibia and medial side of the fibula and it is anchored to the base of some of the bones in the sole of the foot. Another deep muscle is the peroneus longus muscle. This superficial muscle can be easily viewed along the side of the leg. In addition to the edges of the lateral gastrocnemius and soleus, when properly developed, this muscle will create another deep etch into the lateral side of the calf musculature. The peroneus longus is a long and narrow muscle that extends from the fibula where it takes its origin to where it inserts at the sole of the foot.
Unilateral Seated Calf (Heel) Raise
1. Sit on the seat of the seated calf machine with your knees bent to 90 degrees. Position the pad so it rests just proximal (toward your hip joint) to the knee joint on the lower part of the quadriceps muscles of one leg. Ideally, the weight should be over the knee joint and therefore over the ankle, but the pad on most machines will slide off your knee if it is placed there.
2. Put the ball of one foot on the raised board on the seated calf machine. Plantarflex your ankle so the heel on the working limb is raised as high as possible.
3. Hold the top position for two seconds, then slowly lower the weight. If you want a really intense contraction, tense the calf muscles when the weight is at the top.
4. Slowly lower your heel toward the floor. Try to achieve a maximal stretch of the Achilles tendon and soleus and the deeper calf muscles. Ensure that the descent and stretch is slow and complete. Fast descents will likely result in injury to the Achilles tendon or soleus, and insufficient stretches will minimize a very important aspect of this exercise.
5. Continue immediately into the next repetition until the set is finished. Then go to the next leg. There is no need to take long rests between legs. If you want to really push the last couple of sets, you can use the non-working leg to give the pad a push upward after the working leg is unable to continue on its own. These forced repetitions should be limited to about four to five and only during the final two sets of each leg.
Important Tips
The one-legged (unilateral) version of the exercise is superior to the two-legged version because you can generate more force in each leg when worked one at a time as compared to working both legs simultaneously. Usually, your dominant leg will take (unconsciously) more of the load if you are working both legs at the same time for most of your training career. But the unilateral exercise provides an opportunity to correct any imbalances in muscle symmetry you might have.
The slow twitch fibers in the soleus will hypertrophy if either heavy weights are used or if "lighter" weights are used. However, if the resistance is too low (less than 30-40 percent of what you can do for one repetition), expect to perform 50 or more repetitions before the soleus will achieve much evidence of hypertrophy. The point is that although extremely heavy weights are not important in developing the soleus, very light weights will not be very time-effective. Rather, choose a resistance that you can accomplish for a maximum of 15-20 repetitions. The fact that you are fatiguing at all means the resistance is high enough to increase internal muscle pressure to cause a reduction in the blood flow to the working muscle. Finally, you'll never have to do soleus work in a ballistic manner. Better results are achieved from moderately slow movements.
Pointing your toes inward or outward during the seated calf raise will do nothing to change recruitment of the fibers in your calf if you are not distributing the weight over the foot correctly during the exercise. Pointing your toes outward when doing calf raises will bring in foot eversion (turnout) and the muscles that are involved (peroneus longus). It may also affect the lateral (more visible) portions of the soleus to a small extent. Conversely, pointing your toes inward during calf (heel) raises will force some inversion upon the ankle and therefore cause more development of the tibialis posterior and flexor digitorum longus.
The seated single-leg heel raise will thicken the deep muscles of the lower leg but it will take some time. The indirect effects of thickening and widening the calf structure will eventually be very evident if you stick with the exercise and work to failure in each workout. However, these exercises will not be very effective for building the upper calf musculature (lateral gastrocnemius and medial gastrocnemius muscles). If you need lower and deep calf development, the one-legged seated calf raise will begin the process of packing on the calf mass that qualifies you for championship rewards. Even if you are not concerned about collecting titles and trophies, there is still time for you to break the leg size barrier, because after all, it's not that many months before the beaches will be active for another summer.
References
1. Alway, S.E., J.D. MacDougall, and D.G. Sale. Twitch contractile adaptations are not dependent on the intensity of isometric exercise in the human triceps surae. Eur J Appl Physiol, 60:346-352, 1990.
2. Alway, S.E., J.D. MacDougall, D.G. Sale, J.R. Sutton, and A.J. McComas. Functional and structural adaptations in skeletal muscle of trained athletes. J Appl Physiol, 64:1114-1120, 1988.
3. Clemente, C.D. Anatomy, A regional atlas of the human body. Second edition, Baltimore, Urban & Schwarzenberg Pub. Co., 1981, pp. 33-75.
4. Porter MM, Andersson M, Hellstrom U and Miller M. Passive resistive torque of the plantar flexors following eccentric loading as assessed by isokinetic dynamometry. Can J Appl Physiol, 27: 612-617, 2002.
5. Rasch, P.J. Kinesiology and Applied Anatomy. 7th edition. Philadelphia, London. Lea & Febiger, 1989, pp. 117-120.
6. Sale, D.G. Influence of exercise and training on motor unit activation. Exercise Sports Sci Rev, Pandolf, K.B. (ed.). New York, NY:MacMillian Publishing Co., 1987, pp 95-151.
7. Yanagisawa O, Niitsu M, Yoshioka H, Goto K and Itai Y. MRI determination of muscle recruitment variations in dynamic ankle plantar flexion exercise. Am J Phys Med Rehabil, 82: 760-765, 2003.
|
|
Performance Nutrition 