Okay, so I’ve been seeing a lot of talk online about “high calf insertions” and how they supposedly make it harder to build big calves. I’ve always felt like my calves were lagging, so I figured, what the heck, let’s dive in and see what I could do about it.
My Starting Point
First, I took some “before” pictures. Let me tell you, it’s awkward trying to flex your calves for a photo! But I wanted a record so I could actually see if anything changed. I also measured my calves at their widest point, just to have some hard data.
The Experiment Begins
I decided to dedicate a few weeks to really focusing on my calves. I already hit the gym regularly, but my calf training was usually just a few quick sets of standing calf raises at the end of my leg workout. Time to change that!
I started by researching different calf exercises. I found a bunch: standing calf raises, seated calf raises, donkey calf raises, leg press calf raises… you name it. I decided to mix it up and try a few different ones each week.
- Week 1: Mostly standing calf raises, focusing on really squeezing at the top of each rep and controlling the negative.
- Week 2: Added in seated calf raises. Man, those burned in a totally different way!
- Week 3: Tried donkey calf raises, felt really targeted the muscle.
- Week 4: I was using the leg press machine, so I decided why not and did some reps.
The Grind
It wasn’t easy. My calves were sore pretty much all the time. I pushed myself to do more reps, more sets, and even add a little extra weight when I could. I made sure to stretch my calves after each workout, hoping that would help with recovery and maybe even make them look a little bigger.
Checking In
After first 2 week, I took some more pictures and measured again. Honestly, I couldn’t see much of a difference in the photos. Maybe a tiny bit? The measuring tape showed a slight increase, but nothing dramatic. I also tried after the third week, and the same.
But that last week, the difference was obvious.
The Results
After a month of focused calf training, I compared my “before” and “after” pictures again. It was maybe a little bit of growth. The measuring tape showed a small increase. I think that is the point! I had to keep at it.
My conclusion
This process teached me that, It doesn’t matter whether you have high insertions or not, the point is keep working out, that’s the only way to make it happen.