My calves look like twigs! Please help

[dboss10 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close dboss10]

Guys i have this problem with my calves. Frankly they look like tiny twigs that have fallen from an old half dead tree. I'm far from a monster and i dont have very good genes, but my upper body is not small in comparison with my calves. I can add mass at a reasonable rate other than inner forearms, they dont grow well either. What are some things that i can try to do do get my calves to thicken up. I hate to wear pants to the gym every day but its kinda embarrassing. I usually train calves with legs once per week at the end of my leg routine. I start with seated machine calve raises and do 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps. Then i hit the standing calve raises on a smith machine 2-3 sets 12-15, then i do one legged calve raises holding a dumbell to really finish them off. But, they just wont grow. It seems that they may even shrink up some weeks, it's so frustrating. Should i train them more often, less often, more volume, less volume? Any help is much appreciated. I hate my calves.

[sixteentons Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sixteentons]

Calves repond well to a lot of training. Look at cyclists calves. They're usually huge on really skinny guys!. I train calves 3 times a week, some guys train em more. They are kinda like abs - you gotta burn em' out. Try adding in 2 more workouts a week and see if that works. Also, try dropsets to really fatigue them. Hope that helps

[dboss10 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close dboss10]

Sounds like a good idea man, i appreciate it and ill do that!

[little one Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close little one]

I found for me, that training them only once a week is good, but I do it the same day as chest, because I found that trying to fatigue them on leg day is impossible. With me the secret is to really concentrate on them and do the whole exercise extremely slow! Also make sure you do the negatives slowly as well since this is the part that really makes them grow. But truthfully you'll have to do trial and error for what works for you, as everyone's body responds differently! Hope this helps.

[limo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close limo]

I'm one of those that feels that my calves respond better to more training not less, try training them every other workout, switch it up between high reps and low heavy reps to keep the muscle guessing. Remember your calves get a workout everyday and depending on what you do for a living they may be used to high stress and constant use. SO to stimulate them your going to have to experiment back and forth and see what they respond best to