Dorian Yates was known as ‘The Shadow’ and certainly the silhouette he cut on the Olympia stage won the iconic British bodybuilding six titles in a row, but despite his reputation for building a massive chest, shoulders and arms, Yeats was about to impress his judges with the finer details. So, down to his calves, Dorian Yates built himself an amazing physique, and luckily, he’s shared the process so others can follow suit.
2 calf exercises Dorian Yates swears by for bigger lower legs
Dorian Yates revealed on Instagram in a series of informative posts that his favorite exercises were the straight calf raise and the seated calf raise. Although these are basic movements, they are often neglected in the gym in favor of more interesting lifts like the leg press. However, raising a calf is an effective move because they are the target gastrocnemius and soleus musclesthe two main calf muscles.
How standing calves are raised produces thick, diamond-shaped calves
Dorian Yates often encouraged giving it his all in one set rather than leaving reps on the table, and he applied that same ethos here, failing to lift his calf. Calf raises are very important because the gastrocnemius muscle works when the toes are pointed down and the ankle is flexed. Then, soleus is taxed to ensure stabilization. By exercising both muscles, you’ll build those very popular diamond-shaped calves.
While The Shadow lifted 1,500 pounds during his epic work set, you can build quality muscle by aiming for a weight that you’ll fail or come close to failing in between the 8 and 12 rep range. “I got in and hit my toe and (then) went straight down,” Yates told his 2 million IG followers. “Each rep is done exactly the same until failure, where I sometimes do partial reps to squeeze everything out.”
Why seated calf raises aim for more leg mass
“Because the knees are bent, it’s focused on the leg,” explained the big man, noting the slight difference in mechanics between standing and seated calf raises. Seated calf raises are also a great follow-up because they eliminate upper body involvement. “I’ve deadlifted more than 220 pounds in that workout for as long as I can remember,” Yates said. “Usually about 8 reps to failure, plus the forced reps are a little easier on this than on the calf raises we did.”
So there you have it. Calves can be difficult to build, and genetics play a big rolebut neglecting exercises that add muscle to your lower legs is a muscle wasting mistake. “Train your calves with real intent,” said the bodybuilding legend. “Real focus, full range of motion, down to your heels and up on your toes!”
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