Training your Calf Muscles

Bfit-Calve

Your calf muscles are different from your other muscles. The calf muscles are dense, highly fatigue resistant and must be trained in a specific manner to achieve results. The calf muscles also recover very quickly after each set and workout. They are hard to overtrain. The calf muscles can be capable of handling high intensity functions such as 100-meter sprinting, high jumping, long jumping, while also being capable of handling high endurance activities such as walking, jogging, running and racing a 26-mile marathon. Of course, genetics play a role in whether you’re more suited for high intensity or high endurance activities. However, your calf muscles are quite versatile and very durable.

Because of the special characteristics of the calf muscles, a higher level of training intensity must be employed to induce muscular size and strength. To do that, you must work through the “pain zone” to muscular failure and growth. This is one of the most important principles to understand and employ in calf training.

When you train the calves hard, especially at higher repetitions, you’ll achieve a lactic acid burn. The “lactic acid burn” is the buildup of the byproduct of Glycolysis (the energy process used during muscle contraction). The lactic acid buildup stimulates Testosterone and Human Growth Hormone in the blood during and after training. Therefore, the lactic acid burn is a good thing and you must train in a manner to achieve a “lactic acid burn”.

There’s no question that the lactic acid burn hurts like hell! This is the “pain zone”. For some it becomes the “pain barrier” and they stop exercising to stop the pain. If you want to build your calves, then you must work through the pain zone and keep forcing out the reps until you cannot lift the weight anymore. This is called “total muscular failure”. Reaching “total muscular failure” stresses the muscle fibers and causes them to grow. You must push through the “pain zone” to achieve muscular growth.

Stopping when you get to the “pain zone” is not “total muscular failure”. Going to “total muscular failure” is necessary for you to achieve maximum calf growth. Don’t be afraid to train through the “pain zone” to “total muscular failure” and maximum muscle growth.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3886108

What do you think of this post?
  • Awesome (3)
  • Interesting (1)
  • Useful (1)
  • Boring (1)
  • Sucks (0)

The Truth About Boot Camps

Sydney-Boot-Camps

They are very rapid growing trend. The 3 main reason why they are is as follows.

1. Its is very affordable.

2. You can go with all your friends and try holding each other accountable.

3. There is usually one or two people leading the boot camp, so you can relax a little bit.
But the most important thing you are not being assisted with in boot camps, is efficient resistance training and nutrition. Which are the two main components in weight loss and muscle definition.

Boot camps stress on cardio, yes cardio is a great thing, but in order to maintain your goals of weight loss and definition you have to eat right and train right. Lifting a 5-8lb dumbbell in your bootcamp is not sufficient enough, and the amount of repetitions you are doing are too high in order to stress the muscle enough so it can grow, which is the point in resistance training. More muscle will increase your metabolism, which will then allow your body to burn fat. After 20min-30min all your carbohydrate stores are done. After that, your body relies on easily accessible protein to use as fuel!! This is BAD! This is called catabolism, and your body ends up using your protein stores for energy, this makes it harder for your body to add muscle tone, as you have no proteins no longer in your body to do so.

You are probably wondering. Will you lose weight doing boot camps?
Yes, but it isn’t just fat, you are burning fat and protein stores, which could have potential lead to muscle.
So why would you want to do that, when muscle is what speeds up your metabolism?

Also in boot camps you will very quickly reach a plateau. Which means your body will not change much. I am just here to inform you about what bootcamps are truely doing, it is a money market for most trainers.

The main thing also is they put you on a 3 month contract at $300 which works out to be $10 a session per week. But if you do not attend your money is good as gone. They charge everyone $300 each for there Bootcamp packages. If there are 30 of you that is a quick and easy $3000 for the group. Do you think they really care about your results??

The main thing also is the instructors running the boot camps wouldn’t even last 10min in a real military or police boot camp!

Do you really think they now how to motivate and push you correctly?? When they themselves have never trained to any sort of high fitness standard??




What do you think of this post?
  • Awesome (7)
  • Interesting (5)
  • Useful (3)
  • Boring (0)
  • Sucks (2)