Vlad
10-07-2004, 02:49 PM
Introduction
Calves are one of the most neglected muscle groups. They are of course a part of those big things called legs, which are invisible to the society and therefore should not be trained. If you are one of those persons, who always neglects his/her legs, then I suggest you to find a place where people boast about how they curl more than they squat and how their biceps are bigger than their two legs put together!
For those who are left, I strongly recommend to read the following articles:
The Ultimate Anatomical Guide to Freaky Big Calves Part I (http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/anatomy/calvesanatomy.htm)
The Ultimate Anatomical Guide to Freaky Big Calves Part II (http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/anatomy/calvesanatomypart2.htm)
The Ultimate Anatomical Guide to Freaky Big Calves Part III (http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/anatomy/calvesanatomypart3.htm)
The Ultimate Anatomical Guide to Freaky Big Calves Part IV (http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/anatomy/calvesanatomypart4.htm)
Jacob Wilson not only breakdowns how calf-muscles are composed and how they work, he also introduces and discusses a great amount of training techniques you never knew existed!
Several weeks ago I “discovered” this new exercise that I think will be a great addition to your already hardcore calf-training. It allows you to train your anterior tibialis and other frontal calf-muscles through a full ROM keeping a constant tension on the muscles. They just won’t have a chance to recover during the exercise, unlike standing reverse calf-raises.
Vlad’s Cable Tibialis Curls
Hungry for the burn? I know the feeling! Let’s get started!
Attach straight bar to the lower pulley in cable station and sit down on your gluteus maximus in the front of it. Put the bar behind your feet (just above the navicular bone - os naviculare) find a comfortable position. Slide back to create a tension in the muscles and let the force from cables stretch your tibialis and other muscles. Now as you probably already understood, perform dorsiflex, squeeze at the peak contraction and then fight the eccentric phase and repeat!
Using anatomy to increase the effectiveness of the exercise
As you might know, gastrocnemius (posterior calf-muscle) originates from two places: Medial Femoral Condyle and Lateral Femoral Condyle – above the knee.
When you sit on the floor, your legs are straight and you put your calves into dorsiflex position (peak contraction position of cable tibialis curls) gastrocnemius stretches and limits the ROM of the exercise. Just think of gastrocnemius as a rope that was in a “loose” position and then someone stretched it to its limits. That’s exactly what happens to gastrocnemius during that exercise. The best way to “unloose” it will be to flex (bend) your knees (you can always put something beneath).
Start position would be something similar to this one, my knees might be too high here, but you get the idea.
http://www.sgelit.com/bb/start.jpg
Stay HC n don’t forget to try out different variations of this exercise!
Calves are one of the most neglected muscle groups. They are of course a part of those big things called legs, which are invisible to the society and therefore should not be trained. If you are one of those persons, who always neglects his/her legs, then I suggest you to find a place where people boast about how they curl more than they squat and how their biceps are bigger than their two legs put together!
For those who are left, I strongly recommend to read the following articles:
The Ultimate Anatomical Guide to Freaky Big Calves Part I (http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/anatomy/calvesanatomy.htm)
The Ultimate Anatomical Guide to Freaky Big Calves Part II (http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/anatomy/calvesanatomypart2.htm)
The Ultimate Anatomical Guide to Freaky Big Calves Part III (http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/anatomy/calvesanatomypart3.htm)
The Ultimate Anatomical Guide to Freaky Big Calves Part IV (http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/anatomy/calvesanatomypart4.htm)
Jacob Wilson not only breakdowns how calf-muscles are composed and how they work, he also introduces and discusses a great amount of training techniques you never knew existed!
Several weeks ago I “discovered” this new exercise that I think will be a great addition to your already hardcore calf-training. It allows you to train your anterior tibialis and other frontal calf-muscles through a full ROM keeping a constant tension on the muscles. They just won’t have a chance to recover during the exercise, unlike standing reverse calf-raises.
Vlad’s Cable Tibialis Curls
Hungry for the burn? I know the feeling! Let’s get started!
Attach straight bar to the lower pulley in cable station and sit down on your gluteus maximus in the front of it. Put the bar behind your feet (just above the navicular bone - os naviculare) find a comfortable position. Slide back to create a tension in the muscles and let the force from cables stretch your tibialis and other muscles. Now as you probably already understood, perform dorsiflex, squeeze at the peak contraction and then fight the eccentric phase and repeat!
Using anatomy to increase the effectiveness of the exercise
As you might know, gastrocnemius (posterior calf-muscle) originates from two places: Medial Femoral Condyle and Lateral Femoral Condyle – above the knee.
When you sit on the floor, your legs are straight and you put your calves into dorsiflex position (peak contraction position of cable tibialis curls) gastrocnemius stretches and limits the ROM of the exercise. Just think of gastrocnemius as a rope that was in a “loose” position and then someone stretched it to its limits. That’s exactly what happens to gastrocnemius during that exercise. The best way to “unloose” it will be to flex (bend) your knees (you can always put something beneath).
Start position would be something similar to this one, my knees might be too high here, but you get the idea.
http://www.sgelit.com/bb/start.jpg
Stay HC n don’t forget to try out different variations of this exercise!