Coach's Corner with Dr. Trey Hodge - Calves | PerforMax Labs

No body part can quite grab attention like a set of calves. There’s something about very developed calves that stand out so distinctly, but this body part is mainly developed with the help of genetics and efficient training. We can still approach calf training to further enhance them, but there are a few things we need to take note of first.

We have three muscles that constitute the calf:

 -The Inner Gastrocnemius

 -The Outer Gastrocnemius

 -The Soleus

The more visible ones we see are the inner and outer Gastrocnemius. These are the power behind planter flexion of the foot. We also have a really thick muscle that lies deep to the Gastrocnemius called the Soleus.  This also does plantar flexion, but assists more when the knee is flexed. The Soleus is a very strong plantar stabilizer that will aid an athlete who performs movements like squats and deadlifts. We can see where it is important to incorporate training with these muscles to better promote strength and stability into some of our functional lifts.