Calves can be a bitch to build for many of us. But a new study gives the chicken-legged hope…
Kassiamo, et al. (2023). Greater Gastrocnemius Muscle Hypertrophy After Partial Range of Motion Training Performed at Long Muscle Lengths. J Strength Cond Res.
Well, the title is somewhat of a spoiler, but here’s what they found…
Researchers had 42 untrained women, 18 to 35 years old, perform 3 x 15-20 reps of calf raises on a leg press three times a week for eight weeks.
Why women? No idea. All sets were taken to failure, and load was increased if a subject could perform more than 20.
Group 1 trained with full range of motion.
Group 2 trained partial reps in the lengthened stretch position only
Group 3 trained partial reps in the top contracted position only
Results: The clear winner was Group 2, in which the trainees performed the lengthened, or stretch-position, partials. The growth was more than DOUBLE.
Yes, twice that of the second-place Group 1, which was full range of motion. In last place was contracted partials.
Bottom line: You may want to include some lengthened partials, especially on stretch-position exercises—like leg press calf raises.
This study is in line with many others showing the significant mass-building benefits of stretch-loaded partials.
Your Efficient Mass-Building Handbook: For complete mass workouts that include Speed Sets, the ideal exercise for each muscle, and the best stretch and contracted add-on moves, get your copy of Old Man, Young Muscle.
And you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
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