I think genetics play a huge role here too, especially when it comes to calves. Some people barely train them and they grow, while others prioritize them for years and still struggle to make much progress.

Of course, technique, consistency, and progressive overload matter, but things like muscle shape, insertion points, and muscle belly length have a big impact on how your calves ultimately look.

Try a donkey calf raise if you can. There is a machine version or if your gym has a belt squat you can also do them there. If you don't have either of those take a dip belt hang a dumb bell of that sucker and find a platform to hang your heels off of. Ever since I started doing those types of calf raises, I've really been seeing improvement in the definition and separation between the two heads. Some of the old BBs swear by it too.

My calf’s are not that big only 17” but I put about an inch on them this last bulk. I did calf raises on my leg press loaded with 12 plate 3 sets to failure every day. If they hurt to bad I would take a rest day but on average about 5 days a week. Just what I did. Good luck bro

Hey man I have also struggled with calves for a while. They're finally starting to come up but I still have some work to do.

I do my calf raises on the leg press machine. Slow and controlled eccentric movements and make sure you squeeze at the top of the movement.

I also walk on the treadmill at an incline for at least 20 minutes before every workout. Keep it up man they'll come around.

slow movement... if you bounce you can do a million reps

if you do the proper movement, not so many...

stop at the bottom, lift slow, hold on top, go down slow

repeat until you have tears in your eyes

Going on a 2 mile walk every morning with a 40lb weight vest made my calves grow.

i love doing seated calf raises and holding a hard contraction at every rep. ill set my plates up and do 6 sets of 12 and on the 7th do a triple drop set and go to absolute failure where i need to rerack the weight by hand. helped mine grow and define. i think that with all the work they do calfs need to be stimulated with a little something extra. theyre really resistant to stimulation is my understanding of it

Man incline and decline treadmill and stairs did wonders for me. I’ll use an apartment building and when I walk back down I only use tippy toes so that I’m contracting calves.

Train train train. Don’t forget the stretch!

Yeah man, calves can be stubborn — a lot of it’s just genetics. Some guys barely train them and they grow, others grind and get nothing. But if you want results, hit them at least twice a week. Standing calf raises are a go-to. Mix it up — some sessions go heavy with low reps, others do high-rep burnouts. That combo hits all the fibers. Stay consistent and patient. They’ll grow, just takes time and effort.

Try high reps. Seated 3 sets 50reps. Work up to 100 reps. They’ll grow

A tip: like any muscle to improve, you have to prioritize it, start your leg working out with calves, use the mid-range in your training, do calves going up and down to the middle, no longer on tippy toes, and at the end of the series, last rep stay down stretching the calves as much as you can, remember that everything is a process and keep improving

They can be worked out a LOT more than other muscles. Hard to overtrain the calfes

Turn ankles slightly in put ball between feet and come up onto your BIG TOE. STRETCH the claves and work up to 5-6x a week and always start with them or with them till you can’t walk

Cyclists have the best calves... start cycling.

Man i have hell getting my penis to grow... ive tried it all, more time under tension,high reps, high volume.
Nothing yet...

Greater Gastrocnemius Muscle Hypertrophy After Partial Range of Motion Training Performed at Long Muscle Lengths
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/365127382_Greater_gastrocnemius...

Eight weeks of eccentric training at long-muscle length increases fascicle length independently of adaptations in passive mechanical properties
https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00859.2024

I feel like I get the best range of motion and feel the best activation doing calf extensions on the plate loaded leg press.
https://youtu.be/KxEYX_cuesM?si=r76yu9Zzck4MTrTy

I always had issues growing my calves till recently ! Best advice for you is overload and hit them everyday … also OLD SCHOOL TECHNIQUE IS STANDING ON YOUR TIPPY TOES AND BENDING DOWN INTO A SQUAT AND STANDING BACK UP !!! It works … after your done STRETCH THE SHIT OUTTA THEM EVERHDAY… I even start my workouts now with calves , abs , rear delts and hip flexor work …. You will be surprised on how much improvement you can make in short amount of time prioritizing a half hour for these

Yeah calves are the worst. You need high intensity and high frequency to see results. One thing you can do anywhere is standing calf raises with pauses. Do that multiple times throughout the day and sets. Then when at the gym do some progressive overload which will help the size. Calves are a bitch

Skateboard for 5 years.

Dude I’m 6’6 and grew up extremely skinny , if it makes you feel any better your calfs are probably better than mine lol. But I’ve found pretty much exactly what jockstrap said works the best , I also hit them eod or every 3 days.

Seated and standing....10 sets of 20reps. Yup it will be a medium weight with full range of motion. Hot soak after and stretch after.