skinny underdeveloped calf

A

allymorrison70

0
Hey everyone!

When i was born i had a clubfoot which required me to wear a cast for around 2 years. As a consequence of this its always been much smaller than the other! Single leg BW calf raises are a struggle on it! My question is, if i worked hard on it, could i develop it to be more symmetrical?

Thanks
 
You can for sure balance them out. It's essentially the same as retraining a limb after it's been broken and immobilized for a while.

As you start training the weak leg, it will strengthen and grow. You should keep the amount of training on both legs (frequency, weights, reps, etc.) the same, though. You don't want to go and only ever train one leg. Sure, there are some muscles that are smaller now, but unilateral training might cause too much growth elsewhere and result in further imbalances. If you train the same way on both sides, they'll eventually balance out as they become adjusted to the same kind of demands.
 
Jrahien said:
You can for sure balance them out. It's essentially the same as retraining a limb after it's been broken and immobilized for a while.

As you start training the weak leg, it will strengthen and grow. You should keep the amount of training on both legs (frequency, weights, reps, etc.) the same, though. You don't want to go and only ever train one leg. Sure, there are some muscles that are smaller now, but unilateral training might cause too much growth elsewhere and result in further imbalances. If you train the same way on both sides, they'll eventually balance out as they become adjusted to the same kind of demands.
Click to expand...

Hey. You say train both legs, same frequency, weight, reps etc but my left calf is a lot stronger so able to lift more weight and do more reps. Would i go for the heaviest weight that the weaker calf can lift and only increase when the calf becomes stronger?

Thanks
 
Yes, exactly. If you load the left leg with more weight than the right, then your calves are unlikely to balance out as they would still be growing. On the flip side, if you never work the left one, then it will lose it's tone and strength. So if you work both calves with the same load, even though the left could handle more, the lighter weight will still help it maintain what it already has as you strengthen the weak side.

Think of it light bench pressing. Most people have one arm that's stronger. That doesn't mean you put different amounts of weight on each side of the bar. :)
 
Jrahien said:
Yes, exactly. If you load the left leg with more weight than the right, then your calves are unlikely to balance out as they would still be growing. On the flip side, if you never work the left one, then it will lose it's tone and strength. So if you work both calves with the same load, even though the left could handle more, the lighter weight will still help it maintain what it already has as you strengthen the weak side.

Think of it light bench pressing. Most people have one arm that's stronger. That doesn't mean you put different amounts of weight on each side of the bar. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! At the moment i just about manage a few body weight calf raises on my right leg! Hopefully it'll get stronger. I've just started running too so i'm hoping that will help too!
 
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