How to reduce calf leg exercises. How to reduce calves - exercises for the calf muscle at home

11.10.202027.05.2017

Increasingly, you can see girls striving to the gym in the hope of not only getting their bodies in order, but also for correcting certain parts of the body. Large calves are a common problem in women.

Calf muscles - the most powerful group of muscles that are constantly at work in our daily activities. Every time we walk or run, these guys work to keep us upright and balanced. In this article, we will understand why our calves are not ideal, as well as look at simple yet very effective exercises that will help you find fit and slender legs. Let's get started!

The calf muscle can be of two types:

1. Thick caviar.Full calves in girls are the result of several reasons:

— hereditary factor. If it so happened that you all have strong fleshy calves in your ancestral line, then you are more likely to be no exception! It is very difficult to bring such caviar to the desired state; it takes a lot of time and effort. But if you set out to eliminate the problem, then the first and main solution is a set of exercises designed for the problem area.

— fat deposition. The peculiarity of the accumulation of fat in a certain part of the body depends not only on a genetic predisposition. If your body's fat content exceeds 25% - 30%, then this is another reason for the fullness of calves, fat begins to be deposited there.
According to the latest scientific research, psychological factors and the presence of diseases also affect the distribution of fat.

Owners of thick calves should be patient and step by step perform all fitness exercises that promote blood circulation in this area. This contributes to the displacement of the hated fat.

2. Pumped caviar.Girls with a pumped calf muscle are professional athletes who daily load the calf muscles with strength training, jogging.

To solve the problem, in this case, you should try to avoid any load on the calf muscle. Prefer cross-country over sprint. Any elevated workout, long walking, step aerobics, vigorous cardio workouts are enemies of your goal.

Stretching is the first solution to the problem

Stretching is the first answer to the question: "How to remove calves?" Think about what people doing gymnastics or yoga look like. Slender figures with chiseled legs - all this thanks to daily muscle stretching exercises.

Before you start doing stretching exercises, muscles need to be warmed up, otherwise you can get serious injury... If you exercise at home, you can do a light jog on the spot or jump rope for a few minutes to warm up. If you train in the gym, then stretching is also performed after warming up the muscles, and after training it is advisable to perform a short hitch or self-massage to relieve muscle tension.

Set your feet shoulder-width apart and slowly lower your body. Grasp the tips of your toes with both hands and bring your head as far as you can to the lower leg. Hold this position for 15 seconds. Complete 5 sets. This exercise involves the back of the thigh and calf.

Pressing the body to the leg

Get on your knees, stretch your left leg forward, pull your foot towards you. Press your body against your outstretched leg as far as your stretch will allow. Extend your arms in parallel. Hold the position for up to 15 seconds. Do the same exercise with your right leg. Do up to 5 sets. The posterior thigh muscle group and the outer side of the calves are involved.

Rise on toes

Get on all fours. Without taking your hands off the floor, lift your pelvis, standing on tiptoes. Without changing your position, gradually, without sudden movements, you lower yourself onto your foot. Hold this position for up to 30 seconds. Repeat the exercise up to 5 times. The gastrocnemius muscle works completely.

Lunges

Stand straight, lunge forward with your right foot. Put your hands up. Bring the body forward, extending your arms as far as possible. Hold this position for up to 1 minute. Repeat 5 sets. The muscles of the lower leg, gluteal muscles are involved.

Pressing your knees to your chest

Lie on the floor, bend your right leg, wrap your hands around your knee, leaving your left leg on the floor. Extend your feet away from you and bring your knee to your chest as much as possible. Hold this position for up to 1 minute. Grab your hands under your right thigh and stretch your leg, pull both feet towards you. Bend your leg and extend it again with the foot towards you. Repeat up to 5 times. Repeat the same exercise for the left leg. The muscles of the back and front of the thigh and the muscles of the lower leg work.

Legs abduction

Stand up straight. Bring your left leg back and up, lower your hands to the floor to maintain balance. Press the body against the leg as far as you can. Fix this position for 15 seconds. Repeat 5 sets. The muscles of the back of the thigh and lower leg work.

After stretching, massage your calf muscles briefly to relieve tension.

Remember! Do the stretching exercises until you feel mild pain, especially if you are just starting out. Excessive muscle tension can lead not only to severe pain, but also discourage the desire to continue to go towards your goal!

A set of exercises at home

Not only aerobic exercise and stretching will help to make the calves of the legs thin, but also various exercises for the problem muscle group.

There are many exercises for losing weight from calves, we will consider the most common ones that can be performed both at home and on the street.

The jump rope is the easiest type of exercise to perform, in which the calf muscles are involved. When jumping, your back is straight, only your hands work, land on your toes. Jump rope starting at 5 minutes, continuing to workout for 30 minutes.

Jump rope, landing on your toes, not on your entire foot! So, you soften the impact force when it hits the floor. Jumping rope has contraindications, consult your doctor before starting classes.

Alternating rise on toes

Place your feet wider than your shoulders, bend your knees, and turn your socks outward. Rise on your toes alternately, first with your right foot, then with your left. Repeat for up to 20 sets. The internal calf muscles are involved.

Pistol

Stand up straight, bend your left knee, use your hands to help maintain balance. Rise to the toe of your right foot and lower yourself onto your foot. Repeat until muscle fatigue at a fast pace. Repeat for up to 20 sets. Do the same exercise with your left leg. The leg muscle group works.

Calf Raise # 1

Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, hands on the waist, feet apart from you. Rise on your toes and lower on your feet with maximum speed until muscle fatigue. Do up to 20 reps. This exercise engages the inside of the lower leg.

Calf Raise # 2

Starting position as in the previous exercise, but turn your feet inward. Rise on your toes and lower yourself on your feet at a fast pace to muscle failure. Do up to 20 reps. In this exercise, the outer side of the calves works.

In addition to the above exercises, step aerobics is a good element for losing weight not only the lower leg, but also the whole body.

The video shows the main elements of a step that can be easily performed at home:

Gym Exercises

Leg press

This exercise uses a leg press machine. Place your feet in the machine so that only your socks are on the platform. To avoid injury to your knees, keep them slightly bent. The body and legs form a right angle.

We squeeze the platform with the toes, the heels are slightly raised. Use only platform, no weight. Do the exercise at high speed until the muscles fail, this is how fat is burned and the existing muscles are dried.

The feet can be set straight, turned inward or away from oneself, this is how the area of \u200b\u200bload on the calf muscles changes.

Take dumbbells of the minimum weight, stand on any step 5-7 cm high with socks, heels on the floor. Rise on your toes and get down on your heels as fast as you did in the previous exercise.

Below is a video with a more complete set of calf exercises suitable for the gym:

Each person has his own genetics and his own level of physical fitness, so each needs an individual approach to find a set of exercises for calf weight loss. Don't expect results in a very short time, especially in a week!

The average indicators are such that by doing the stretching and the exercises presented 2-3 times a week, you can achieve your first success in 3-4 months!

Slimming exercises for pumped calves

Any girl wants to have a taut, beautiful figure and very often it turns out that, together with the "pumping" of the necessary zone, other, undesirable parts of the body are gaining growth. For girls with a large muscle volume of the calf muscle, intense strength training aimed primarily at the legs should be avoided.

Any kind of elevation in the training facility, step aerobics, and even wearing high-heeled shoes can lead to even greater shin enlargement. Avoid protein foods as much as possible, as protein is the main building block of muscles.

Besides stretching exercisesabove, there are several exercises that can help reduce the over-pumped muscles in your lower leg.

The most effective way is long-distance jogging on a flat surface. With this type of running, the so-called slow muscle fibers work, which have a low frequency of contractions. They have a weak growth under prolonged stress.

When running, lower your leg to your full foot, do not run on your toes! So, you can damage the ligaments and tendons of the foot.

Elliptical Trainer

This is an effective cardio machine that simulates running. Program the machine for minimum resistance and maximum execution time. Exercising on an ellipsoid for 30 minutes at least 4 times a week will bring the desired result.

This is a great workout for all muscle groups. Regular swimming will not only keep you fit, but will also improve blood circulation in all parts of the body, and help you lose weight in the areas you need.

Exercise bike

An important element in your workout is exercise on stationary bicycles, cycling. Choose to ride on a level surface with no burden. An easy bike ride will not only lift your spirits and improve your well-being, but will also help you get slimmer legs.

The most important rule in the problem of getting rid of large calves is adherence to all stages of the program:

Start your workout by warming up your muscles;
Go to stretching and then a small set of exercises;
Finish your workout with self-massage of the calf muscle.

In addition to the set of exercises and exceptions in professional training, an important rule for reducing the size of the calf muscles is balanced diet, add more fruits and vegetables to your diet, give up fatty and starchy foods. Diet combined with exercise is a surefire way to thin your calves.

Whatever calves you have - thick or thin, remember that each girl is unique in her own way and that part of the body that you think is problematic can actually be your dignity!

Instructions

Avoid putting too much strain on your calves by avoiding high heels and uncomfortable platforms. If you are a cross-country bike lover, cut your rides down to twice a week for no more than 0.5 hours. Otherwise, excessive pumping of the calves cannot be avoided and it will not work to make them thin. To eliminate the problem of excessively bulky calves, the main emphasis should be on exercises that promote training and tightening of the calf muscles.

Include in your training program simple exercises from callanetics - special for stretching various parts of the body. These simple exercises will help you make your calves thin, graceful and keep your muscles toned, just do them 3-5 times a day.

At the beginning of any workout, you need to warm up your muscles. Do a few squats, run for two minutes, tiptoe if you can.

Put your feet shoulder-width apart, inhale, as you exhale, fold in your belt and several times with effort stretch your arms and head to the floor. If you feel any discomfort in the stretching muscles or ligaments, exhale slowly, as if releasing the pain. Repeat this exercise several times.

Stand up straight. Bend your left leg at the knee, transferring your body weight to your right. Grasp your left leg with your hands and try to gradually straighten it so as to bring it horizontally to the floor. This won't work at first, but over time, the calf and thigh muscles will gradually stretch and the leg will begin to straighten completely. Keep your leg horizontal for 8-10 seconds and gently lower it.

Change your leg and do the same on the other. After finishing the exercise, shake off the tension from your legs, rest for 2-3 minutes and move on to the next.

Stand in the position of a ballerina - on tiptoes, the toes are spread with the heels together - bend your knees slightly, as if springing, sow on the toes for 30 seconds. This will help your muscles on the calves become more prominent and thinner.

Do all the exercises slowly, trying to feel how the muscles warm up and stretch. The first days will be difficult, but it is better to do this complex fewer times, but correctly, without rushing. After training, you can see the result - your legs will become slimmer.

Conventional training exercises only build muscle, which, for all its usefulness, still makes the ankles thick. Therefore, to give the calves a relief and make them thinner, cardio loads are needed. They will also help drive excess fat from this area of \u200b\u200bthe body if you have a clear excess. One of the best options for cardio training in this case is step aerobics and its many variations. You can train with an instructor in the fitness club or at home. All you need is a step platform.

The simplest but most effective exercise is called basic step - put your right foot on the platform, lift your left to it, immediately step down with your right to the floor, put your left to it. After doing 10-15 repetitions, change the leading leg - start the step with the left to step and with the left from the step. This simple step up step will help reduce calf size. Doing this for 20-30 minutes 2-3 times a week, you will get a noticeable effect after a few weeks.

Another effective exercise from the complex of cardio training is jumping in place or over a rope. Start jumping on two legs, then alternate right and left, split, cross. In general, the complex of jumps should take 10-15 minutes daily. If you still do not have enough strength for continuous jumps, jump for 2-3 minutes and pause for 30 seconds, during which step in place, restoring breathing and relieving tension from your legs. These exercises will perfectly tighten the calf muscles and rid them of excess fat.

Don't forget to stretch. Any cardio workout should end with stretching of the loaded muscles. This will allow them to rest, recover faster and get a smoother shape.

You can use bouncy leg lunges to stretch your calves. To do this, take a step forward with one leg, rest your hands on your buttocks, slowly bend your knee and begin to squat. The main body weight falls on the calf muscle and the back of the thigh. Keep your leg stretched for at least 30 seconds each time. Then change your leg.

Another effective calf stretching exercise is a fold - sitting on the mat, stretch your legs forward, lower your body with a flat back to your straight legs, and stretch your hands to your toes.

Regular pilates or yoga classes will help you to thin and shape your calves. The load in such exercises is distributed smoothly throughout the body, forming a beautiful relief of all muscle groups, including the calf. However, it may take longer to achieve the effect here. It is advisable to practice Pilates or yoga under the supervision of an instructor, since the result depends on the correctness of the exercises.

In the process of working on your body, it is very important to monitor your diet. To thin your calves, don't try to limit calories too much. Balance is important in nutrition. The basics of proper nutrition are the absence of hunger during the day (you need to eat a little every 2 hours) and dinner no later than 3 hours before bedtime.

First of all, reduce or eliminate the consumption of fatty, sweet, salty foods that negatively affect weight and body shape. It is also necessary to give up semi-finished products, alcohol, fast food and any carbonated drinks.

It is necessary to include protein products, meat (veal, rabbit, chicken) in the menu every day, as well as cottage cheese dishes. You need to cook food by steaming or boiling, frying as an exception with a minimum amount of oil, or better without it. For breakfast, oatmeal is desirable (not instant). Be sure to drink 1.5-2 liters of clean water every day.

Every girl strives to be even slimmer than she is. But what about those girls who have thick calves on their legs, which leads to various problems: you cannot wear a mini-skirt, jeans, etc. Therefore, there is always something to strive for and achieve even more than has been achieved. In this article, we will consider how you can reduce the calf muscles of the legs at home and what is required for this.

Why caviar grow fat

Calves are muscles that take an active part in a person's walking. But why, these calves increase in size in girls, thereby reducing the attractiveness of their legs. The reasons for this may be the following:

You can get rid of edema using the following methods:

Examination by a doctor who will help you deal with the cause of the edema and tell you how to make your calves thinner. Often the cause of swelling in the legs is various diseases: diabetes, kidney and heart problems.
After finding out the reason, you can begin to deal with edema. To do this, first of all, you should follow a diet that excludes the use of fatty, fried and salty foods.
You can get rid of edema by taking diuretics, which remove excess fluid from the body.

How to reduce calves for overweight women? You can fight this by playing sports. The first gymnastic exercises that help quickly get rid of fatty layers on the calves are: running, swimming, walking and jumping. But in this case, it is recommended to load not only the legs, but the entire body as a whole, so as not to disrupt the shape of the body.

If you have been fond of sports since childhood so that your legs have become similar to those of men, now it will be more problematic to bring calves back to normal shape than with the first two options. After all, the process of reducing the volume of calves will be long and rather difficult. Only one thing can be noted that with such an increase in calves, you can be sure that there are no various kinds of ailments (edema or fat deposits).

So how to reduce the calves on the legs of "athletes"? Bringing back the trained calf muscles is quite difficult, but possible. The first thing to do in this case is to give up heavy training and various types of loads on the legs. It is also important to revise your usual diet and exclude from it protein foods that promote muscle growth. You should give preference to fruits and vegetables, which will help control body weight and adjust the figure.

Important ! To reduce the volume of the pumped calf muscles, women should give preference to active muscle stretching exercises.

What needs to be excluded from the routine

To remove voluminous calves on their legs, women should follow some rules and points. These points include:

Get rid of shoes that hinder your every step. You should not wear tight, uncomfortable and small shoes and clothes.
Do not drink water at night. Since during a night's rest, water causes the occurrence of puffiness in people prone to this phenomenon.
It is forbidden to sit on a chair with legs tucked under the seat. This posture is incorrect and leads to impaired blood circulation. As a consequence, impaired blood flow in the body leads to an increase in calf volume.
It is necessary to eliminate long walks from your everyday life if the reason for the enlarged calves lies in their training.
Eliminate fatty, salty, smoked and fried foods from the diet.
It is also necessary to shorten cycling, as pedaling leads to muscle development, and therefore, leg enlargement.

Therefore, before you start to bring your legs back to normal, you should find out the reason for their increase.

Calf stretching exercise

Calf stretching is the first way to solve the problem of ugly legs in women at home. Therefore, if you decide to make your legs slim and remove voluminous calves, then you should start with stretching.

To do this, you should perform the following exercises to stretch the calf muscles:

To begin with, a light leg warm-up is done, which avoids many injuries. Warm-up includes squats for 2-3 minutes.
After warming up, we proceed to light exercises aimed at stretching the muscles. To do this, you need to take a stable stand and stretch up to the maximum, and then lower to the floor. During the exercise, it is important to take your time, control your breathing and do everything correctly. When doing this kind of exercise, you should feel your calf muscles.
The exercise is more difficult, which involves taking a stand on one leg. The other leg should be wrapped around the hand. Now the raised leg must be straightened in front of you so that a right angle between them is obtained. The calf stretching on the second leg is carried out in the same way.
Exercises are carried out slowly, without haste, and at the same time always taking breaks between procedures. The first time these exercises may seem daunting, repeating them daily is the key to success.
The last exercise is toe-walking. At the same time, it is important not easy to walk on toes, but as much as possible to reach the top.

After the implementation of such a set of exercises has begun, it is necessary to control the frequency of the procedures and the load. To do this, you can even start a journal in which to record all the useful information.

Pumped caviar: how to be

If you have pumped caviar, then it is important to pay attention to the following set of exercises:

Placing the leg on a full foot. The most effective way to reduce the volume of inflated calves is to stand with your full foot while walking. In this case, one should not only stand on a full foot while walking, but also while running or performing other exercises.
Avoid doing exercises that develop your calf muscles. Indeed, in this case, the eggs will not decrease in any way, but only increase. Therefore, avoid the following types of exercise:
- jumping rope;
- climbing the stairs;
- running for short distances.
It is necessary to engage in exercises that will contribute to a positive effect on the heart system. These types of techniques will not only reduce the calf muscles, but also get rid of extra pounds. In this case, the following exercises are performed: - swimming;
- running long distances;
- activities on a bicycle or stationary bike.

Here is another set of exercises with which you can remove voluminous calves on your legs:

To begin with, you should stand in a stance in which your feet are shoulder-width apart. After that, it is necessary to slowly rise on toes up and also down.
A pose in which one leg is raised up, and on the other one should rise on the toe and lower.
You should stand on the threshold in the room with your toes, and your heels should hang from it. After this, lifting up on toes and returning to the starting position is carried out.
In the prone position, you need to bend your knees. The exercise begins with raising the legs up and straightening them. In this case, the socks must be pulled up.

Such a small set of exercises allows you to give your calves a beautiful shape at home, and your legs of femininity and originality.

Optimal loads: what to look for

Of course, reducing the volume of calves is not complete without an integrated approach to solving this problem. The complex includes not only physical activity, but also proper nutrition or diet.

Let's consider what loads should be when performing these exercises.

The duration of anaerobic exercise should not be too long. The optimal time for performing the procedures should not exceed 30-40 minutes. In this case, the set of exercises should be varied: from simple stretching of the calves to descents or ascents of stairs. But do not forget that everything depends on the reason for the increase in calves.
Water aerobics is an exercise in water that has a positive effect not only on the calves, but also on most of the muscles in a person. Therefore, water exercises are an integral part of the complex, with the help of which a woman tries to make her legs more beautiful and slimmer. The duration of water aerobics classes should be from 20 to 30 minutes, several times a week.
Step aerobics. Another equally important method to make your legs slimmer is by reducing the volume of your calves.

Important ! Women should also know that it is impossible to increase the volume of calves by performing the specified set of exercises, but it is really possible to give the legs harmony and attractiveness.

Conclusion

Summing up, it should be noted that it is possible to reduce calves on the legs, but at the same time it is necessary to work on oneself. After all, as you know, nothing is given just like that. To achieve anything, you need to work long and fruitfully, and to work like that, you need to have a desire and striving for the best. And never stop half way without reaching your goal - this is just another reason for grief.

The ideal figure is achieved by regular training and adherence to the correct diet. And if the fight against problem areas around the waist and hips is more or less successful, then getting rid of large calves is not an easy task. The result of training will begin to make itself felt no earlier than three months later. In this case, you will have to monitor your diet and do the right exercises.

Causes of large calves

The problem of large calves can be solved only if you know exactly about the "culprits" of their appearance. There may be several reasons for voluminous legs:

Swelling of the legs

It's easy to check if your feet have a tendency to swelling. When you take off your socks, pay attention to whether there is a trace of elastic on your feet. If it is clearly visible, then the eggs swell precisely because of this physiological deficiency. Another test option is to press your finger over the dry bone. After that, a hole should remain there, which will gradually disappear. If such a dimple does not appear, the skin is elastic and immediately straightens, then in your case the problem is not swelling.

Decision: a diet that excludes fatty and salty foods, as well as taking diuretics as directed by a doctor.
Genetics

To check if genes are to blame, just look at your parents and relatives. If full caviar was inherited, then the problem will be much more difficult to solve. Another way to identify genetically large calves is to tighten your muscles. If they "sit" high, then the lower leg looks smaller and thinner. Otherwise, it is impossible to influence the length of the gastrocnemius muscle, but you can correct their shape by avoiding certain exercises.

Decision: exclude any stress that leads to the growth of the calf muscle (ballet, stepping, running with an incline, walking on a rotating staircase, sprint, exercise bike and any cardio with resistance).
Overweight

Calves are problem areas, which are the last to decrease with weight loss. Therefore, even if you have lost weight to the bone, your shins can remain full. Moreover, the habitat can be not only the subcutaneous space, but also the intramuscular one.

Decision: remember, locally the fat does not go away, so the solution to this problem in this case will be total weight loss. And do not forget to be active more, that is, to walk, run and play sports more often.
Large muscle mass

Sport is great, but even it can contribute to big calves. By the way, a defect resulting from sports is considered the most difficult problem and it can be very difficult to reduce calves.

Decision: as in the case of genetics, exclude any stress that leads to muscle growth (again: this is a run with an incline, sprint, stepper, as well as any cardio with resistance).
Frequent wearing of high heels

You look attractive in high heels, but this beautiful picture has a downside. Every day, putting on high-heeled shoes, the calves undergo many hours of training, which ensures their growth. After all, the main load goes to the lower leg, the thigh muscles work in a semi-relaxed mode. Hence the imbalance of the legs.

Decision: Less likely to walk in high heels and perform special exercises to strengthen all the muscles of the legs.

Is it realistic to reduce calves on the legs

If the reason lies in swelling, then it is advisable to consult a doctor. After all, such a deficiency can indicate certain malfunctions in the body. It's also hard to argue with genetics. In this case, you can only slightly adjust the shape of the lower leg. In all other cases, it is possible to reduce the volume of calves, but the approaches will be different.

It should be understood that in the case when large calves are associated with excess weight, it is possible to reduce them only by completely getting rid of those extra pounds. Fat does not go away locally, and it disappears from problem areas last.

Interesting: the ideal calf size (girth) should correspond to the bicep girth of the arm.

How to identify muscle and fatty calves

To understand whether you need to get rid of fat or dry out muscle mass, take the following test. It consists of two steps:

Pinch the top layer of fat and skin with your fingers.

If the fold is impressive, then you need to lose weight. In this case, you need to adjust your diet and add cardio to your daily routine. If the fold is small, then it is possible to reduce the calves of the legs when performing special exercises. Let's consider each case separately.

How to reduce pumped calves for a girl

As already mentioned, a similar problem appears if you get too involved in sports or constantly walk in heels. In general, the origins of calf fullness are the same - the main emphasis when walking or training is constantly placed on the toe, and not on the heel. Cardio workouts will help you get rid of unwanted volumes on your calves. They are designed in such a way that the calf muscle lengthens during exercise. This leads to a decrease in its volume.

Cardio for calf reduction

The main rule with regard to cardio activity is work without resistance and a long duration (40-50 minutes).

The following types of cardio activity are prohibited:

treadmill with an incline;
downhill running;
sprint (running at high speed);
exercise on a stepper;
walking on a rotating exercise ladder;
an exercise bike and other resistance cardio equipment.

Types of cardio that can help shrink your calves:

running or walking on a treadmill without incline
elliptical trainer;
exercise bike without resistance;
burpee;
swimming.

Long walks have a positive effect on calf reduction. For walking, choose smooth roads without ups and downs. Only in this case will your calves become slimmer without gaining excess muscle mass.

Special exercises for calf reduction

Many girls immediately have a question: after training calves, they will become even larger and it is better not to touch them at all. In fact, the opposite is true. Even if you leave them alone for a few months, a year doesn't matter. The result will not please you. The only way to work your calf muscles is to do the right exercises along with cardio training.

Of the exercises, the most effective are toe raises. Perform them in the following mode:

Burpee - 5 × 15.

Stretching exercises to reduce calves

Stretching the muscles with a similar problem is a necessary measure in working on reducing the calves of the legs. There are three stretching exercises. Use your choice or alternate between them.

Exercise 1... Remember school, there we were taught the simplest but very effective stretching exercise. Sit down on the floor, stretch your legs straight in front of you. Tilt your torso towards your legs. Try to snuggle up to your feet as much as possible and reach your feet with your hands. Pull the socks towards you with your hands. Hold for 30 seconds, return to the original position.

Exercise 2... The second exercise is even easier. Stand facing the wall with your hands in place. Take one leg back (knee straight) and swing forward to the wall. You should feel a stretch in the calf muscle of the abducted leg. Change the position of your legs and repeat the exercise.

Exercise # 3... Standing facing the wall, place your toes against the wall with your heel on the floor. The position should be such that you feel the stretch in the calf muscle. Hold for 30 seconds or do a series of wiggles. Repeat the exercise for the other leg.

Workout plan for home:

number of workouts per week - 3;
rest in exercises between sets - 30-40 seconds;
stretching exercises for the calf muscles after each approach;
cardio - jogging slowly for 40-50 minutes after exercise.

Walk or run. Running and walking for weight loss is the perfect way to dry out your calf muscles. The main condition is that there should be no ups and downs on the route. Otherwise, there will be a risk of making your calves even larger. For the same reason, you should not get involved in step aerobics.

This training scheme must be adhered to for a long time and exercise regularly. The result will not appear as soon as we would like - do not expect the first results before three months.

How to reduce fat calves

Excess fat appears on all parts of the body, including the calves. But it does not come off evenly. It is sometimes quite problematic to get rid of excess volumes from your feet. And even when the waist has almost reached perfection, the lower legs can still upset with excessive fullness. Here nutritional adjustments play a major role in calf reduction. Cardio and special exercises will speed up the result.

There are several nuances regarding problem areas.:

fat in these places is the last to go;
there is no local fat burning, i.e. fat (for example, from calves) will not go away, a person loses weight everywhere;
correction of problem areas is usually long (about a year or more).

In this case, work on problem areas is carried out in three areas at once - proper nutrition, cardio and special exercises. The last two are discussed above (How to reduce pumped caviar).

Nutrition adjustment

There is no specific diet for calf reduction. You can choose the diet yourself or with the help of a nutritionist, but take into account several important nuances:

To improve metabolism and prevent excess calories from being deposited in the fat depot, you need to increase the number of meals. This is 4-5 times at the same time.

What can you eat

Eat slow carbs... These are the ones that slowly break down and gradually energize the body. These include brown rice, buckwheat, durum wheat pasta, whole grain bread, bran bread, almost all types of cereals.

Your menu should include enough protein... These are meat, fish, nuts, eggs and dairy products. Eat low-fat meat: rabbit, chicken (fillet), turkey, veal and beef without fat layers.

Include fiber in your diet... It coats the walls of the stomach, prolonging the feeling of fullness in the body, and also helps to remove toxins and harmful substances. The main sources of fiber are greens, vegetables, fruits (no more than two, since they are high in sugar), bran, whole grain bread.

Eat the right fats... Many people think that fat makes you fat. In fact, fats play an exceptional role for the body, without them the absorption of many vitamins and other useful substances is simply impossible. But that goes for the right fats. Especially useful are nuts, seeds, fatty fish, flaxseed and olive oil, avocado.

Don't forget about water balance... Drink more clean, unboiled water. Give up coffee, alcoholic and carbonated drinks.

What you can't eat

Avoid fast food, salty, fatty, fried and smoked foods. Steam, bake, or boil foods.

Exclude mayonnaise, sauces, ketchups. Use natural yoghurt as a dressing instead.

Forget about harmful sweets. Replace sweets, pastry baked goods, desserts with honey, dried fruit, dark chocolate, fitness bars and unflavored ice cream

Other ways to shrink your calves

In the fight for slim calves, you can additionally use cosmetic procedures. The most effective are clay and kelp wraps. Massages show good results. But here you need to make a reservation. Cosmetology procedures by themselves do not solve the problem of large legs. They should be used in conjunction with stretching, exercise, and proper nutrition.

If you are not ready to go the hard and long way to slim legs, even here there is a way out - liposuction. This procedure belongs to operating rooms, during which fat is removed from problem areas through small punctures. After it, you immediately become the owner of ideal body proportions.

A few practical tips from fitness trainers, nutritionists and cosmetologists will help in the fight against big shins. They will answer the question of how you can reduce calves on your legs:

Watch your diet, walk more and stretch your lower leg muscles more often.

So, the conclusions are as follows: shins are large for a variety of reasons. There is a solution for every problem. The most difficult cases are large muscle mass and genetic predisposition. In any case, to lose weight on your calves, you need to eat right, take long walks on flat terrain more often and stretch your muscles.

Calf. Responsible for the extension of the leg at the ankle joint in a standing position. It is she who takes the lion's share of the load for herself and determines the position of the foot on the ground.
Flounder. Usually this muscle group is much less developed, since it is responsible for the rotation of the ankle joint in a sitting position, when the weight of the whole body does not press on the lower leg.

Therefore, in order to develop large calves, you need to pay attention not only to the gastrocnemius, but also to the soleus muscles.

When working on this muscle group, it is important to keep in mind the following features:

The calf and soleus are a ligament that needs to be trained in the same way as the biceps and brachialis.
Calves are a small muscle group that responds well to loads of high weight and high intensity, but, as a rule, does not respond well to long-term monotonous aerobic loads. The optimal scheme is to do exercises at full amplitude for 12-20 repetitions.
The calf muscles are involved in almost all exercises, which creates an additional need for pumping them in the early stages, while they are still susceptible to stress.
You can train this muscle group 2-3 times a week. There are two main approaches: 1-2 exercises at the end of each workout, or doing a calf set in between sets of other muscle groups. Both options are good, you need to try both and see which result will be better for you specifically.

Exercises

One of the main problems with calf exercises is their isolation nature.

Let's consider the main ones:

While heavy squatting does not affect calf pumping, it significantly increases the static strength of the calf, which creates a solid foundation for building a harmonious body and developing functional strength.

Standing Calf Raises

This exercise is designed for athletes of any level of fitness and is considered the main one for working out the calf muscles. has many variations, including:

Weighted Calf Raises.
One-leg calf raises.
Rolling from heel to toe.

Consider the exercise technique:

Stand on a wooden beam. If timber is not available, the edge of a step, sill, or any other protruding surface will do. There are also special simulators. You can perform a movement in Smith, substituting a step platform under your feet, and put the barbell on your shoulders.
Fix the body in a straight position (stable posture).
If additional weight is required, dumbbells or weights are taken into the hands. The simulator is loaded with pancakes.
Next, you need to slowly lower your heels below the level of the bar, trying to stretch the ankle ligaments as much as possible.
Fix in this position for 1-2 seconds and tighten your calves.

Note: There is some controversy regarding full knee extension. On the one hand, this greatly facilitates the exercise, on the other hand, it increases the load on the knee. If you are using light weights for training, you can fully straighten your legs. However, if you work with large weights (for example, in the Hackenschmidt squat machine), then it is better to neutralize the fact of the joint load.

Seated Calf Raises

Despite a similar execution technique, sitting on the toes in the machine does not involve the calf, but the soleus muscle lying under it.

The exercise technique is extremely simple:

Set a suitable weight on the simulator (usually it is up to 60% of the working weight with a classic rise on the toes).
Sit in the simulator.
Slowly lower your heels below the level of the support on the simulator, trying to stretch the ankle ligaments as much as possible.
Rise on your toes with a powerful impulse movement.
Fix in this position for 1-2 seconds.
Slowly lower yourself to the starting position.

Note: if you do not have a machine, put dumbbells, weights, barbell pancakes on your knees as an additional burden. The use of third-party items will significantly reduce the effectiveness of the exercise, but will allow you to do it at home.

Rise on socks at an angle of 45 degrees

Among all the exercises aimed at developing the calf muscles, this can be called conditionally complex and the most difficult. It's all about changing the angle of the legs, which allows you to use not only the calf, but also the soleus.

The exercise technique practically does not differ from the previous ones:

Become a block trainer (gackenschmidt). Depending on the design, you will be facing or away from it.
Set a suitable operating weight. It is calculated as the arithmetic average between the working weights in the two previous exercises. Then select the burden according to the loads.
Then you need to lower the heels, trying to stretch the calf as much as possible.
Perform a toe lift.
Fix in the position of extreme tension for 1-2 seconds.

Calf training myths

Many gym visitors (especially beginners) believe that they do not need to pump their calf muscles separately, because calves work in:

Heavy squat.
(and deadlift on straight legs).
Jogging and other cardio exercises.

This is true, but in the case of these exercises, the calves perform a stabilizing static load, which increases their strength, but not volume. Only genetically gifted people can pump up calves without doing exercises directly on them. Everyone else will have to try hard.

Outcome

To pump up your calves, remember the following rules:

Pay enough attention to your calf muscles from the first workouts.
Do not chase excessively large weights to the detriment of technique.
Alternate between different types of loads.

And remember the classic pyramid of progression: nutrition / rest / competent training. Be sure to use it to create the conditions for continuous progress.