Stairway to heaven

.....or hell! I did a calf workout the other day that is just pure evil! I just have to share it with you guys! Despite being extremely simplistic, it is a challenge and does involve a high amount of volume to really torture your calves into new growth! All you need is - a small dumbbell, a set of stairs and a high pain tolerance. 

The way it works is simple, you do 10 reps per leg of standing calf raises then move up a step. 10 reps per leg again and move up to the next step. And just keep working your way to the top. The beauty of doing it unilaterally is 1 leg gets a rest whilst the other is working. However if you need additional rest, especially when you get close to the top, by all means take it. 

I used a 10kg dumbbell and did 24 steps. That's a total of 240 reps of standing calf raises per leg! 

Because of the volume of this workout I'd only use it for a total of 4-6 weeks. You could even alternate it with a lower volume calf session. Or just use it once every so often as a shock tactic. 

It's easy to progress this type of workout too. You can either:

A) use a heavier weight
B) complete more steps
C) do more reps per leg
D) aim to complete the same amount of steps/reps in a faster amount of time 


After completing this session you might want to avoid the stairs for the next few days...don't say I didn't warn you!