Muscle Swelling of the Triceps Surae in Response to Straight-Leg and Bent-Leg Calf Raise Exercises in Young Women

Abstract

Kassiano, W, Costa, B, Kunevaliki, G, Soares, D, Stavinski, N, Francsuel, J, Carneiro, MAS, Tricoli, I, Nunes, JP, Ribeiro, AS, and Cyrino, ES. Muscle swelling of the triceps surae in response to straight-leg and bent-leg calf raise exercises in young women. J Strength Cond Res 37(7): e438–e443, 2023—Triceps surae muscle swelling in response to different resistance exercises remains to be determined. This study compared the effects of straight-leg (STRA-leg) calf raise vs. bent-leg (BENT-leg) calf raise exercises on triceps surae muscle swelling. Seventeen young women (23.7 ± 4.0 years; 67.4 ± 16.0 kg; and 163.5 ± 7.2 cm) performed 2 resistance training sessions; in one, they performed the STRA-leg calf raise, and in another, they performed the BENT-leg calf raise. A randomized, cross-over, and counterbalanced design was adopted for this investigation. The subjects performed 4 sets of 20 repetitions maximum until concentric muscular failure. The muscle thickness of the gastrocnemius medial (GM), gastrocnemius lateral (GL), and soleus (SOL) was taken through B-mode ultrasound before and immediately after the calf raise exercises. STRA-leg calf raise elicited greater increases in muscle thickness of GM (+8.8% vs. −0.9%, p < 0.001) and GL (+14.5% vs. +7.0%, p < 0.001) than BENT-leg calf raise. Conversely, BENT-leg calf raise elicited greater increases in SOL muscle thickness than STRA-leg calf raise (+15.4% vs. +7.7%, p < 0.001). From a practical perspective, the STRA-leg calf raise should be preferred if the aim is stimulating the 3 muscles that comprise the triceps surae, whereas the BENT-leg calf raise should be prioritized if the target muscle is the SOL.

Bigger calves from doing higher resistance training volume?

“…Measurements of the LG were taken at the proximal third between the lateral epicondyle of the femur and the lateral malleolus of the fibula [24]. Image acquisitions of the SOL were taken at the middle distance of the femur and the lateral malleolus of the fibula [25]. Reference lines were drawn on the participants' skin with a dermatographic pen on the sites where images were obtained and were re-drawn and maintained throughout the study to ensure that the measurement was taken at the same place at baseline and posttraining.…”

“…The calf raise exercise was performed in sets of 15-20 repetitions, executed until momentary concentric failure (i.e., when the participant has reached the point where, despite trying to do so, they cannot complete the concentric muscle action of their current repetition). This repetition range was chosen based on their common inclusion in calf hypertrophy-oriented training programs [16, 24,25]. Whenever the subject reached 20 repetitions in a given set and reported that they could perform ≥ 1 repetition, the weight was increased by 2-5% for the next set to ensure that the participants kept performing the sets to (or very near to) failure in the established repetition range.…”

“…If they stimulate the calf muscles differently, the optimal volume of sets to induce muscle hypertrophy is probably exercisedependent. Indeed, there are indications that the calf muscles may respond selectively when performing different exercises [25,28,29], changing foot position [24] and by adding loaded inter-set stretch [30], even when performing an equal number of sets. Finally, reaching a more stretched position often induces greater muscle growth than training at shortened position [31,32].…”