That's great to hear! Thanks :)

That's great to hear! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. Best of luck with your massage therapist studies

Thank you so much 😀 that's great to hear they are making anatomy fun and easy for you!

Thank you 😁

Welcome! Thanks for watching.

Thank you!! :)

My tibialis posterior video is here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qJqVdtefld2Yd6c.html I'll add flexor digitorum longus to my to do list 👍

There is some research to suggest the hamstrings and calves have a fascia connection ( e.g www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8656845/ ) this may give some people the sensation of a greater stretch in the calves when the hamstrings are stretched. However, I don't believe this sensation will lead to more hypertrophy nor does it increase the range of motion the calves move through. Personally I'd rather be moving the calves themselves through a greater range of motion than trying to stretch fascia. The calves can be fully stretched with a regular calf raise, provided a low enough load is used to allow for the person to use good form with a full range of motion. You are absolutely correct that because the calves don't cross the hip, adjusting the hip angle wouldn't do much. Personally I don't see any advantage to donkey calf raises over conventional alternatives. If anything donkey calf raises have disadvantages compared to other options because they are not easy to add weight/resistance to provide a progression in intensity for the movement and the hamstring stretch may detract from some people's ability to push the calves as hard.

@@BodyworksPrime thanks so much for this answer. Subbed. Another question, people keep saying that elevating the toes stretches the hamstrings more during an RDL. Can you clarify this is also wrong? As the hamstrings don’t cross the ankle. Unless somehow there’s some sort of biomechanical change to the movement? For instance, as we know, heel elevated squats allow us to stay more upright, is it possible toes elevated during an RDL isn’t pointless for a similar type of reason? I’m struggling to find answers. Thank you!

@@madams989 Thanks for the sub. Elevating the toes on the RDL is done for a similar reason to the Donkey Calf Raise I think. Because the calves are stretched, it can make the hamstring stretch feel more intense, perhaps due to the fascia connection I mentioned earlier, or perhaps just purely from the sensation of a calf stretch alone. Either way, as you rightly pointed out, the hamstrings do not cross the ankle joint, so dorsiflexion of the ankle will not increase the stretch on the hamstrings themselves. If anything, it would be detrimental to elevate the toes on an RDL. For starters the RDL requires a slight amount of forward knee travel and if the toes are elevated too high this could block that knee travel at the ankle joint limiting range of motion and increasing connective tissue stress. Moreover elevating the toes is going to make the movement less stable, potentially reducing the intensity/weight that is able to be used on the movement. The hamstring stretch on a well executed RDL is immense anyways. If people need more of a stretch they could just incorporate a 2sec paused hold at the bottom of each rep in the stretched position. I have done a few videos on the hamstrings if they are helpful too: Semimembranosus kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gJ6WmqSQx7-ukZs.html Biceps Femoris kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iailh92Fktyngnk.html Semitendinosus kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pamKe5Z1urrXhaM.html

Thanks for the feedback :) can you let me know what kind of words you mean? I try to include the names of important muscles and structures in the text that pops in on the black rectangle. If you can give some examples that would be great, so I know what to add in future. Cheers.

The main thing with calf raises is making sure your toes are on something elevated such as a couple weight plates, yoga block, leg press machine plate etc. This means you get a full stretch on the gastrocnemius as you go into full ankle dosiflexion. As you lower your heel below the elevated surface make sure you get that stretch (stretch under tension is beneficial for muscle hypertrophy). At the top of the rep go fully onto your tip toes and really squeeze your calves hard into that peak contraction. In terms of form prompts, all 3 of those suggestions you made are good in their own way. You may find you feel you're pulling up the heel more at the bottom of the rep when it's stretched and pointing the foot more as you go onto your toes at the top. I wouldn't over think it too much though. The main thing is just finding a technique that works for you, where you feel the muscle working hard but most importantly you're getting that full range of motion. Doing half reps with too much weight are the biggest killer of calf gains! It's usually a mistake everyone makes at first as everyone can go super heavy for calves if they half rep, but you get waaay more out of lowering the load and going full range of motion. Hope that helps, thanks for watching!

@@BodyworksPrime That is a great answer. Thank you. Is the soleus still worked in the standing variation enough to not have to spend time on the seated variation?

@@Rolothe1st No problem. The soleus is still worked hard in the standing variation. I'm not aware of any research directly comparing pure hypertrophy of seated vs standing or both. In research I have seen using EMG and comparing muscle activation, it doesn't seem there is a very big advantage in soleus activation doing seated compared to standing, though seated is generally considered to target the soleus more. Back when I used to train calves I'd just do standing for a couple mesocycles then seated for a mesocycle then rotate back to standing. If calf hypertrophy is your number one priority, then I'd probably do both variations in the same mesocycle just to cover all your bases. I'd imagine the hypertrophy difference between doing one or both variations in the same meso would be very small though if training volume was matched. If I had to pick just one, I'd always go for standing. You may find this paper on the subject interesting: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7236791/

@@BodyworksPrime that’s amazing. Thanks. I find it strange that anywhere you look online data shows that the gastric is not active during seated raises. However I feel a better pump in the seated version. Most likely as you already advised, do both. Thanks again

@@Rolothe1st Gastrocnemius is definitely still active on seated. In theory the soleus is just more active during seated than standing. I've had some absolutely brutal gastrocnemius DOMS from doing seated calf raises. If it's sore the next day and gets a pump during the sets, it's definitely getting worked. Good luck with the calf training :)