"The Roundtable Discussion"

Round Table Discussion #7

"The Standing Calf Raise machine is a rarely seen piece of equipment in present-day fitness facilities. The more popular Seated Rotary Calf machine has been favored by new gyms across the country the last 3 years. In your opinion, why do you think big manufacturers are not touting this machine anymore or why do you think gyms are not carrying it? Is just an outdated machine or does it put users at risk for spine injuries?"

Panel:

Matt Shuebrook:

I believe that the main reason that the standing calf rise is slowly becoming extinct, has to do with all the latest fitness gadgets that just look like they are a better machine. Just like cars; American Muscle was the way to go, then came out plastic bumpers that look cool. However if you look around, you'll still find a few muscle cars here and there.

Steve Payne:

Good question!  I believe the answer is probably three fold:

Rick Karboviak:

The standing calf raise is rapidly becoming useless in my opinion.  Personally, I haven't done calf raises in about 2 years, and my calves have
stayed relatively the same size, surprisingly.  I feel they get enough specific strength work with all the biking and running I do.

As far as fitness needs go, I always found that you needed heavy amounts of weight to even get close to fatiguing the calves for the 10-15 rep range.  With those heavy loads, perhaps most fitness centers had people complaining of back issues and are steering away from this. Also are people all that worried any more about calf appearance, other than a competing bodybuilder?  They seem to have an obsession with their abs more than anything else.  Don't forget the bicep curl variants for the guys, and the inner/outer thigh machines for women.

I think the fitness trend seems to be steering away from the intimidating bodybuilding image & machine usage. Exercise focuses are getting back to the basics and just getting healthier in the long run.  You see this in the pilates and yoga explosion we see, plus all the "boot camps" and kettlebell
training that is boosting in popularity and function. I think we are going into a trend of training the body to function as a unit, (finally) versus
training body parts so uniquely and seperately.  I recently have taken this 'train as a unit' focus into my all-around training, doing kettlebell routines and discovering the effectiveness of that philiosophy. Recently, I've started my own company and have taken this 'unit' approach with my boot
camps and personal training sessions. Within the first week of boot camp, I have 2 clients that can't keep quiet about how fun and effective the total
body workouts are going.  They love the feeling of the simple & effective kettlebell swing that I have in my circuit.  I have one male who in 2 weeks prior to my boot camps, (I had him be a trial subject for my circuits), he's already lost inches in his waist & thighs. All my boot campers are female
except for that male, and surprisingly, they haven't asked about any inner/outer thigh machine yet.

Years ago, when our society was more laborious, we used our body as machines to do our chores.  Back home they called it 'farm boy strength', and quite frankly, we need more farm boy strength and the lean bodies that came with it. We need to train the body to work as a machine, the way its supposed to work, not independent functioning arms, legs, and single joints that we waste so much time & frustration on.  Its no wonder that people who did machine circuit training in the 80's/90's got so frustrated and quit exercising.  I know so, because I've had many clients from that era who have recently come back to exercising, tell me so in their consultations!

Train like a machine, & don't train on too many of them.

Vincent Burke:

My opinion of the calf machine is it is too combersome, costly and has ZERO function with isolation. Have have seen it better used for a trap machine than anything else as I use to  back in the day. I have also used it for shoulder presses which has puts the shoulders in a better position without the impingement. Almost like a standing "lean" press.

Chaney Weiner:

I feel that the standing calf raise machine has become an outdated piece of equipment. I have not heard of any spinal related injuries or any injuries from using it so I would tend to believe that is not the reason why. I find it interesting that John hasn't noticed them in gyms. I still see them but not as much as I used to. Maybe this is due to the fact that you can only do one exercise on it...a standing calf raise and that there are people in gyms now, myself included, who do them with bodyweight on a single leg. Just for the record, doing them in this manner, on a single leg, will allow one to train high loads without high weights and without having to risk any spinal compression type injuries that one MAY get from using the standing calf raise machine.

John Izzo:

I believe the standing calf raise is a dinosaur among today's newer, more sleaker strength training machines. And in my opinion, the only reason it is becoming "extinct" is because manufacturers are realizing that the seated version is less intimidating, more accommodating to all body types, and more adequate for the "lazy".

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