In 2006, Branch Warren made his Arnold Classic debut with a stunning runnerup finish behind Dexter Jackson. He stumbled to seventh the next year, the rare occasion when he wasn’t on-point, but in the last three first weekend’s in March he’s been fourth, third and third again at the A.C. Having knocked on the door so many times, this year in Columbus the Bulldozer is looking to blow that door open. One thing is certain, as he does every March he’ll have the best pair of calves among the top contenders. As he preps for his sixth A.C. on March 5, we look back at how Branch Warren swelled his lower legs.
Branch on Calves
* “For calves, I alternate between a moderate-rep workout [workout A] and a high-rep workout [workout B]. I do each once a week.”
* “I don’t think you need a lot of sets for calves. If you focus on a good stretch and contraction on every rep and push your sets to failure, six sets is plenty. More work usually means lazy work.”
* “Calves are used to that middle range of motion from all your walking, so to make ‘;em work you got to focus on the stretches and the contractions. Exaggerate those areas of the reps.”
BRANCH’S CALF ROUTINE: WORKOUT A | |||
| EXERCISE | SETS | REPS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standing calf raises | 3 | 10-12 | |
| Seated calf raises | 3 | 10 | |
BRANCH’S CALF ROUTINE: WORKOUT B | |||
| EXERCISE | SETS | REPS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calf presses | 3 | 50 | |
| Smith machine calf raises | 3 | 30 | |
