Slimming down calves..?

[kellybethx3]

Does anyone know of any exercise that will slim down calves? I have kind of big calves that stick out, I love to run but I feel like that my make them bigger. Any ideas?

[speltrong]

If it's all muscle from running, I don't know if there's much you can do about it!

[kellybethx3]

Yeaah thats what i thought but i didnt know if there was anything i could do.

[cara4art]

Short of muscle-building activity, a lot of calf size is genetic. If one has long muscle bellies in the calf, they will muscle up at the drop of a hat and even get a bit larger than one would like sometimes. I have this - my calves are well-developed anyway, and the slightest amount of stimuli gets them growing, so I don't do direct calf work other than stretching which is important for the muscles and the Achilles tendon. On the other hand, if one has short muscle bellies in the calf, one's muscles don't get that big. This is how some people can work their calves like fiends in the gym etc. and they grow not that much.

[kellybethx3]

so what do you do to work out? do you run?