charles

I think there's another thread on this. It has a lot more replies...FYI.

 

Interesting.

Guess you have to ask yourself if you'd rather have "larger" calves or scars on your legs for the rest of your life.

 

Yeah, sounds like a chest fly machine which primarily targets your pectoralis major/minor muscles...and I agree, a couple of reps isn't going to build mass in two weeks.

As I stated before, I think a lot of body image is in your head. Measure before you start lifting and see where you stand a few MONTHS, not weeks, later.

 

To be a bit more clear, most guys I know love muscular legs (hell, they love not so muscular legs too), so, relax a bit.

 

Oh yeah, muscular calves are hot!

 

I'd make sure you're not getting worked up over nothing. Go ahead and measure your calves and write the number down, then refer back to it a few months down the road to see if there's any change. I think a lot of people's images of themselves aren't always true to reality, but sometimes it is, so measure and see for sure.
Next, running will not make your calves bigger. In order to build muscle, you need to break down the muscle, intake testosterone and protein (among other things), so from the get go, you're behind the curve cause you're a woman. In order to break down the muscle, you need to tear the fibers down and the only reliable way to do that is by lifting heavy weights that cause your muscles to tear and fatigue. Running will not do that. Finally, you need to take in about 1.5-2 times your weight in grams of protein to start building. I doubt you're doing that as well. In fact, the cardio effect you get from running will actually burn the muscle you have since you're not building it up as I listed above.
I'd make sure you stretch regularly as well as massage your calves in order to reduce any knotting and start running. Measure your calves after a month and see what happens.

 

Honestly, they're probably not any bigger, they just look bigger since there's less fat covering them up. Did you measure them before you started Tae Bo??

 

To begin with...typically, women just don't bulk up. They lack the needed testosterone to really build muscle mass. I think what a lot of girls think getting huge calf muscles equates to is losing the fat in their legs, thus making the muscles more defined and possibly the false sense that their muscles got bigger, when it reality, they simply lost fat. Also, repetitive exercises tend to not build mass, rather burn fat/carbs/muscle. Jogging, swimming, any kind of cardio falls into that category. Unless you're jogging up hills with 30 lb weights tied to you, you're not going to build much muscle.

 

Why would you stop jogging? Jogging will not give you big calves.

 

YOU CAN'T SPOT REDUCE!
YOU CAN'T SPOT REDUCE!
YOU CAN'T SPOT REDUCE!

Like it's been said, your ankles are pretty much determined by your bone thickness and the tendons. Now, there will be fat involved, but you can't simply do ankle exercises and work it off. You have to do cardio and hope that your genetics allow the fat to burn off from there instead of some other area of your body.

Rule of thumb, if you want to lose mass...cardio. Period.

 

It depends. Are they larger due to fat or muscle. If the former, cardio will help the most. Whether it be pilates, swimming, eliptical trainer, even running. Repetitive activities like running and biking don't typically enlarge the muscle, so running should be fine. Also, you can't target fat loss, so calf raises or exercises that focus on the calves will do no more...aside from the normal cardio workout you'd get from it.
Even if they're a bit too musclely cardio will help, but not as much. It might just be a genetics thing.
Oh, and as a guy, I find it attractive when a girl has muscular calves. Don't know if that helps with your worries or not