It's not so much seated, like you are on your butt, but it is how your flexion in your knee looks. So if you're doing a standing calf raise (straight leg) where your leg is basically straight, then that is going to train the gastrocnemius, the larger of the two calf muscles. Now if you do seated with your knee bent, then that's going to train more of the soleus calf muscle on the outside. So if size is the goal, you're going to want to do a majority of your work with the standing or relatively straight leg positioning for your calf raises. If you want to work on that outside, you're doing a side chest or something and you want to hit that soleus on the side, then seated calf raises are great. I would recommend a two to one ratio. Twice as many sets of standing/straight leg calf raises as seated. And if you had to pick one over the other, I would pick standing or straight leg. I aim to train calves 4-5 times a week for growth. How about you?

Wondering if anyone else has dealt with this issue – I have a family member who claims to be Vegan and overall she is mostly vegan. Periodically she eats cows milk, cheese and other products that have dairy and eggs in them and I suspect meat sometimes but I don’t really know. But she always calls herself Vegan and she claims it to her friends and family. As an actual Vegan, it really bothers me, even though I know her diet causes much less suffering than your average non-Vegan. Does anybody else ever deal with this? And do you think it’s a problem when people say they’re vegan and they’re actually not?

THIS is what I wish I could go back and tell my younger self… That you should go vegan - You should speak up and be a voice for the animals. Don’t be afraid to tell others that you’re vegan. One day, you’ll find a like-hearted vegan family and aren’t afraid to speak up anymore, and get to spend every single day helping hundreds of other people go vegan as well. So I’m putting this message out there for my younger self and for younger vegans out there - don’t be afraid to share your truth. Speak up. Be a voice for the animals. Wear a vegan shirt. Be loud and proud about it, and you’ll always find your community.

I think it comes down to what are your goals, but also, what are you currently eating? A lot of vegans are eating things like beans, nuts, peanut butter, oats, whole grains, and they're saying this is how I get my protein on a vegan diet. And the detail we should pay attention to is, those foods listed above are comprised of more than just protein. When you get nuts, you're getting more fat than protein. When you're eating beans, you're getting more carbs than protein. And so, you're setting yourself up for a not-a-very-high-protein diet. So, how much protein do you need? I still believe it depends on your goals. If you're just trying to live to a ripe old age, 50 grams of protein a day is probably great for most. But if you're really trying to build muscle, if you want to grow in the gym, if you want to start hitting PRs, if you want to stop being skinny fat, I stick with the tried-and-true 0.8 to 1 gram per pound of body weight per day. It seems to be working really well. I've done it with myself, with other pro-level vegan bodybuilders, and over 500 clients. If someone you know haven’t yet seen my High-Protein Vegan Recipes book, grab it here: https://vegansquadcoaching.com/cookbook I’d love to know what your favorite source of protein is currently!

Happy Friday vegan squad! I’m trying to focus on gaining muscle and getting leaner, and wondering abt daily protein. Should we be consuming the same amount of protein on rest days or days that are recovery focused and not lifting focused?