Question

I'm wondering if you've had any experience with Roger Stewarts Extreme Calf Machine? Specifically, is it the good deal that it claims to be? Or is it a waste of money that could be spent on something much more effective?

Answer

Since I don't have any hands-on experience with the Extreme Calf Machine, I decided to do some digging around online to see what I could find out, and here's what I came up with.

There's not a ton of information to work from on the Extreme Calf Machine website, and when I called  the company, they never  bothered to call me back to answer the questions I had for them. With that said, here's my take on it…

Strong points of the extreme calf machine:

• Light weight and portable
• Pivoting platform for good range of motion
• Good for training the tibialis muscle (shin muscle)
• Price is decent (under $100)

The Extreme Calf Machine website says that the unit is heavy duty and built for health club use, and they also say it's light weight and portable for personal trainers. Usually light weight and heavy duty don't go together -  it's one or the other. Maybe it's built of some space age metal like unubtanium, but I can't say for sure because there's no mention of it on their website.

The other thing I noticed from the animation on their website is that the extreme calf machine doesn't pivot forward past the neutral point - that may make it less effective for tibialis training but without using it that's just speculation on my part..

Weak Points of the Extreme Calf Machine:

•  Non-slip coating on the foot block will wear out (true of all non-slip surfaces)
• Lifetime warranty is good but with an unresponsive company with a phone number on their website that's disconnected that warranty doesn't mean much
• Machine could be taller to allow an even deeper stretch of the calves

Is the Extreme Calf Machine worth the money? That depends. If you're a super hardcore trainer and like the newest exercise gadgets then it's a good bet. If not, stick to a wood block like Arnold Schwarzenegger used to use - did you ever see the size of his calves?