Hi Mongrel,

Calf muscles are usually largely comprised of red (slow twitch) muscle fibers and do not react the same way to exercise as other muscles which have larger amounts of fast twitch (white) muscle fibers. It takes an extraordinary workload on calves to see significant gains as compared to other muscle groups.

Having said that, there are a huge variety of calf exercises one can do at the gym to beef them up. Standing calf raises, 'donkey' raises, and exercises which work the underlying Soleus muscle all help to build up mass over time. Stretching them regularly, as well as working the tibular anticus muscles on the shin helped me a lot.

Take a look at ballet dancer's lower bodies sometime-- the men all usually have astounding calf development.