The calves are a frequently overlooked body part for many fitness trainees. This is unfortunate because they are one of the most visible body parts for anyone who ever wears shorts. They are also an extremely important muscle group, from a functional standpoint, for many activities. Calves often respond best to heavy weight training, but if you can’t get to the gym, you don’t have many options besides bodyweight exercises. You may have heard that calf exercises using only bodyweight are pointless, so, should you bother with bodyweight calf raises?
Although calves often respond best to heavy weight training, bodyweight calf raises are a great way to maintain and even grow your calves. They are also excellent for improving and maintaining ankle mobility. You’ll need to employ a lot more volume than you would with heavy weights on the calf exercises you can do at the gym, so start thinking about rep ranges in the high 2-digit to 3 digit range. Sets of 50 or more will certainly get your calves burning, and can lead to an increase in calf size, strength, and improved overall ankle health and durability.
Can something as simple as bodyweight calf raises really make a difference? How many should you do, and how often should you do them? Let’s continue…
Other Benefits Of (Daily) Calf Raises
The calves, and the ankles by extension, are important in a number of athletic endeavors, and keeping them strong and flexible can have a positive effect in a number of ways.
Calf raises, even the bodyweight variety, can greatly help your athletic output. Legend has it that Shaquille O’Neal increased his vertical jump by several inches by doing 1000 calf raises nightly. I’m sure he was doing a lot of other training also, but calf raises can certainly help increase your “vert.” So if you are a basketball or volleyball player, or engage in any sport in which jumping is an important component, calf raises can help. Be sure to do a lot of them, and often. Include one-legged varieties to “double” the intensity.
Calf raises can be an integral part of rehabilitating chronic ankle instability. Weak ankles can lead to other injuries and lessen athletic performance in a number of sports and physical activities. Check out this study regarding neuromuscular training for chronic ankle instability, and it’s inclusion of calf raises.
There is also evidence that calf training can help reduce Achilles tendon pain when included in a treatment plan. See here.
Remember that you cannot self-diagnose any medical condition, and should be examined by a licenced medical professional to diagnose and treat any medical problems that you may be experiencing. Also, be sure to get a check-up from your doctor before starting any new exercise program to make sure you are healthy enough to exercise.
How Should I Perform Bodyweight Calf Raises For Maximum Effect?
Whether you are unable to get to the gym and are looking to replace weight training with a bodyweight exercise, or are just starting to exercise, at some point you’ll need to find ways to increase the intensity of your calf raises.
The two most important things to consider in making your calf raises as effective as possible are the range of motion, and the speed at which you perform them.
You want to work your calf through the fullest range of motion possible, with a deep stretch at the bottom of the movement and a tight contraction at the top. Calf raises done while standing flat on the floor, while still better than nothing, will not allow you to move through a complete range of motion. This means that you’ll need to place your toes on a step, block, or thick board or book so that you can lower your heels past the toes.
The bottom step in a staircase is a good place to start because there is a handrail to help you balance if needed. The deeper you can stretch, the better.
Pacing, or speed refers to how many seconds you take to perform each rep. The slower the better. This doesn’t mean you need to take 1 min to do 1 rep, or move so slowly that it is barely visually noticeable to onlookers. But take 1-2 seconds on the positive portion (up), and 2-3 seconds on the negative (down), while pausing for one second at the top and bottom extremes of the movement.
This slow, controlled, method will produce a deep burn in the calves and will make them as effective as possible – even without extra weight.
Should I Do One-Legged Bodyweight Calf Raises?
Single-legged calf raises are the logical next step to increase the difficulty, and benefits, of bodyweight calf raises. This would be considered an advanced variation and is the simplest way to double the resistance and drastically increase the impact of these exercises. Single-legged movements like this will also train your proprioceptive system and improve your balance.
Be sure to either hold onto something, or have a spotter until you have mastered the balance required for this modification.
How Often Should I Do Bodyweight Calf Raises?
Compared to other muscles on the human body, your calves are subject to a massive amount of use on an average day. These muscles will not only recover quickly, but will reply a lot of volume to effectively stimulate growth. This means that you will need to do a lot of calf raises. It also means that you can do them every day, or at least 5 times per week.
If you are just getting started then you will want to start with three or four sets of 20 or more repetitions. This should be easy for virtually any able-bodied person. Continuously strive to increase the number of repetitions per set. Remember, every time you take a step you are lifting your entire body weight on one foot. Although this is not quite the same as doing a calf raise, is a good reminder of how powerful these muscles are.
If you have already been training calves for at least a few months, you will need to perform 3-4 sets of 50, or even go to failure on each set. Aim for a total of 200 repetitions in as few sets as possible. Adding more reps to your routine will continue to be constructive
If you advance to a point where you can do 200 repetitions in a single set, you’ll need to find other ways to increase the intensity. Single leg varieties, donkey calf raises, and of course using weights and bands will be the logical next step.
In short, do this exercise as often as is possible for you. Daily is great, but a minimum of 3 times a week will still provide results.
As always, be sure to stretch thoroughly for 10-15 mins after training your calves, or any other muscle group, to allow for faster recovery and to help protect against injury.
It is important to track your progress with other metrics besides just weight and what you look like in the mirror. The scales will not tell the full story of what’s going on with your body composition. I highly recommend you track your body fat using a body fat monitor, and use a retractable tape measure to keep track of the size of your waist, hips, arms, and legs. This will give you a more complete picture of your progress.
What Are The Opposing Exercises To Calf Raises?
Most muscle groups have a clearly antagonistic muscle group that works in direct opposition and is of similar, if not equal, strength. For example, biceps and triceps, or quads and hamstrings. However, when it comes to the calves it’s a different story. The muscle that opposes the calves is the tibialis anterior. The primary function of this muscle is to flex the ankle and lift the foot, so it is nowhere near as strong as the calf, which must lift your entire body with each step. Along with regular stretching, training your tibialis anterior will help maintain good ankle stability and strength and make your ankles as injury-proof as possible.
This muscle often goes untrained, but should be exercised by either using a tibialis machine at the gym (which doesn’t really apply to this post, and is a rare find at most gyms) or by doing foot drops, working with resistance bands, or by doing toe raises. These are performed by standing with your heels on a block, lowering your toes as far as possible, then raising them as far above parallel to your heel as possible. Do this slowly, and in a controlled manner to ensure strong and balanced ankles. Use added weight or do a one-legged version for more intensity.
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How Many Squats A Day Will Make A Difference?
While nearly any number of squats will make some difference, the higher the number you do, the greater the results. This carries true until you get to really high rep numbers, i.e. over 200 squats. If you are out of shape, even 10-20 squats per day will have a significant impact on the strength of your legs, back, and on your energy levels. It is difficult to overtrain with bodyweight squats, so do plenty of them. 100+ squats a day is a great level to be at. If you want more muscular legs, try to work your way up to at least 50 per day, every other day and you will not regret it!
1 Minute Push-Up Challenge: Will It Get Results?
Every single day, set a timer and perform push-ups as fast as you can for 1 minute straight. Keep a log of how many reps you get. If you get hard and fast enough, you should reach failure before the one minute is up. When this happens, pause just long enough to crank out a few more push-ups. Repeat as necessary until the end of the minute. As the days progress, your capacity will increase and the number of push-ups that you can do within the time limit will climb dramatically. Just this one all-out set will so they make a difference and your muscle tone, size, and stamina. Because this is such a low-volume approach, it is important to do it everyday. After all, who doesn’t have time for 1 minute of push-ups each day?
