I did 3,182 Calf Raises in 1 month (The Results)

[@CyliusW21]

Nice, i decided to do a calf journey too. Even though i had small calves at the start. I still did calf raises regardless. I also knew i had calf genetics because i’m 5’7 (short) and i notice I have a long gastrocnemius. So i started my calf journey from November 2022 to May 2024. The whole time i was consistent, 3-4 days of leg stimulation every week. Left was 15, right calf was 15.5 inches. My calves are close to the size of my thighs now. I’m pretty small and my thighs measures at 26 inches. My calves are 19.3 inches as i type this!! It’s not much compared to bigger or overweight people. But the difference in size is from over a year ago is massive. 19 inch calves looks very nice aesthetically. Calves take a lot of dedication.

[@JohnPDent]

Wow, awesome results there. Thanks for the comment and good for you!

[@morrning_group]

Awesome progress! 🙌 Seeing a 0.5-inch increase in calf size in just 30 days is really impressive. Curious to know - did you notice any changes in your calf strength or endurance as well, beyond the visible muscle growth? I'm thinking of trying a similar challenge, so I'd love to hear more about your overall experience and any tips you have for maximizing results.

[@JohnPDent]

Yes, the goal wasn't to make my calves stronger, but I did notice a strength gain. When I did weighted calf raises (which were part of my normal workout routine) the weight felt comparatively light after the first week or so of this challenge. As for endurance, my calves could definitely do more in terms of volume and not feel sore after the challenge.

[@babycheesus666]

you could had put a picture comparison somewhere

[@JohnPDent]

Yeah, I did realize that yesterday actually. Something to improve on next time 👍

[@TheJarlath9]

people would skip to it and then leave he lured with the thubnail

[@JohnPDent]

@TheJarlath9, people probably would jump to a comparison of the pictures, no doubt, but I actually didn't do that on purpose, believe it or not. As for the thumbnail, yeah it is luring people in, and I'm testing to see how that style works in this video. I've seen it done multiple ways.

[@jay2bnvd]

21 years ago, my trainer told me that if I truly wanted to grow calves, I should not do it in gym. Instead, I should walk 5km (about 3 miles) -in under an hour, on a road that has declines and inclines. He emphasized that it should be an actual road and not a treadmill. I did this for 6 months 21 years ago and my calves grew incredibly huge and well shaped. About 15 years ago, I got 2 successive hernia injuries and completely stopped working out. My calves were the only things remaining from my bodybuilding days. I started back up about 6 months ago, and from the get-go my calves (which I haven't trained in 21 years) are still at the level of a lot of the pro builders in my gym. After 6 months of walking again now, my calves are now the best calves in my entire region. (My waist and the rest of my body could be best described as dad bod though.)

[@JohnPDent]

How often were you going on these walks? I've done long marches in the past and not noticed a massive difference.

[@jay2bnvd]

​@@JohnPDent I was a bit overzealous and decided to do them twice a day: Once in the morning as well as once in the evening. It worked out perfectly, because I was working 12-hour shifts and lived a little over 5km from work. In the mornings, I would do the walk in under an hour (3.1 miles/hour) and in the evenings, I would slow-pace it back home at about an hour and half. The mornings were brutal as it would hurt a lot -especially on the up-hills and down-hills -because I kept the high pace throughout for the entire 5km. 😅 I worked 6 days on and 3 days off. I did this for exactly 6 months in 2003 from January to June. (Then the rainy season started and I drove to work and back.) From then on, I would just walk to town (about 546 yards) once a week, until I got injured 15 years ago. That's it. After the hernia operations, it was just normal walking around at home and maybe walk to town once a month. I went back to gym 6 months ago. I just updated my profile pic of what my calves looked like before I got back into it (being practically completely dormant for 15 years). Will update pics of what my legs look like now soon. I train quads, glutes and hamstrings in gym, but never calves -and as I said, they lasted me over 20 years from just 6 months. Edit: I should note that I did do 30km (18.6 mile) military marches a few years before this and while they did give my calves some form, they never really shaped them. I think mainly, because it was not very often and also because we did allow ourselves to rest here and there. When I'd do the 5km walks, it would be stiff pace, not letting up or resting even when it burned like a mother-father. lol

[@JohnPDent]

Awesome, thanks for the in-depth breakdown. I might look to add something like this if I can work it around my schedule.

[@Weweta]

Do you believe doing these for a longer period of time (let’s suppose 3 or 6 months) would have better results? I was wondering because with push ups once it gets easy to do them you stop growing

[@JohnPDent]

I think if I just did 100 calf raises every day for 6 months there would have been a bit more growth, but overall you're right. Our bodies adapt to the stress we put it under. If I did a more progressively overloaded approach, then I think there were plenty more gains to be had. So it depends on exactly how you're doing this challenge/program.

[@Weweta]

@@JohnPDent yeah I thought so, but I was just wondering, how did you know where to measure your calves?

[@JohnPDent]

I measured around the center of the muscle. The exact spot is probably going to be different person to person because of muscle shape and insertions.

[@DanSymboliC]

Very interesting! Thank you for the vid

[@JohnPDent]

No problem, thanks for watching.

[@jay2bnvd]

@ClearDiscussion KZbin seems to not allow me to reply to any comments, so to answer your last question, I'll just add it here as a new comment... Please remove if you'd like. 🙂 I was a bit overzealous and decided to do them twice a day: Once in the morning as well as once in the evening. It worked out perfectly, because I was working 12-hour shifts and lived a little over 5km from work. In the mornings, I would do the walk in under an hour (3.1 miles/hour) and in the evenings, I would slow-pace it back home at about an hour and half. The mornings were brutal as it would hurt a lot -especially on the up-hills and down-hills -because I kept the high pace throughout for the entire 5km. I worked 6 days on and 3 days off. I did this for exactly 6 months in 2003 from January to June. (Then the rainy season started and I drove to work and back.) From then on, I would just walk to town (about 546 yards) once a week, until I got injured 15 years ago. That's it. After the hernia operations, it was just normal walking around at home and maybe walk to town once a month. I went back to gym 6 months ago. I just updated my profile pic of what my calves looked like before I got back into it (being practically completely dormant for 15 years). Will update pics of what my legs look like now soon. I train quads, glutes and hamstrings in gym, but never calves -and as I said, they lasted me over 20 years from just 6 months. Edit: I should note that I did do 30km (18.6 mile) military marches a few years before this and while they did give my calves some form, they never really shaped them. I think mainly, because it was not very often and also because we did allow ourselves to rest here and there. When I'd do the 5km walks, it would be stiff pace, not letting up or resting even when it burned like a mother-father. lol

[@JohnPDent]

I saw your other one, I'll leave this in case anyone comes it and wants to try.

[@BetterIanni]

Sick, dude!

[@JohnPDent]

Thank you!

[@Jolly-Green-Steve]

A better way to get big calves is to climb a ladder then stand towards the top for 2-3 minutes then repeat 4-5 times or go for a 1 mile walk with a 40 lbs weighted vest 2 times per week.

[@JohnPDent]

I used to do ruck marches fairly often when I was in the army, but I never had much calf gains with it. Biggest change I noticed, besides this month challenge, was doing weighted calf raises 4-5 times a week when I was on a more strength-based workout program.

[@Jolly-Green-Steve]

@@JohnPDent It works a lot better if you are 250+ pounds. That's why fat guys have huge calves. If you weigh like 180 and use 40 lbs vest you won't get much. Go up and down a ladder for a while. I used a ladder for like 2 hours when I installed LED lights around ceiling of my bedroom. My calves were wrecked for 3-4 days.

[@entity844]

This is pretty cool, actually. you could have have gotten a deeper stretch by standing with your forefoot on an elavated platform. Either way, good video

[@JohnPDent]

Yeah, I've done calf raises like that, and, like I said, if I were doing the month long challenge again, I would've done stretched raises more. Thanks.

[@HenrikMyrhaug]

I take stairs instead of escalators/ elevators. Works pretty well for me.

[@JohnPDent]

I'm don't use elevators or such on a daily basis, so unfortunately doesn't apply much for me.

[@gitsurfer27]

If you had made them single leg calf raises, the results would have been much better! Our calves are endurance machines, over a long enough distance we can outrun almost every other species, double leg calf raises aren't enough for this muscle. But if you lift a leg up and double the weight, now you're talking. Single leg calf ladder sets progressing by 10-20 everyday...boom.

[@JohnPDent]

Not a bad idea, maybe I'll give that a go.

[@darrylbrown7833]

Best thing for calves is to walk in stilleto heels..... women who wear them a lot usually have great calves.....so there you go guys, become drag artists 😂😂

[@JohnPDent]

Not the exact solution I was hoping for 😂

[@Tarantas]

Bodybuilders would do whatever stupid things but not actual running. This is ridiculous.

[@Hatzaflatze]

running is pretty hard on the joints and ligaments in your legs. and body builders are pretty heavy mostly so that is probably why they wont run.

[@JohnPDent]

Are you saying I'm a bodybuilder? Incorrect assessment if so.

[@Tarantas]

@@Hatzaflatze "running is bad for hoomans", yes. It's not like the entire human body was built for long distance running, right?

[@JohnPDent]

@Tarantas, he didn't say running is bad, he said it's hard on joints and ligaments. Which is true if you overdue it (as with many things). Most bodybuilders don't run as well, so not sure what point you're making regarding this.

[@Hatzaflatze]

@@Tarantas body builders are not normal humans my man.