Do your calves get bigger when you exercise?

michellew91
michellew91 Posts: 47 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been power walking on the treadmill lately and when I remeasured myself to see my progress, my calves were an inch bigger instead of smaller (not exactly my priority of body parts that should get bigger). Does this happen to anyone else out of curiosity?

Replies

  • tarowon
    tarowon Posts: 1
    I heard that you need to do stretching after exercise, unless your calves will get thicker!
    Any yoga movement which stretches that area or massaging around that area helps to avoid thickening. =D

    -little tips helps XD
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Don't worry about it. You were probably measuring while your calves were still slightly engorged by your workout. Plus, let's look at our priorities. When I started out, if you told me I'd lose 10 inches of fat off my stomach but gain 2 inches of muscle on my calves, I would have signed up for that program so fast your head would spin. Are you really going to let slightly larger calves stand in the way of the progress you're hoping to achieve over your entire body?
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    from walking? no.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,472 Member
    Yes, that has happened to me in the past. I outgrew my kneeboots, sadly :(. I did like the shape better, though.
  • CarlaC78
    CarlaC78 Posts: 30
    Yep!

    More defined though so not a bad thing :) I lost 12 inches doing the 30DS jogging and cycling and the only place I didn't lose from was my calves lol

    Since I started in MFP I have lost inches everywhere and lost 51 pounds, BUT I have gained an inch and a half on the calves!
  • Mighty_Rabite
    Mighty_Rabite Posts: 581 Member
    I think ever since I started working out, I've gained a little bit on the calves, but far more than anything else, I have gained definition. I still haven't noticed any remarkable increase in calf size even when targeting calves specifically (perhaps that is from doing 15-20 rep sets on them, but I am putting them through some HEAVY weight too).
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    My measurements often go up after exercise. For me, it has been water retention and it goes back down after a few days.
  • NCchar130
    NCchar130 Posts: 955 Member
    When I first started exercising, my calves measured bigger. But now, after 3.5 months of working out, they are 1 inch smaller than when I started.
  • dorothytd
    dorothytd Posts: 1,138 Member
    Mine recently got smaller:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/787224-it-s-going-to-be-a-boot-iful-winter
  • dsmpunk
    dsmpunk Posts: 262 Member
    Don't worry about it. You were probably measuring while your calves were still slightly engorged by your workout. Plus, let's look at our priorities. When I started out, if you told me I'd lose 10 inches of fat off my stomach but gain 2 inches of muscle on my calves, I would have signed up for that program so fast your head would spin. Are you really going to let slightly larger calves stand in the way of the progress you're hoping to achieve over your entire body?

    This.
  • Flixie00
    Flixie00 Posts: 1,195 Member
    I've always had big calves, and could never find knee length boots to fit me. When I started working out and losing weight, my calves did initially get bigger, but then they got smaller. I now have no issues finding knee lenght boots to fit.

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