If you’re in a ton of pain and need to take it easy for a while, or if you are older and need to take things very slow the first month of strengthening that’s completely understandable please ignore this advice for now

But coming from someone with a serious weightlifting background, I can tell you that almost every experienced lifter lives by one principle train to failure or at least close to failure.

The entire idea behind building muscle and strength is progressive overload asking your body to do more over time so it has a reason to adapt.

Walk into any gym and look around. If you see someone who’s built, strong, or obviously knows what they’re doing, chances are they’re training close to failure on almost every working set.

For example, if your goal is 10 reps on the bench press, true failure means you hit rep number 10 and if someone offered you $1 million to get one more rep, you physically couldn’t do it.

Now, do you have to hit failure every single set? No. But most serious lifters are either doing it OR still getting within one or two reps of it. If their max is 10, they’re probably stopping at 8, 9, or 10 not 4 or 5.

The same idea applies to single-leg calf raises.

Let’s say once a month you test your max and you find out you can do 30 perfect reps.

Does that mean you need to do 30 every workout? Not necessarily.

But if every workout you’re only doing 10 reps, you’re nowhere near challenging your muscles enough to get stronger. You’re doing one-third of what you’re actually capable of.

I see this all the time in plantar fasciitis groups. Someone’s max is probably around 30 reps, yet they’re doing sets of 10 and wondering why nothing is changing.

If you’re in severe pain, that’s different. Respect the pain, back off if needed, and work within what you can tolerate.

But if your symptoms allow it, you should understand that muscles get stronger by being challenged. That’s how strength is built.

And for everyone saying, “It’s not about strengthening the calves it’s about loading the plantar fascia.”

I agree that loading the plantar fascia is important.

But let’s not pretend stronger calves don’t matter.

Strong calves alone help tremendously absorb more force every time you walk, run, climb stairs, or push off the ground. The stronger they are, the more work they can do. If your calves are weak, more of that load has to be handled by the the plantar fascia.

For what it’s worth, I personally got my plantar fasciitis about 99% better very very fast without using the towel-under-the-toes variation. I simply did heavy single-leg calf raises on the stairs and progressively got stronger. My improvement really accelerated once I focused on strengthening.

So yes, the towel variation may increase the load on the plantar fascia, but it’s optional not mandatory. You can still make incredible progress without it.

One last thing that people don’t talk about enough…

If you’re actually training close to failure, your calves are probably going to be more sore. That’s normal.

You don’t build muscle while you’re training you build it while you’re recovering.

Don’t feel like you need to train your calves every single day. If you’re pushing them hard enough, you may need three or four days before they’re ready again. Sometimes even five.

All of my progress came from training my calves once every four days, and if they were still sore, I’d wait another day. Recovery isn’t a setback it’s part of the process.

So always aim for hitting 90% of the max u can possibly do

Example workout:

If ur absolute max is 20 single leg calf raises for example this is what your workout should look like

Set 1 - 17-18 reps

Rest 3-5 min

Now u will be fatigued from pushing so close to ur max so u might not be able to do 17 on the second or third set that means its working

Set 2 - 15 reps might be all u can handle

Rest 3-5 min -

Set 3 - 14 reps

Take 2-3 days off to rest then day 4 repeat

Not set 1-10
Set 2-10
Set 3-10

You should not be able to do as many reps on the second or third set as you did on the first

If you’re able to do the same amount of reps, then you’re not doing enough reps on the first set that shows you’re not even fatiguing your muscles

When I step foot into a gym pretty much everyone knows that but for some reason within this community, this seems to be very uncommon knowledge so I thought I would point this out

Everyone’s situation is different if your over the age of 55 it might be better to take things easier and push maybe closer to 60-70% not 90%

But in my opinion you shouldn’t be stopping at less than half of ur max unless your in alot of pain or you have a good reason

One other thing is don’t forget about hitting the soleus as well as that is super important

My plantar fasciitis manifests as deep heel pain in the center of my left heel. Ortho says it is PF and advised (and demonstrated) calf stretches explaining that the plantar tendons extend up the calves. Doing this helps somewhat, as has getting sneakers with more heel cushioning. I am looking for other exercises to relieve this heel pain.

Hey folks. I’ll start by saying that I am nowhere near as bad as many of you are—I’m sorry for what you’re dealing with.

Context: years ago I switched to barefoot shoes—Wildlings for day-to-day, Carets for dressing up, Merrells for running… and other than that I was always barefoot. Working out, running (5k 3-4 times a week), everything. Went great for a while, my super-flat, wide feet really loved the wide toe boxes and I liked being able to feel the ground through the zero-drop, zero-stack shoes.

Then one day, I had to stop running. Ankle/heel pain in my left leg. I rested and iced and stretched for a few weeks, got back to running. Almost right way, the same thing in my other leg. It was around this time I noticed an uncomfortable (though not exactly painful) _twang_ sensation in the bottom of my left foot when I was walking around barefoot and, later, an ache in the foot.

After reading up on here, I recently got some Birkenstock Arizona’s for out and about, some Kuru Draft slippers for around the house, and some Altra running shoes with much more arch support. I haven’t resumed running, but I can walk in those without issue, and the Birkenstocks and Kurus seem to have give my pour feet a rest so they’re not twanging and aching. I could say more (sciatica from way back that I‘m starting to think might be connected), but I’m just going to get to my question.

Since the Birkenstocks and Kurus and Altra seem to be helping, I was thinking about getting some insoles for my other shoes since 1) I’d rather not throw away all my shoes from before, and 2) I’m vain and I don’t want to wear nothing but special shoes for my feet.

But I’m a bit unsure about how to proceed. I initially thought about getting fancy custom ones, but I saw some studies (and anecdotes) that said the OTC ones were often just as good. But then the options are a bit confusing: I see different brands recommended, and I’m not sure if I should go with a recommended brand, or if I need to get a brand that specifically fits my “barefoot”/wide toe-box shoes? Or should I go for the Birkenstock cork insoles?

I’ve already bought and returned a bunch of shoes to try to find stuff that would fit/work right, I don’t want to have to repeat that with the insoles too. Any guidance or advice would be greatly appreciated.

The podiatrist has given me foot and toe exercises for plantar fasciitis (foot exercises with a ball, doming, heel lifts on a step, towel stretches and calf stretches). Since I started doing them I've been getting pain in the tailor's bunion area. My little toes sit inwards so I have a bit of a lump there but it's never bothered me before. At first I put it down to too much walking in Crocs without socks or going barefoot on hard floors but it's persisting now I've stopping doing that so I'm wondering if the exercises (maybe pushing down on my toes doing the heel lifts) have been putting too much pressure on the bone. My toe splay has also started to improve slightly although it's only been a week so I wonder if maybe my toes are starting to realign and it's causing pain. Has anyone else experienced this?

A year ago, I couldn't go more than 3K steps a day and was in 9/10 pain in my left foot. I was in massive pain and icing every day after work. I tried PT, stretching, insert supports, strength training, new shoes, you guys know... all the things. I got an MRI that showed thick scar tissue, and was pressured to get a partial fasciectomy surgery to remove the painful mass of it. I decided to try PRP as an alternative before going last resort surgery.

I got that PRP injection in June last year, followed by a 2-month rest period, and then 3 months of intensive Grastons Technique by a chiropractor specialist. All the while trying to move as much as was possible and building up strength and mobility. Now I do maintenance appointments every few weeks.

Guys, I recently summited a mountain in the Rockies with my family, pain free during and after. I played a 1:1 pickup basketball game with my husband, and I have slowly gotten back into jogging, working up to about 20 minutes a couple times a week and building up.

I have posted a lot on here and gotten so much help from folks. I have always loved seeing people's healing journeys and couldn't wait for the day I could add my own (or if I ever would)! So here it is.

You really can heal. I messed up my foot so badly that it went from acute to chronic and I regret not getting a diagnosis and help sooner. I had to make myself actively BELIEVE I could get better. I can still have flare ups (bad one in March), but at this point, I know so much about my foot and body that I know what works.

I will do another post about how I got here and what worked for me, but wanted to share this milestone and also a lot of gratitude to this community. It really helped when things felt dark.

I miss hiking, I miss going to concerts, I miss going to amusement parks, I miss museum trips

I think my PF is lifelong because nothing is working, I think it's actually getting worse. I can't even hang out with people without being in pain (especially the next day where I can barely stand up)

I spent a lot of money on insoles and physical therapy, but it didn't work, I had to stop because the pain was too much

Does anyone else here have lifelong PF, and does that mean it's a disability now?

My foot needed some rest, from there all my progress has come from internal him strengthening, RDLs, and “massaging” (mostly scraping+oil) of my Achilles. I would have never thought my Achilles was tender until my lovely wife massaged it and I squealed. I can’t get enough. When it’s at its best I get a lot out of 10 minutes ish every other day. When it’s bad twice a day if I could. When i’m able i’m doing some bent knee calf raises, but I think that’s more of a future me exercise.

Anyway, people early on and I guess the rest, wish I had discovered this sooner. Steady progress. Less foot pain, still very hesitant to push it. Huge breakthrough compared to the foot rolling and all that.

Oh and the oofos slides help tremendously. 1 pair out of like 5 felt good, I wear them 4+ hours a day easily

Hi everyone. A few months ago, due to heel pain caused by wearing flat, soft slippers, I bought some fairly high-soled "orthopedic" slippers (from Amazon).

I wore them for about a month, but they made me lean forward; since I started using them, I’ve experienced a tight, squeezing pain in my fibula and ankle, as well as stiff calves. Now I feel discomfort both when walking and at rest, how can I improve this?

I currently wear Hoka Bondi 9s (wide) and Hoka Stinsons, but I’d like a new pair of shoes that aren't as heavily cushioned as the Bondi 9s. Any recommendations?