PushBeyond
Exercise

Calf raise: muscles worked and how to do it

The calf raise trains your calves: the gastrocnemius, the rounded muscle you see, and the soleus underneath it. No other muscle group does a meaningful share of the work.

You rise onto the balls of your feet and lower your heels again, ideally from a step so they can drop below your toes. It looks simple, and most people do it too fast and too short; the full range is where it works.

At a glance

Main muscles
Movement
Rise onto the toes
Equipment
Machine, Bodyweight
Type
Isolation (one joint)

How to do a standing calf raise

  1. Stand with the balls of your feet on the edge of a step or the platform of a calf machine, heels hanging off.
  2. If you use a machine, set the shoulder pads so you stand straight with your knees almost locked. Without a machine, hold a dumbbell in one hand and a rail with the other.
  3. Lower your heels slowly as far as they go, until you feel a deep stretch in your calves.
  4. Pause in the stretch for about a second.
  5. Rise as high as you can onto the balls of your feet, pause briefly at the top, and lower again.

Cues that help

  • "Heels to the floor, then up to the sky": use the whole range.
  • "Pause at the bottom": a second in the stretch removes the bounce from your tendons.
  • "Push through the big toe": keep the pressure on the inside of the foot so the ankles do not roll outwards.
  • "Knees still": the lift comes from the ankles, not from bending and straightening the knees.

Common mistakes

  • Bouncing. Quick, short reps let the Achilles tendon act as a spring, and the calves do less.
  • Half reps. Stopping before a full stretch, or before rising fully onto your toes, cuts the exercise short.
  • Bending the knees to help. On the standing raise, keep them nearly straight.
  • Too heavy, too soon. A weight you can move with a pause at both ends is worth more than a heavy one you bounce.

Standing or seated?

The gastrocnemius crosses the knee as well as the ankle, so it works best with the knee straight: that is the standing calf raise. When the knee is bent, as in the seated calf raise, the gastrocnemius is slack and the soleus underneath does more of the work.

For complete calves, the standing raise is the main exercise and the seated raise a useful second. If you only have time for one, choose standing.

Sets, reps and weight

  • For muscle: 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 20 reps, stopping 0 to 2 reps short of failure.
  • Rest about 1 minute between sets.
  • Calves recover quickly, so training them two or three times a week works well.
  • Progress by adding reps with the full range and pauses, then weight.

Variations and alternatives

  • Seated calf raise: knees bent, more soleus.
  • Single-leg calf raise: one leg on a step, a dumbbell in the other hand. Hard with only body weight.
  • Calf press on the leg press: push the platform with the balls of your feet.
  • Smith machine calf raise: a bar on your back, standing on a plate.
  • Donkey calf raise: bent forward at the hips, which stretches the calves further.

Tracking your calf raises

PushBeyond logs the weight and reps of each set and charts the history of the exercise. Its muscle map counts the calf raise for your calves.

Updated

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What muscles do calf raises work?

The calves: the gastrocnemius and the soleus. Standing raises favour the gastrocnemius, seated raises the soleus.

Why are my calves not growing?

Most often because the reps are fast and short. Use the full range, pause in the stretch, take sets close to failure, and train them more than once a week. Genetics also play a large part in calf size.

How often should I train calves?

Two or three times a week works for most people; calves recover quickly.

Can I do calf raises at home?

Yes: on a step, one leg at a time, holding a backpack or dumbbell. Single-leg raises with a full range are hard enough for most people.

Start training with PushBeyond

Free on iPhone and Android. No subscription.

Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle Play