Calf Exercises 13 Moves With How-To Steps

All 13 calf exercises 13

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  Barbell Calf Raise

  Barbell

  Steps and tips

  Rising onto the balls of your feet with a barbell on your upper back. Works the calves with heavy weight.

  How to do it

  1. Set the bar on your upper back and stand with the balls of your feet on a step or plate, heels hanging off.
  2. Stand tall and brace your core.
  3. Rise as high as you can onto the balls of your feet, pausing at the top.
  4. Lower slowly until your heels drop below the step.

  Keep in mind

  • Pause at the top and stretch at the bottom. Bouncing is the common cheat.
  • Do it in a rack or Smith machine for safety.
• 

  Bodyweight Calf Raise

  Bodyweight

  Steps and tips

  Rising onto the balls of your feet with no weight. The basic calf exercise.

  How to do it

  1. Stand with the balls of your feet on a step, heels hanging off, holding something for balance.
  2. Rise as high as you can onto the balls of your feet.
  3. Pause at the top.
  4. Lower slowly until your heels drop below the step.

  Keep in mind

  • Full range every rep, with a pause at the top and a stretch at the bottom.
  • One leg at a time when two feels easy.
• 

  Calf Press

  Machine

  Steps and tips

  Pressing the leg press platform away with the balls of your feet. Works the calves with your legs straight and your back supported.

  How to do it

  1. Sit in the leg press with the balls of your feet on the bottom edge of the platform and your legs nearly straight.
  2. Keep your knees soft, not locked.
  3. Press the platform away with the balls of your feet as far as it goes.
  4. Let your heels drop back slowly until you feel a stretch in your calves.

  Keep in mind

  • Keep your knees soft so the platform cannot lock them out.
  • Full range with a pause at the top.
• 

  Donkey Calf Raise

  MachineBodyweight

  Steps and tips

  A calf raise done bent over at the hips, on a machine or with a partner on your back. The bent position stretches the calves harder.

  How to do it

  1. Stand with the balls of your feet on the step and hinge forward at the hips, resting your forearms on the support.
  2. Keep your legs straight.
  3. Rise as high as you can onto the balls of your feet.
  4. Lower slowly until your heels drop below the step.

  Keep in mind

  • Stay bent at the hips for the whole set.
  • Pause at the top and stretch at the bottom.
• 

  Dumbbell Calf Raise

  Dumbbell

  Steps and tips

  Rising onto the balls of your feet with a dumbbell in each hand. Works the calves.

  How to do it

  1. Stand with the balls of your feet on a step, heels hanging off, holding a dumbbell in each hand.
  2. Stand tall.
  3. Rise as high as you can onto the balls of your feet, pausing at the top.
  4. Lower slowly until your heels drop below the step.

  Keep in mind

  • Hold something with one hand and a dumbbell in the other if balance is the limit.
  • Log the weight of one dumbbell. SetLift counts both.
• 

  Hack Squat Calf Raise

  MachinePlate-Loaded

  Steps and tips

  A calf raise on the hack squat machine with your legs straight and your shoulders under the pads. Works the calves with heavy weight and no balance needed.

  How to do it

  1. Stand on the platform with the balls of your feet on its edge, back against the pad and shoulders under the supports.
  2. Release the catches with your legs nearly straight.
  3. Rise as high as you can onto the balls of your feet, pausing at the top.
  4. Lower slowly until your heels drop below the platform.

  Keep in mind

  • Keep your knees soft, not locked.
  • Pause at the top and stretch at the bottom.
• 

  Jumping Jacks

  Bodyweight

  Steps and tips

  Also works glutes, shoulders, abductors and quads.

  Jumping your feet apart while raising your arms overhead, then back. A whole-body warm-up.

  How to do it

  1. Stand tall with your feet together and your arms at your sides.
  2. Jump your feet apart while swinging your arms up overhead.
  3. Jump your feet back together as your arms come down.
  4. Keep going for the set, counting each jump out as one rep.

  Keep in mind

  • Land softly on the balls of your feet.
  • Keep a steady rhythm rather than rushing.
• 

  Kettlebell Tibialis Raise

  Kettlebell

  Steps and tips

  Sitting on a bench with a kettlebell hung from the front of one foot, lifting your toes toward your shin. Works the muscle on the front of the shin.

  How to do it

  1. Sit on the end of a bench with one leg straight out in front of you and the heel resting on the floor.
  2. Hook the handle of a kettlebell over the top of that foot.
  3. Lift your toes and the kettlebell toward your shin as far as you can.
  4. Lower slowly. Finish the set, then switch legs.

  Keep in mind

  • Start light. The muscle is small and the lever is long.
  • Log reps for one side. SetLift counts the other side for you.
• 

  Seated Calf Raise

  Machine

  Steps and tips

  Raising your heels with a pad across your knees on the seated calf machine. Works the deeper calf muscle that the standing raise misses.

  How to do it

  1. Sit with the balls of your feet on the step and the pad resting across your lower thighs.
  2. Release the catch.
  3. Rise as high as you can onto the balls of your feet, pausing at the top.
  4. Lower slowly until your heels drop below the step.

  Keep in mind

  • Slow reps with a pause at both ends. This muscle responds to time under tension.
  • Keep your heels moving straight up and down.
• 

  Single Leg Calf Raise

  BodyweightDumbbell

  Steps and tips

  A calf raise on one leg, with or without a dumbbell in the same-side hand. Works each calf on its own.

  How to do it

  1. Stand with the ball of one foot on a step, heel hanging off, holding something for balance.
  2. Rise as high as you can onto the ball of that foot, pausing at the top.
  3. Lower slowly until your heel drops below the step.
  4. Finish the set, then switch legs.

  Keep in mind

  • Hold a dumbbell in the hand on the same side as the working leg.
  • Log reps for one side. SetLift counts the other side for you.
• 

  Smith Machine Calf Raise

  Machine

  Steps and tips

  A standing calf raise with the Smith machine bar on your upper back. Works the calves with heavy weight and a fixed bar path.

  How to do it

  1. Set a step or plate under the bar, stand on it with the balls of your feet, and set the bar on your upper back.
  2. Unhook the bar and stand tall.
  3. Rise as high as you can onto the balls of your feet, pausing at the top.
  4. Lower slowly until your heels drop below the step.

  Keep in mind

  • Pause at the top and stretch at the bottom.
  • Keep your knees soft.
• 

  Standing Calf Raise

  MachineBodyweight

  Steps and tips

  Rising onto the balls of your feet, on a machine or with a weight, from a step. The main calf exercise.

  How to do it

  1. Stand with the balls of your feet on a step and your heels hanging off, under the machine pads or holding a weight.
  2. Stand tall with your legs straight and your knees soft.
  3. Rise as high as you can onto the balls of your feet, pausing at the top.
  4. Lower slowly until your heels drop below the step.

  Keep in mind

  • Full range with a pause at both ends. Bouncing short reps is the common fault.
  • Keep your knees soft, not locked.
• 

  Tibialis Raise

  Bodyweight

  Steps and tips

  Leaning against a wall and lifting your toes toward your shins. Works the muscle on the front of the shin, which protects the knees and ankles.

  How to do it

  1. Stand with your back against a wall and your feet a foot or two in front of you, heels on the floor.
  2. Keep your legs straight.
  3. Lift your toes and the front of your feet as high as you can toward your shins.
  4. Lower slowly and repeat.

  Keep in mind

  • Feet further from the wall makes it harder.
  • Higher reps work well. Aim for a burn in the front of your shins.

  Watch a demo on YouTube