maratoolCalf Raises - With Bands
How to do the calf raises - with bands
- Grab an exercise band and stand on it with your toes making sure that the length of the band between the foot and the arms is the same for both sides.
- While holding the handles of the band, raise the arms to the side of your head as if you were getting ready to perform a shoulder press. The palms should be facing forward with the elbows bent and to the sides. This movement will create tension on the band. This will be your starting position.
- Keeping the hands by your shoulder, stand up on your toes as you exhale and contract the calves hard at the top of the movement.
- After a one second contraction, slowly go back down to the starting position.
- Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Muscles worked
The prime movers are the calves — gastrocnemius over the knee and soleus beneath it, which point the foot down and absorb load every time the ankle takes weight.
Every exercise for:Calves
How this movement works
One joint moves, and it moves the load away from the body. With nothing recruited to assist, the target muscle reaches its own limit rather than the limit of the weakest link in a chain — which makes this useful for adding volume after the heavy compound work, not for opening a session.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
A band gets harder the further it stretches, so resistance peaks at the end of the range rather than the middle. It is also the easiest way to scale a movement in small steps.
Every exercise using:Band
These train the calves too, using equipment this one does not:
- Calves Press on Leg Machinemachine
- Calves-SMRfoam roll
- Donkey Calf Raisesbody only
- Rocking Standing Calf Raisebarbell
- Seated One Leg Calf Raise with Dumbbelldumbbell
Difficulty
Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.
Of the 33 calves exercises in this database, 19 are listed at beginner level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.