maratoolCalves Press on Leg Machine
How to do the calves press on leg machine
- This exercise uses a Leg Press Machine to work your calves. You can perform this exercise along with Leg Presses.
- Sit down on a Leg Press Machine and press the plate up as if you were performing a leg press.
- Slide your feet down so that the balls of your feet are pressing against the rack (with your heels hanging free).
- Keeping the handles locked, press up and flex your toes and then slowly bring your toes back towards your body.
- Perform theses movements slowly for maximum benefit.
- Note: Use a lighter weight on this exercise than you are able to lift with a leg press until you are familiar with the movements.
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
Everything happens at one joint. That gives you direct control over where the tension sits; the trade-off is that the muscle gets no help, so the load that feels hard here is a fraction of what a multi-joint version of the pattern would take. Slow, complete repetitions beat heavy ones.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
The machine fixes the path, removing the balance demand and letting you train close to failure without a spotter. The cost is the stabilising work a free weight would have made you do.
Every exercise using:Machine
These train the calves too, using equipment this one does not:
- Calves-SMRfoam roll
- Donkey Calf Raisesbody only
- Rocking Standing Calf Raisebarbell
- Seated One Leg Calf Raise with Dumbbelldumbbell
- Calf Raises - With Bandsband
Illustration: Everkinetic — CC BY-SA 4.0 — license. Modified versions are shared under the same license. Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.