Donkey Calf Raises

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

No equipment at all. The resistance is your own bodyweight, so you progress by changing leverage, range or tempo rather than by adding plates — and you can do it anywhere.

Every exercise using:Body only

These train the calves too, using equipment this one does not:

• Peroneals-SMRfoam roll
• Rocking Standing Calf Raisebarbell
• Seated Calf Raisemachine
• Seated One Leg Calf Raise with Dumbbelldumbbell
• Smith Machine Reverse Calf Raisessmith machine + machine

Difficulty

Listed at intermediate level. It assumes you already own the underlying pattern and can hold position under load — if the position breaks before the target muscle tires, drop back to a beginner variation until it does not.

Of the 33 calves exercises in this database, 9 are listed at intermediate level.