maratoolStanding Calf Raises
How to do the standing calf raises
- Adjust the padded lever of the calf raise machine to fit your height.
- Place your shoulders under the pads provided and position your toes facing forward (or using any of the two other positions described at the beginning of the chapter). The balls of your feet should be secured on top of the calf block with the heels extending off it. Push the lever up by extending your hips and knees until your torso is standing erect. The knees should be kept with a slight bend; never locked. Toes should be facing forward, outwards or inwards as described at the beginning of the chapter. This will be your starting position.
- Raise your heels as you breathe out by extending your ankles as high as possible and flexing your calf. Ensure that the knee is kept stationary at all times. There should be no bending at any time. Hold the contracted position by a second before you start to go back down.
- Go back slowly to the starting position as you breathe in by lowering your heels as you bend the ankles until calves are stretched.
- 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
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:
- Standing Dumbbell Calf Raisedumbbell
- Ankle Circlesbody only
- Calf Raises - With Bandsband
- Calves-SMRfoam roll
- Rocking Standing Calf Raisebarbell
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.