How many calf raises

However, this is a good option for people who find it difficult to stay balanced when standing. Sit in a chair with your back straight, shoulders back and down, core engaged , and feet flat on the ground.

Push down on the balls of your feet while lifting your heels off the ground. You can do both heels together or one at a time. If you find it hard to keep your balance while doing standing calf raises, you can also perform this exercise while holding on to a chair back or the wall to help stabilize yourself.

Follow the same steps; just use one or both arms to hold the chair or wall. Modifying the way you place your feet changes the muscles worked. Turn the toes inward slightly and you'll work the inner calf muscles more; turn them outward slightly and you place more tension on the outer calf muscles.

You can increase the range of motion of the calf raise by doing it on a step or stair. This allows your heels to drop down further during the eccentric portion of the exercise.

To do it, stand with the balls of your feet on the step or stair, push your heels up as far as you can, then lower them slowly until your heels are just below the top of the step or stair.

Once you feel a good stretch in your calf muscles stretch, not pain , return to the starting position. Use dumbbells , kettlebells , or even gallons of water to add weight to your raises. This can help you build strength in your calves as they work harder to lift the additional weight. Hold the weights at your side during this movement with your arms slack.

Avoid these mistakes to keep your standing calf raises safe and effective. Stretching is perhaps the most important component of calf exercises as it prevents exercise-related cramping and reduced flexibility. Spend five to 10 minutes stretching your calves before training to avoid these issues. Control the tempo of the exercise to see the full benefits of standing calf raises. Once you've mastered calf raises, you can perform them with more power and force to gain maximum benefits from this exercise.

To stay properly balanced while performing calf raises, keep your chest up and stand tall. Leaning too far forward redistributes your body weight and the weight of your dumbbells, if you're using them , which can cause back pain and reduce the effectiveness of the exercise.

To prevent injury during the exercise, focus on moving slowly, keeping a soft bend in the knees, and pushing your shoulders back to prevent rounding in the spine. If you experience pain, stop the movement and consult your doctor. For sedentary and lightly active people, calf muscles can be overactive tight due to a lack of flexibility training.

With proper stretching, standing calf raises can be a beneficial part of a regular strength training routine. Do this exercise 10 to 30 times, starting at the lower end of this range and working your way to the higher end as your calves become stronger. Incorporate this move and similar ones into one of these popular workouts:. Get exercise tips to make your workouts less work and more fun. Cleveland Clinic.

Pulled calf muscle. Updated June 3, Then extend your knees and raise your heels. Seated Calf Raise. On a seated calf-raise machine or bench, sit and place your feet on a block with knees bent 90 degrees and rest some weight plates on your thighs.

Perform a calf raise as described above. For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube! A Two-Pronged Attack The standing calf raise primarily works your gastrocnemius, the big diamond-shaped calf muscle. More Videos.

A Better Way: Embrace high volume! I never do less than 20 reps per set when I train my calves, and usually it's more like This opens up a lot of different possibilities of how to arrange your workout.

A few include:. Take a pre-workout minutes before training to help control fatigue during high-rep leg days. Plenty of people only do one type of calf raises: either standing or seated. If you want sock-stretching calves, you need both.

Because your calves are made up of two muscles:. A Better Way: Include one standing and one seated exercise per calf workout. That's the approach you'll find in the Lean Body week workout plan created by my father, champion bodybuilder with monstrous calves Lee Labrada. Going for extra gains? Perform one seated, one standing, and one with knees slightly bent, like in the workout below. Plenty of lifters swear you have to train calves heavy to make them grow.

I completely agree, as I explain in " 3 Moves to Bigger Calves. Not sure if you're going too heavy? Here are a few ways to tell:. A Better Way: Use a weight you can manage with strict form and focus on perfection with each rep: a full contraction, slow negative , and a full stretch. On heavy straight-leg calf movements like Smith machine raises, Hunter wears a leather lifting belt to protect his lower back. I can spot a half-ass calf workout from across the gym.

It looks one of two ways: Just bouncing the weight in the bottom position or wiggling up and down in the middle 50 percent of the range of motion. Sure, bouncing reps will make you sore , and doing mid-range partials will make your calves burn like crazy.