Calf raise exercise : Muscle worked, Health Benefits, How to Do?

What is calf raise exercise?

• calf raise exercise are the classic calf-strengthening exercise.
• This exercise use your body weight to strengthen and tone the gastrocnemius and soleus muscle.
• A calf muscle are mostly ignored in work outs but when it comes to weight bearing exercise this is an instrumental part of many activities like walking and running to jumping and reaching.
• Doing standing calf raises exercise in your lower body workout to make all your activities easier.
• Standing calf raises are an easy exercise to perform at home, at the gym, and when you are traveling.
• In this we will explain you how to do calf raises in a minute.before this you must know which muscle is work in this.
• Your calf muscle have two primary muscles: the soleus and the gastrocnemius.
• The soleus muscle is a deeper muscle this plays a important role in ankle stability and plantar flexion movement.
• While the gastrocnemius muscle is more superficial and two-headed muscle which has two action to plantar flexion and also assists with knee flexion.
• The gastrocnemius muscle also work for knee flexion by attaching in tandem with the hamstrings muscle,while the soleus muscle helps to maintains proper balance and pumps blood from your lower leg back up to your heart.
• When your calf muscle is weak it leads more strain and tear in muscle and leads varicose veins..

Which muscle involves in calf raises?

• Calf raises activate the two muscles that goes down to the posterior of the lower leg
• Gastrocnemius
• Soleus.

There has lot of Benefits by doing Standing Calf Raises exercise, some are explain below:

• Calf raises are an easy low-impact method for strengthening the gastrocnemius and soleus.
• Stronger and flexible calf muscles gives you better stability and balance,
• Helps to reduced risk of foot and ankle injuries
• Better agility when running and jumping.
• More rapid, explosive movement
• Great exercise for runners
• Calf raises can also detect an older person’s ability to do activities of daily living
• Helps to decrease stress on a Achilles tendon
• This will give your lower leg to defined appearance.Calf raises helps to stabilize your foot and ankle. …
• Your whole lower body performance depends on calf muscles strength .
• obviously, calf raises means a big no to injuries.

There has many variation of calf raise exercise some are explain below:

How to do standing calf raises?

This is the Best exercise you can strengthen your Calf muscles where you can use your Body weight to strengthen muscles.

How to do?

• For this exercise you have to stand on floor with your foot and shoulder width apart,both foot toes pointing in forward direction.
• Try to straighten your back ,shoulder and abdomen pulled inside.
• Now you have to raise your both heels towards the ceiling,your both knee should be straight but not locked.
• Hold for a two seconds ,you have to stand as much on the tips of toes as you can do.
• Then lower your heels to the floor,then return to starting position.
• Repeat this exercise for 25 to 30 times.

Seated Calf Raise

• Doing calf raise in sitting only works the soleus muscle.
• which is located under the gastrocnemius.this variation is best for those who have balance issue in standing.
• How to do:
• For this exercise you have to sit in chair with your back and shoulder straight. core muscle are engaged,foot flat on the floor.
• You have to push down on ball of your foot while raising your heels off the floor.
• You also do with both heel raise or one heel at one time.
• Repeat this exercise for 25 to 30 times

Assisted Standing Calf Raise

• If you will find standing calf raise it hard to maintain balance then you will also perform this exercise with holding a chair supported side or you have to stand near to the wall to stabilize yourself.
• How to do:
• For this exercise you have to stand on floor with your foot and shoulder width apart,both foot toes pointing in forward direction.
• Try to straighten your back ,shoulder back and down,and abdomen pulled inside.
• Hold a chair or wall by your hands, then you have to raise your both heels towards the ceiling.
• Your both knee should be straight but not locked.
• Hold for a two seconds ,you have to stand as much on the tips of toes as you can do.
• Then lower your heels to the floor,then return to starting position.
• Repeat this exercise for 25 to 30 times

• If you want to Chang a Foot Position for getting work inner and outer calves muscle.then modify your foot place.
• You have to turn your toes inward side slightly turn toes outward side for outer calves.

Standing Calf Raise on a Step

• For this you can increase range of motion of calves raise by doing this exercise on steps or stairs.
• This allow your heels to drop lower further during the eccentric contraction of calves raise.
• How to do:
• For doing this exercise you have to stand with your balls of foot place on steps or stairs,push your heels up as much as you can do,then slowly lower it down until heels are just below top of the steps or stairs.
• When you feel good amount of stretch in your calf muscles then return to starting position.
• Repeat this exercise for 25 to 30 times

Dumbbell Standing Calf Raise

To do this exercise, you can use Dumbbells.

How to do?

• For this exercise you have to stand on floor with your foot and shoulder width apart,both foot toes pointing in forward direction.
• Use some weights in your calf raises like dumbbells or kettle bells.
• This will helps you to build strength in your calf as they work more to lift heels from ground.
• Hold dumbbells by your side during raising of heels your arms should be slack.
• Repeat this exercise for 20 to 30 times

• If you are comfortable to take this calf raise variation to the next level, try increasing the weight or using a barbell instead of dumbbell.

Avoid these mistakes to keep your standing calf raises safe and effective:

Not Stretching Beforehand

• Stretching is the most important things of calf exercises as it helps to prevents exercise-related complains and it maintain flexibility of muscle. Spend 5 to 10 minutes stretching your calf muscle before calf raise to avoid these issues.

Going Too Fast

• Control the tempo of the exercise to see the full benefits of standing calf raises.doing the movement too quickly is not as much effective for beginners. It is best to raise and lower your heels slowly to see increased strength and performance improvement.

• If you have mastered in calf raises, you also perform this with more power and force to get maximum benefits from this exercise.

Folding Forward

• For maintain proper balance during this movements keep your chest up,you have to stand tall.lean forward to distributes your body weight may cause back ache and decrease the exercise effect.so you have to prevent this by stand straight.

Too Few Reps

• Because standing calf raises are an isolation exercise with a small range of motion, it is better to perform a more number of repetitions to maximize the movement. The sweet spot on repetitions depend on the amount of weight you are using (if any), but in between 15 and 25 is a good reps to start.

Safety and Precautions

1. Calf raises are generally safe for all age people, but if you have recently had a lower body injury like hip or knee, ankle injury, consult to your doctor or physio therapist before ding this exercise.
2. To prevent some injury during this exercise,you have to focus on movement which should be done slowly.if you feel any pain during exercise then consult to your physiotherapist for better intervention.
3. When person has sedentary lifestyle and lightly active.in this type of people calf muscles can be more tight due to a lack of flexibility training. To prevent exacerbating the issue, it is important to stretch or foam roll your muscle before and after exercise.
4. From proper stretching, standing calf raises can be a more beneficial part of a regular strengthening exercise in your routine.repeat calf raises exercise 20 to 30 times, in a starting phase at the lower end of the range and increase by your way to the higher repetitions as your calf become more stronger.