Build muscular calves with standing calf raises

Leg day can’t all be about the quads and hamstrings. You use your calf muscles, whether you’re running, jumping, walking, playing sports, or just going about your day. Strengthening these often-overlooked muscles levels up your overall physical performance, balance, stability, and more.

It’s more difficult to grow your calf muscles compared to other frequently targeted muscles like your biceps. One of the best ways to target your calves is with standing calf raises. Let’s look at the benefits of standing calf raises, common mistakes to avoid, and how to master this worthwhile move.

What are the benefits of standing calf raises?

Shirtless man jumping high in the air in black and white — Shane Rounce / Unsplash

When performing a standing calf raise, you’re in a standing position and you slowly raise your heels up while keeping your knees extended. You pause at the top before lowering your heels back down to the ground. You might be surprised by the effectiveness of this simple move.

Here are the benefits of standing calf raises:

Versatile and low-impact move that doesn’t require any equipment. You can add weights if you’d like.
Strengthens your calves and the muscles and ligaments in your lower legs, ankles, and feet.
You can go for higher reps or time.
Enhances your physical performance, balance, and stability.
Improves your explosive jumping power.
Powerful calf muscles support your feet and ankles, which reduces your risk of injuries during certain activities, especially Achilles heel injuries.
Sculpts a more muscular lower body.
Achieves a greater squat depth by improving your ankle mobility.

Interesting research

Close-up of calf muscles on running legs on road — Kinkate / Pexels

An interesting study published in Frontiers in Physiology compared the muscle-building potential of standing and seated calf raises. The researchers concluded that the changes in muscle volume were significantly greater for the standing calf raise compared to the seated calf raise. The seated calf raise didn’t notably increase muscle volume in the gastrocnemius muscles.

What we can take from this is that the standing calf raise is far superior for growing your calf muscles compared to the seated calf raise, particularly for the gastrocnemius muscles.

What are the muscles targeted during standing calf raises?

Man legs doing calf raise with muscles showing — Daria Liudnaya / Pexels

As you lift your heels up and shift your weight onto your toes, you’ll primarily target the two muscles running down the backs of your lower legs called your soleus and gastrocnemius. These muscles play a big role in ankle extension, flexion, jumping, and running.

The soleus helps you maintain balance while your gastrocnemius works together with your hamstrings for knee flexion. You’ll also activate secondary and stabilizing muscles, including your flexor hallucis longus and the tibialis anterior and posterior.

How to do standing calf raises

Man doing calf raises in the gym — Getty Images Signature / Canva Pro

You can perform standing calf raises on the floor or using a step or slope. If you’d like to add weights, you can hold two dumbbells with your arms down by your sides.

Here’s how to do standing calf raises on an exercise step:

Stand upright on a weight plate or exercise step. Make sure you’re standing on the balls of your feet with the fronts of your feet and your toes resting up on the exercise step.
Engage your core and calves, and raise your heels off the floor as high as you can.
Slowly lower your heels back down to the starting position.
Repeat until the set is complete.

Common mistakes to avoid

Standing calf raise on a step — Kenta Seki / Shutterstock

Sculpt calves of steel and master the standing calf raise by avoiding these common mistakes:

Not stretching or warming up for a few minutes before you start
Going too fast and compromising your form
Leaning too far forward
Rounding your back
Not tapping your heels back down on the ground and completing the full range of motion

Aim for between 10 and 30 reps or more, and when you’ve mastered your technique, you can add dumbbells.

Top safety tips

Man stretching in workout clothes — Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels

Standing calf raises are generally a suitable exercise for all fitness levels. If you’ve had an injury to your lower body, it’s best to consult your doctor, healthcare provider, or physical therapist before trying this move.

Here are some top tips to improve your form and optimize safety:

Avoid completely locking your knees and keep a soft bend in your knees.
Push your shoulders back to help you maintain an upright torso.
Stretch or foam roll before or after training, especially if your calf muscles are tight.

Variations

One-legged calf raise — Kenta Seki / Shutterstock

Here are some of the top variations of the standing calf raise:

Seated calf raise: If you’re having difficulty staying balanced when standing, you can try the seated calf raise.
Assisted standing calf raise: You can hold onto the back of a chair or the wall to stabilize yourself with the assisted standing calf raise.
Dumbbell standing calf raise: Hold two dumbbells with your arms down by your sides when performing the standing calf raise.

Top tip: Turning your toes slightly inward works your inner calf muscles more, whereas turning them slightly outward places a little more emphasis on your outer calf muscles.