Having beautiful legs starts at the bottom, and that's precisely where your calves are. This essential lower-leg group of muscles is often hard to develop, but we have a list of great calf exercises that can help you achieve your goals.
Add Calf Work to Leg Days and Upper Days – They can handle it.
But first, let's take a look at what the calves are and at why so many people think it's "impossible" to get bigger calves.
The Calf's Anatomy Explained
The calf is the group of three muscles that sit in the back of your lower leg, right behind the shin bone. The three muscles are the following:
1. Gastrocnemius
It's the largest muscle of the calf, as well as the main area to hit if you want to grow your calves and get your lower legs that much-sought 3D look.
2. Soleus
This muscle is also essential for walking and is activated when we stand. Running from below the knee to the heel, the soleus is often called "the second heart" due to its important role in blood circulation.
3. Achilles' Tendon
Connects the calf muscles to the heel and is essential for foot and heel movement. Its main functions include shock absorption and force transmission.
Overall, the main function of the calves is to provide support when we stand, walk, jump, or run. They are also key for rotating the ankles, locking the knees, or flexing the foot.
Growing Calves: Why Is It So Hard?
Stay Consistent – Calves grow slow, but they do grow if you stay at it.
You've already seen results in other areas of your body, but your calves seem to go nowhere… Sounds familiar? If you have problems getting bigger calves no matter how hard you try, you're not alone.
Reddit threads like this one, where workout enthusiasts share how frustrated they are with their calf results, are very common because the calves are famously hard to grow. And, unfortunately, that's not something we can change just by adding 10 extra calf raises to our weekly split.
This issue is especially prevalent among the bodybuilding community. Consider Dennis Wolf, for example, who is a world-class professional bodybuilder. While beloved and acclaimed, Wolf is famous for his bad calves! Is it because he's skipping leg day? Well, not really.
Use Rest-Pause Sets – Take short 10–15 sec breaks and keep repping.
The problem with getting bigger calves is that, even if you work as hard as a professional bodybuilder, you may find it hard to see results due to a combination of factors.
In sum, this is why growing calves is extra hard even when you put in the work:
- • Calf growth is extremely dependent on genetics. If you've won the calf lottery, you may have big calves even without working out; if you didn't, your calf growth potential may be limited from the get-go.
- • Since more androgen receptors can be found on our upper bodies than on our legs, growing muscles in the legs (including calves) is generally more challenging.
Additionally, environmental and cultural factors may have helped to popularize the notion that growing calves is hard:
- • Calf exercises are often repetitive, with fewer variations compared to other exercises. That's why our list of bicep exercises has 14 exercises, while our list of calf exercises only has seven. For this reason, some people tend to exclude calf routines from their workouts, even if subconsciously.
- • When compared to muscle groups like the shoulders, arms, and chest, the calves are more discreet. When you enter a room, everyone notices how big your chest and arms are, but is anyone even looking at your calves? For this reason, some people don't find calf exercises particularly motivating.
Growing the calves is indeed harder than growing other muscles (especially because of genetics), but that doesn't mean you should throw down the towel and just give up. One thing's for sure: if you want bigger calves, you need to work for them, you can't just wait for them to appear! And the best way to do so is to try the best calf exercises we've prepared just for you.
The 7 Best Calf Exercises
1. Jump Rope
Add Explosive Sets – Like jump rope or box jumps for athletic calves.
The jump rope is a great exercise for dynamically activating the gastrocnemius, and all you need to perform it is a rope. This workout is particularly straightforward, but correct positioning is nevertheless essential.
To jump-rope like a pro, keep these tips in mind:
- • Keep your elbows close to your torso
- • Maintain a slight bend in the knees
- • Keep a relaxed posture, without arching your back
As versatile as calf exercises get, jump-rope routines can be easily diversified. If you're looking for variations that can help you achieve your goals, we suggest trying to jump on a single leg, performing high-knee jumps instead of straight-leg ones, and experimenting with double unders for enhanced speed and explosiveness.
2. Standing Calf Raises
Train Calves at the Start Occasionally – When you're fresh, they'll get more focus.
In very basic terms, calf raises are the act of raising the heels as high as possible by pressing only through the balls of your feet. The result is maximum gastrocnemius activation, with most calf raises hitting the soleus only as a secondary muscle.
Standing calf raises (also known as double-leg calf raises) are the simplest of this type of exercise, requiring virtually no equipment. All you really need is a flat surface that allows you room to leave your heels hanging off—like a gym calf block or a run-of-the-mill step of stairs.
To perform standing calf raises, put the balls of your feet on top of the surface, leaving your heels out, and raise the heels as high as you can, feeling a strong squeeze on the back of your lower legs.
Adding weight is the best way to ensure your standing calf raise workout is as effective as possible. You can do so by using dumbbells (just hold them with your arms extended and close to your torso) or a barbell (resting behind your head and held with palms facing forward).
3. Single-Leg Calf Raise
Try Single-Leg Calf Raises – Helps fix imbalances.
While technically a variation of the standing calf raise, the single-leg calf raise has merits of its own, like being a great workout for unilateral strength development.
To do it, just perform the standing calf raise using one leg at a time! If you want to add weights, the best option is to hold one dumbbell in the hand on the side of the heel you're raising.
Balance enhancement is one of the main advantages of the single-leg calf raise. However, if you struggle with balance, you can always make this exercise a little bit easier by standing next to a wall or other supporting surface.
4. Seated Calf Raise
If building the gastrocnemius is already challenging, what can we say of the soleus? This discreet but important muscle is so hard to activate that people kind of invented a machine solely for the purpose: the seated calf raise machine.
The machine was designed to place weights on your upper legs and force your soleus into work every time you raise your heels. As the name implies, you're supposed to be sitting on the machine during the entire workout.
To do seated calf raises like a champ, try to lower your heels as slowly as possible, aiming at two, three seconds of descent time.
If you don't have access to a seated calf raise machine, you can still perform this exercise by sitting on a bench, holding one dumbbell on top of each leg, and, optionally, placing both feet on a surface that allows your heels to hang out.
5. Seat-to-Stand Calf Raise
Normal seated calf raises can get boring pretty fast. The seat-to-stand calf raise is a more dynamic variation that adds movement to an otherwise stagnant exercise.
Performed both with and without weights, the seat-to-stand involves getting up from the bench during every rep. Basically, you should start by lifting your heels while still sitting down and go all the way up to standing position.
The key to the seat-to-stand is to use only the legs (i.e., the calves) to press your body up. Time is another essential aspect of this exercise: if you perform it fast, it's more dynamic; if you perform it slowly, it's better for increasing tension and activating the calf muscles.
Speaking of muscles, it's important to mention that seat-to-stand calf raises are the only exercise on the list that activates the gastrocnemius and the soleus with a similar level of intensity.
6. Donkey Calf Raise
Use Different Foot Angles – Toes in, out, and straight for variety.
The main function of the donkey calf raise is to activate the gastrocnemius with a deep stretch. What makes this calf raise exceptional is the fact that you're supposed to bend your hips (forming a right angle) and place your hands on top of a bench for support before raising your heels.
7. Safety Squat Bar Squat Raise
Barefoot or Flat Shoes – Better connection and range.
If you're building stronger calves, why not enjoy the occasion to work out your glutes and hamstrings? The safety squat bar squat raise is a dynamic exercise that adds a squat and a safety squat bar to your run-of-the-mill standing calf raise.
To put it simply, all you need to do is hold the safety squat bar on your upper back, squat, and perform a standing calf raise as you stand. For extra calf activation, make a little pause at the top.
The biggest advantage of this exercise is that you can put tons of pressure on your gastrocnemius and soleus while also building strength in other areas of the leg and glutes.
Calf Exercise Comparison
Even though our calves are comprised of three muscles, the workouts above are only designed to activate the gastrocnemius and soleus, which are the muscles you'd want to hit to get that 3D look on your lower legs.
In the table, you can see how each of the seven exercises above compares in terms of the level of muscle activation:
| Calf Exercise | Gastrocnemius | Soleus |
|---|---|---|
| Jump rope | High | Low |
| Standing calf raise | High | Low |
| Single-leg calf raise | High | Low |
| Seated calf raise | Low | High |
| Seat-to-stand calf raise | Medium | Medium |
| Donkey calf raise | High | Low |
| Safety squat bar squat raise | High | Medium |
Choosing the Best Calf Exercises
If muscle activation is not your primary guideline when choosing which exercises you will or won't do, we have good news for you.
Based on the info above, you can select which exercises you want to add to your workout. Alternatively, check out our complete workout programs, professionally curated by experts to cater to all your needs.
The Bottom Line
Hard or not, growing calves should be on the list of anyone who wants to have a fitter, more beautiful body. And to do so, there's no way around it: you really have to sweat!
With our best calf exercises and specialized programs, you should have everything you need to finally get the calves you've always dreamed of!
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