Seated Calf Raise
A calf raise done sitting with your knees bent: with weight resting on your thighs, you push up through the balls of your feet, which shifts most of the work to the soleus.
Equipment
- Primary muscles
- Calves
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Weight × reps
- Primary muscles
- Calves
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Weight × reps
- Primary muscles
- Calves
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Weight × reps
Loads from YouTube only when you press play. The video is by an independent creator.
Why do it
Bending the knees takes much of the gastrocnemius out of the movement, so the seated raise trains the soleus, the deeper calf muscle that does more of the work when your knees are bent. That makes it a partner to a standing calf exercise rather than a replacement. The machine is the easiest to load and adjust; dumbbells on your knees work at home or in a busy gym; a padded barbell across your lower thighs lets you go heavier without a machine.
How to do it (Machine)
Sit down and place the balls of your feet on the platform with your heels hanging off, knees bent at about 90 degrees.
Lower the knee pad onto your thighs and release the safety lever.
Push through the balls of your feet to raise your heels as high as they go and hold the top briefly.
Lower your heels below the platform until you feel a stretch. The bent knee takes the gastrocnemius out of it, so this version mainly works the soleus.
Sit on a bench with the balls of your feet on a step or plate and a dumbbell resting upright on each knee.
Lower your heels as far as they go to stretch the calves.
Push through the balls of your feet and raise your heels as high as possible.
Squeeze at the top for a second and lower slowly. The bent knee shifts the work to the soleus, the deeper calf muscle.
Sit on a bench with the balls of your feet on a step or plate and a padded barbell resting across your lower thighs.
Hold the bar steady and lower your heels as far as they go.
Push through the balls of your feet and raise your heels as high as possible.
Squeeze at the top for a second and lower slowly. Keep the bar close to your knees, not on the middle of your thighs.
Common mistakes
Bouncing at the bottom
Your heels drop fast and rebound like a spring, which takes the calves out of the hardest part. Pause briefly in the stretch before pushing up.
Helping the pad up with your hands
Pushing on the knee pad or weights with your arms lightens the load on your calves. Hold steady and let your feet do the lifting.
Weight sitting too far up your thighs
Resting the load mid-thigh means less of it presses down through your calves. Keep the pad, dumbbells or bar just above your knees.
Short reps near the top
Quick pulses near the top skip both the stretch and the full squeeze. Go from your lowest heel position to as high as you can on every rep.
Sets, reps and progression
How many sets you do and how close to failure you take them depend on your goal and your week, not on the exercise. These guides cover it:
Alternatives that train the same thing
Same movement, a different angle or piece of equipment.
