Training guide
A calf raise is rising onto the balls of your feet and lowering your heels slowly. Do them with a straight knee, standing, for the big calf muscle, and with a bent knee, seated, for the deeper soleus. On one leg from a step, letting your heel sink below the step, they're one of the hardest-working moves you can do at home.
Calves do grow, though small trials disagree on how fast: standing raises built the big calf muscle about 9 to 12% in 12 weeks in one trial, and work in the stretched bottom of the movement grew it most in another. Healthy adults under 60 manage about 25 single-leg raises in a row.
This guide covers the steps on the 3D figure, standing, seated and single-leg versions, how many and how heavy, and your Achilles tendon.
Hold a wall or a chair, rise onto the balls of your feet over about 2 seconds, pause, and lower slowly without bouncing. The NHS version is 5 slow raises holding a chair, then without support. The 12-week trial used 2 seconds up and 2 down.
With your knee bent, the big calf muscle (gastrocnemius) works about a third less and the deeper soleus doesn't make up the difference. Standing raises grew the gastrocnemius 9 to 12% in 12 weeks and seated raises under 2%, while the soleus grew 2 to 3% with either. Do mostly straight-knee raises, and add bent-knee ones.
In 42 young women, raises in the stretched bottom half grew the inner calf 15.2% in 8 weeks, against 6.7% for full raises. In 23 trained adults the edge was small and uncertain. Let your heels sink below a step, unless your Achilles hurts where it meets the heel.
2 or 3 sets of 10 to 20, the last set 0 to 2 reps short of failure, 60 to 90 seconds' rest, twice a week. Twelve hard sets a week grew the calves more than six in 61 young women.
Healthy adults aged 20 to 59 averaged about 28 single-leg heel raises in a row, and 25 is used as the mark of normal. Over 60, the average was about 12. Fewer is a reason to train, not to worry.
Heavy slow calf raises helped Achilles tendon pain as much as heel drops off a step. A sudden snap at the back of the heel, as if you'd been kicked, then not being able to rise on tiptoe, needs the same day; one painful, swollen calf with red or darkened skin can be a clot.
You lift your heels so you rise onto the balls of your feet, then lower them under control: on two legs or one, on the floor or with your forefoot on a step so your heel can sink below it, standing or seated, with body weight, a dumbbell, a backpack or a machine. The calf muscles are central to standing, walking and pushing off.
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The two-headed surface muscle of the calf runs from the lower end of the thigh bone to the heel bone through the Achilles tendon. It crosses two joints: it points your foot and helps bend your knee, so a bent knee slackens it.
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The deeper soleus joins the same tendon but crosses only the ankle, so it works whatever your knee does. Together the two are called the triceps surae.
With the knee bent to 90 degrees, ankle force fell 31% and gastrocnemius activity 35% in 30 young men; the soleus worked 15 to 28% harder early in slow lifts but didn't make up the gap. At a 45-degree knee bend, the shift was only 4 to 5% in 48 adults. In 11 lifters, the soleus was best targeted with the knee at 90 degrees.
Those figures come from EMG (electromyography: electrodes measuring how hard a muscle works), which shows effort in a few reps, not what a muscle builds. The growth trials below matter more.
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In 14 untrained adults, one leg did standing calf raises and the other seated ones on machines: 5 sets of 10 at 70% of their maximum, 2 seconds up and 2 down, twice a week for 12 weeks. On MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans, the gastrocnemius grew 9.2 to 12.4% standing against 0.6 to 1.7% seated, and the soleus 2.1% against 2.9%, no different. There was no control group and no measure of function.
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The 12-week trial's authors called the calves relatively unresponsive: the whole calf grew only about 2 to 6%. Other trials found 7 to 15% in 6 to 8 weeks, with more weekly sets or the stretched range, in young women. All are small, so the honest answer is that calves grow, at a pace that varies.
In 42 young women doing 3 sets of 15 to 20 three times a week for 8 weeks, raises in the bottom half grew the inner gastrocnemius 15.2%, full raises 6.7% and top-half raises 3.4%. In 23 trained adults, bottom-half partials had only a small, uncertain edge over full raises plus top-half partials. Two small trials with different results.
In 61 untrained young women over 6 weeks, 12 weekly sets grew the outer gastrocnemius 14.3% and the soleus 12.7%, against 8.1% and 6.7% with 6 sets. Every group grew.
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In 22 young men over 9 weeks, toes out grew the inner gastrocnemius more (8.4% against 3.8% toes in) and toes in grew the outer one more (9.1% against 5.5%). One small trial.
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203 adults aged 20 to 59 averaged 27.9 single-leg heel raises (range 6 to 70), and 25 was proposed as normal. In 566 adults aged 20 to 81 on a 10-degree slope, the median was 24 for men and 21 for women, with a retest difference of about 6 reps either way. In 500 adults with a median age of 30, the median was 25, and 95% did between 13 and 50. Across 13 studies, the average was 28.7 under 40 and 11.8 over 60. Methods vary, so compare yourself with yourself.
In 58 people with long-standing Achilles tendon pain, 12 weeks of heavy slow calf raises worked as well as heel drops off a step at 12 and 52 weeks, and people completed more sessions (92% against 78%). The original heel-drop study returned 15 recreational athletes to running, without a randomised comparison. Our Achilles guide covers the guideline and the stages.
In 48 people, heavy heel raises with a towel under the toes every second day improved foot function more than stretching at 3 months, but the two were level at 1, 6 and 12 months.
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In 51 older adults, stronger ankles went with faster walking, sit-to-stand and timed up-and-go scores, though that snapshot can't show cause. A podiatry programme that included home foot and ankle exercises cut falls by 36% in 305 older people with foot pain. Most foot and ankle programmes in studies use 3 sets of 10 with no added load, which is probably too easy to build strength (our reading).
Seated heel raises (the soleus push-up), kept up for 3 hours with muscle sensors, cut the rise in blood sugar after a glucose drink by about half in small groups of people without diabetes; the university involved intends to patent the method. A pilot in 10 people with prediabetes found about a third. A few sets after a meal haven't been tested.
Steps from our move page and the NHS strength routine; the 2-second tempo follows the 12-week trial and the pause is editorial. With pain in the ball of the foot or big toe arthritis, stop short of full tiptoe.
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The movement on the figure: Slow calf raise
Steps from our move page; adding a backpack at 20 follows our runners' home workout. Get a painful Achilles checked before lowering below the step, and with pain where the tendon meets the heel, stay on flat ground, as our move page and Achilles guide advise.
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The movement on the figure: Single-leg calf raise from a step
Standing raises grew the gastrocnemius; seated raises barely did. Make straight-knee raises the main part of your calf work.
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The soleus grew as much with standing raises as seated ones, so seated raises aren't a special soleus builder. They're a useful extra, though, and kind to sore knees and shaky balance. Expect to be about a third weaker with your knee bent.
Forward is fine. Turning your toes out or in shifted growth a little between the inner and outer calf in one trial.
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The stretched bottom half grew the calves most in one trial and had a small edge in another. Lower slowly into a comfortable stretch, pause, then rise all the way.
When you can't rise all the way any more, a few half reps from the bottom finish the set (our suggestion, from the stretched-range trial).
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With pain where the Achilles meets the heel, do every raise on flat ground and lower only to the floor, as our Achilles guide says. After an Achilles rupture, follow your team's stages.
Easiest first, with these doses: seated raises 15 to 20 and single-leg raises from a step 3 sets of 12 to 20 (our runners' home workout), standing dumbbell raises 3 sets of 12 to 15 (dumbbell leg workout), the leg press calf press 3 sets of 12 to 20 (our leg press guide), the seated calf machine 3 sets of 12 to 20 (lower body gym workout), and the hold 5 holds of 30 to 45 seconds (its move page's editorial dose).
3D demoSeated bent-knee calf raise (soleus raise)Beginner · A bench or box
3D demoSlow calf raiseBeginner · A wall
3D demoIsometric calf raise holdBeginner · A wall
3D demoStanding dumbbell calf raiseIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoSingle-leg calf raise from a stepIntermediate · A step + A wall
3D demoSingle-leg calf raise on a dumbbellIntermediate · A dumbbell + A wall
3D demoSeated one-leg calf raise with a dumbbellBeginner · A dumbbell + A bench or box
3D demoStanding calf raise (machine)Intermediate · Strength machine
3D demoCalf press on the leg pressIntermediate · Strength machine
3D demoSeated calf raise (machine)Beginner · Strength machineHealthy adults aged 20 to 59 averaged about 28 single-leg heel raises, and 25 is used as normal; in a newer study of 500 adults, the middle figure was 25.
Across 13 studies, the average was 28.7 under 40 and 11.8 over 60. In one study of 566 adults, women over 60 outdid men of the same age.
In the 500-person study, people stood on one leg on a 10-degree slope, knee straight, fingertips on a wall, and rose and lowered once every 2 seconds to a metronome until they couldn't keep the height or the pace. At home, a step or the floor changes the numbers, so compare yourself with yourself. A change of more than about 6 reps is beyond the test's day-to-day noise.
It's a measure of calf endurance, not a diagnosis. Fewer is a reason to train, and our Achilles guide uses 20 to 25 on each side as its benchmark before running.
About 6 hard sets a session, twice a week: 3 sets of 10 to 20 straight-knee raises and 3 sets of 12 to 20 bent-knee raises with a weight on your knees. That's our editorial starting point from the trials' 12 weekly sets and 10 to 20 reps.
Heavy enough that the last set ends 0 to 2 reps short of failure, as our plans say for small moves. Calves grew with 10 reps at 70% of the maximum and with sets of 15 to 20; across muscles, how hard the set is matters more than the rep count.
60 to 90 seconds between sets, as our plans say, and about 2 seconds up and 2 down, as in the 12-week trial.
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Two legs on the floor, then two on a step, then one leg on a step, then one leg holding a dumbbell or wearing a loaded backpack once 20 are easy, as our move pages and runners' home workout progress.
The NHS starts with 5 slow raises holding a chair; our older adults guide builds to 10 to 20, and our foot and ankle routine uses 2 sets of 10.
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In these small trials, the calves grew roughly 2 to 15% over 6 to 12 weeks, depending on the trial. Recount your single-leg raises every 4 weeks (our suggestion).
Lower slowly and pause rather than bouncing out of the stretch, as our move page cues.
Rise as high as you can on every rep, as our move page says.
About 2 seconds up and 2 down, as in the 12-week trial.
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Seated raises barely grew the gastrocnemius; make straight-knee raises the main part.
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Twelve weekly sets beat six in a trial. A token set at the end of leg day isn't much.
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Get it checked first, and with pain where the tendon meets the heel, stay on flat ground, as our move page and Achilles guide advise.
Heavy slow calf raises worked as well as heel drops in a trial, and people kept them up better. Keep pain at 5 out of 10 or less and back to its usual level by the next morning, as our Achilles guide says.
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Heavy heel raises with a towel under the toes helped foot function faster than stretching, though not by a year. Our plantar fasciitis guide has the plan.
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Our shin splints guide builds up to about 20 slow single-leg raises, and our calf pain guide brings calf raises back within days of a strain, keeping discomfort to about 3 to 4 out of 10.
Calf raises are part of the NHS strength exercises, holding a chair at first. Stronger ankles went with faster walking in older adults, and foot and ankle exercises were part of a programme that cut falls by about a third. Our older adults guide has a full plan.
The calf muscles pump blood back up the legs; our calf pump exercises and varicose veins guide use calf raises for that.
The soleus push-up results came from hours of seated heel raises with muscle sensors in small lab studies. A walk after meals is the better-tested habit, as our type 2 diabetes guide and walk after meals workout explain.
For cramps, the NHS suggests calf stretches, the last one just before bed, rather than calf raises.
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Tibialis raises for the front of the shin at 2 sets of 15 to 20 (our runners' home workout), the two calf stretches for 30 seconds each leg (our calf pump exercises), ankle circles at 5 slow circles each way (its move page's dose), and pogo hops once strength is in place (our runners' workouts).
Raises on flat ground only, within the pain rule in our Achilles guide.
Follow your team's stages; our Achilles rupture guide brings single-leg raises in gradually.
Stop short of full tiptoe, as our move page advises.
Hold a chair or counter, or start with seated raises.
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Hold a support, and check your feet for marks afterwards, as our foot and ankle routine advises.
See a GP before training through it, as our calf pain guide advises; our peripheral arterial disease guide explains why.
Our calf workout does straight-knee and bent-knee raises twice a week. The foot and ankle routine starts gently, the runners' workouts use single-leg raises from a step at 3 sets of 12 to 20 or of 15, and the gym leg workouts use machines at 3 sets of 10 to 20.
A 25-minute calf workout with a step and a dumbbell: single-leg raises for the big calf muscle, then seated raises for the soleus, with gym swaps for each move.
25 minIntermediate7 movesA wall, A stepA 15-minute barefoot routine for stronger toes, arches, calves and ankles, finishing with balance. You need only a towel, a wall and a resistance band.
15 minBeginner11 movesA wall, Other / check instructionsA 40-minute strength workout for runners at home: hops, Bulgarian split squats, single-leg deadlifts, step-ups, calf raises and side planks.
40 minIntermediate15 movesA wall, A bench or boxFoot, calf, balance and hop exercises taken from the running trials with positive results, in a 25-minute home routine for 3 or 4 days a week.
25 minBeginner11 movesOther / check instructions, A bench or boxA beginner's springy session: calf strength first, then heel drops, calf springs and gentle bounces, building towards skipping and pogo hops.
20 minBeginner11 movesA wall, A stepA 15-minute calf pump routine for varicose veins and heavy, swollen legs: ankle pumps, calf raises, a brisk walk, calf stretches and legs up to finish.
15 minBeginner10 movesA bench or box, A wallA gym leg day: back squats, leg press, leg curls, Bulgarian split squats, leg extensions and calf raises.
55 minIntermediate9 movesA wall, A barbellA gym lower body workout for legs and glutes: trap bar deadlifts, hip thrusts, reverse lunges, leg curls, hip abduction, calf raises and core.
50 minIntermediate13 movesOther / check instructions, A barbellA 60-minute lower-body session for muscle growth: hack squats, Romanian deadlifts, leg curls, leg extensions, hip thrusts and standing and seated calf raises.
60 minIntermediate11 movesCardio machine, A wallLegs and glutes with dumbbells: goblet squats, Romanian deadlifts, step-ups, split squats and calf raises.
35 minIntermediate10 movesA wall, A dumbbellCalf raises come round once or twice a week in each of these plans.
A 12-week strength plan for runners: two sessions a week of heavy lifts, single-leg work, calf raises and hops, fitted around your runs.
2 training days45 minBeginner4 days a weekA 4-day upper/lower split: two upper body and two lower body gym days, each muscle trained twice a week, with sets, reps and progression.
4 training days50 minIntermediate6 days a weekA 6-day push/pull/legs plan for experienced lifters: two push, two pull and two leg days, with sets, reps, rest and lighter weeks.
6 training days55 minAdvanced3 days a weekA 12-week exercise plan for over-65s: strength and balance three times a week, short balance sessions and daily walks, based on falls-prevention trials.
3 training days40 minBeginner4 days a weekA 4-day dumbbell-only plan for home or gym: two upper and two lower days, every set, rep and rest, and how to keep progressing when the dumbbells max out.
4 training days45 minBeginner4 days a weekA 12-week beginner half marathon plan: three or four runs a week, a long run building to about 15 km, one harder session, strength, a taper and race-day tips.
4 training days50 minBeginnerIf you have pain or swelling in a leg and you're also breathless or have chest pain: it could be a clot that has reached your lungs. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
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A sudden snap, pop or grinding at the back of the heel or calf, often feeling as if you've been hit or kicked there, then not being able to push off, walk on tiptoe or climb stairs, with swelling and bruising: it can be a ruptured Achilles tendon or a broken heel bone. Contact NHS 111 or go to A&E or a minor injuries unit. In the US, go to urgent care or the emergency department.
For throbbing pain in one leg, usually the calf or thigh, with swelling, red, blue or darkened skin or swollen veins: it can be a deep vein thrombosis (DVT). It's more likely after surgery, bed rest or a long journey, in pregnancy or soon after a birth. In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care.
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For cramps that disturb your sleep, last longer than 10 minutes or come with numbness or swelling; heel pain that hasn't improved after 2 weeks of looking after it, or comes with tingling or diabetes; or calf pain that comes on walking and eases with rest.
Small trials disagree on how fast calves grow: about 2 to 6% for the whole calf in 12 weeks in one, 7 to 15% in 6 to 8 weeks in others with more sets or the stretched range. People differ in how they respond to any training, and we found no trial on calf shape. Calves respond, sometimes slowly.
The soleus grew the same with standing and seated raises over 12 weeks, and bending the knee lowers the gastrocnemius's share without the soleus making up the difference. Use both, mostly straight-knee.
Calves grew with 10 reps at 70% of the maximum and with sets of 15 to 20, and across muscles, how hard the set is matters more than the rep count.
The ankle does about a quarter of the work in a jump and the knee about half, as our jump guide explains. Keep calf raises alongside squats, hinges and jumps.
The evidence is a 3-hour seated protocol with muscle sensors in people without diabetes, and a 10-person pilot. A walk after meals is the better-tested habit.
Stand with your fingertips on a wall, rise onto the balls of your feet over about 2 seconds, pause, and lower slowly without bouncing. When that's easy, do them on one leg from a step, letting your heel sink below the step into a stretch.
For stronger calves, 2 or 3 sets of 10 to 20 straight-knee raises plus a few sets of bent-knee raises, twice a week, with the last set 0 to 2 reps short of failure. About 12 hard sets a week grew calves more than 6 in one trial. For balance and everyday strength, start with 5 slow raises holding a chair.
Healthy adults aged 20 to 59 averaged about 28 single-leg heel raises in a row, and 25 is used as the mark of normal. Over 60, the average was about 12. Fewer is a reason to train, not to worry.
Standing, for the big calf muscle: it grew about 9 to 12% in 12 weeks with standing raises and under 2% with seated ones. The deeper soleus grew about the same with either, so add seated raises as an extra.
It makes a small difference. In 22 young men, toes out grew the inner calf more and toes in the outer calf more over 9 weeks, so forward or a mix of positions is fine.
Calves can be slow, and small trials disagree on how slow: one found only about 2 to 6% growth in the whole calf in 12 weeks, others 7 to 15% in 6 to 8 weeks with more sets and a full stretch at the bottom. Check you're doing enough hard sets through the whole range, for at least 8 to 12 weeks.
Gentle sets, yes, as in our calf pump exercises. Hard sets twice a week are enough to build your calves, with a day or two between to recover.
Usually, yes: heavy slow calf raises helped Achilles tendon pain as much as heel drops, and people stuck with them better. Keep pain at 5 out of 10 or less and settled by the next morning, and with pain where the tendon meets the heel, stay on flat ground.
In a lab study, seated heel raises kept up for 3 hours with muscle sensors cut the blood sugar rise after a glucose drink by about half, in people without diabetes. A small pilot in prediabetes found about a third, but a few sets after a meal haven't been tested. A walk after meals is the better-tested habit.
Yes, and they're part of the NHS strength exercises, holding a chair at first. Stronger ankles went with faster walking in older adults, and foot and ankle exercises were part of a programme that cut falls by about a third.
For plantar fasciitis, heavy heel raises with a towel under the toes improved foot function faster than stretching, though the two were level by a year. Our plantar fasciitis and shin splints guides give staged plans.
The NHS suggests calf stretches rather than raises, the last one just before bed. See a GP if cramps disturb your sleep, last longer than 10 minutes or come with numbness or swelling.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
