Band Calf Raise
Trains the Calves.
- Equipment
- A resistance band
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you, or stand on the band.
- Loop a resistance band around the balls of both feet and hold the ends.
- Take up the slack so the band pulls the toes toward you.
- Press the balls of your feet away against the band as far as the ankle will travel.
- Hold briefly at the end of the range.
- Let the band draw the feet back under control until you feel the calf lengthen.
Common mistakes
- Bending the knees while seated. Straight legs make it a gastrocnemius exercise; bent knees make it a soleus one, and both are worth doing — but knowing which you are doing is the point.
- Using a band with too little tension left at the end. A band is lightest where it is shortest, which here is the bottom of the range, so the resistance is smallest exactly where the calf is longest.
- Rushing the return. The band pulls the foot back and the calf slowing it down is a large part of the work available in this version.
- Expecting it to replace loaded calf work. A calf carries bodyweight every step; a band is useful where there is no other load available, and it is a small stimulus next to a standing raise.