Seated Calf Raise
Trains the Soleus.
- Equipment
- Machine
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Sit in the machine and place the balls of your feet on the platform with your heels hanging off the edge.
- Set the thigh pad snugly across your lower thighs, just above the knees.
- Release the safety catch and let your heels drop below the platform until you feel a stretch through the lower calf.
- Push up onto the balls of your feet as high as you can, keeping the knees bent throughout.
- Pause at the top, then lower under control to a full stretch and pause briefly there too.
Common mistakes
- Bouncing through a short range. The calf's range is short to begin with, and the Achilles tendon's elasticity does much of the work if you let it bounce. A pause at the bottom removes that and makes the muscle start from a dead stop.
- Setting the thigh pad too high, on the middle of the thigh, so the load is not transferred properly through the knee.
- Skipping it because standing raises feel more productive. The bent knee is what makes this the soleus exercise, and the soleus is the larger of the two calf muscles — a calf routine without it has left the bigger one undertrained.
- Rushing repetitions. The soleus is dominated by slow, fatigue-resistant fibres, so it suits higher repetitions and longer time under tension than most muscles.
Muscles worked
Primary
- SoleusCalves