Standing Barbell Calf Raise
Trains the Calves.
- Equipment
- A barbell, a rack and a box
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Rack a barbell across your upper back and step onto a block with the balls of your feet, heels hanging off.
- Stand tall with your knees straight but not locked.
- Let your heels drop below the block until you feel a stretch through the calves.
- Press up onto the balls of your feet as high as you can go.
- Hold briefly at the top.
- Lower under control back into the stretch.
Common mistakes
- Bending the knees to press up. A straight knee is what makes this a gastrocnemius exercise, because the muscle crosses the knee as well as the ankle.
- Balancing on a narrow block under a loaded bar. The block wants to be stable and wide enough for both feet; balance failing under a bar is a worse problem than a short range.
- Bouncing out of the bottom. The stretch stores energy in the tendon, and bouncing off it means the calf never produces force from a dead position.
- Cutting the top short. The range at the ankle is small, and the last inch is the part most often given away.