Standing Dumbbell Calf Raise
Trains the Calves.
- Equipment
- Dumbbells and a box
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Stand with the balls of your feet on a step or a block, heels hanging off the edge.
- Hold a dumbbell in one hand at your side and steady yourself with the other on a rail or wall.
- Keep both knees straight but not locked.
- Let your heels drop below the step until you feel a stretch through the calf.
- Press up onto the balls of your feet as high as you can go.
- Hold briefly at the top, then lower under control back into the stretch.
Common mistakes
- Bending the knees as you press up. A straight knee is what makes this a gastrocnemius exercise — the muscle crosses the knee as well as the ankle, and bending it takes the muscle out of a position to work. A bent knee is what the seated version is for.
- Bouncing out of the bottom. The stretch at the bottom stores energy in the tendon, and bouncing off it means the calf never has to produce the force from a dead position.
- Cutting the top short. The range at the ankle is small to begin with, and the last inch at the top is the part most often skipped.
- Leaning on the rail or wall. The hand on it is for balance, not support; pushing down through it takes load off the calves.