Calves may hide beside your jeans or pants, but still, it is one of the most crucial parts of your body. They help a lot in developing the upper portion of your body. Until and unless you don’t have good legs, you can’t develop your body’s upper portion.
Calves are the base of the body. Until and unless the body’s base is not strong, the rest of the body also can’t be. Good calves will not only provide you the perfect shape but will also improve your personality.
Best Calf Workout Exercises
If you are a beginner, then the following calf workout exercises are meant for you. These exercises will surely improve the strength and size of your calves. The following exercises are both men and women-specific. Both of them can perform the following exercise.
Standing Calf Raise
This exercise will stretch your calf and will improve the balance of your body. Standing calf raise will improve the strength of the gastrocnemius muscle of your calves and make your core strong.
How To Do It?
- Choose an elevated surface near the wall. Hold the dumbbell in your left hand. Now stand on your left foot, hanging your heel. Your right toes should be upon the ankle of your left foot.
- Now using your core and keeping your body straight, raise your left heel. Lift it as much as is possible. Wait for 1 second.
- Now slowly take your left heel back to its initial position.
- Now repeat this for as much time as you can. Remember that you have to do equal reps with both the legs.
Seated Calf Raise Machine
This exercise might look easy to do, but believe me, it is hard to do many reps in this exercise. This exercise engages your calves and provides them a perfect shape and strength.
How To Do It?
- Have a seat on a bench or the seated calf raise machine. Make your feet flat on the floor. If you don’t have the machine, then hold the dumbbells so that it should be kept on your thighs.
- Now lift your toes with your core engaged.
- Lift your both heels as much as possible.
- Now slowly take them down onto the floor.
- Repeat this exercise for at least 2-3 sets.
Jumping Rope
This exercise improves the endurance of your calves. It is one of the most popular calf exercises. It also improves the coordination of your eyes, mind, and body. Your body reaction time is simultaneously improved.
How To Do It?
- Hold the ends of the rope in your hands. The right one in the right and the left one in the left hand.
- Now you have to be quick, or I should say very quickly. Please keep your hands down in their respective directions with the ends of the rope in hand. Spin the rope of your head.
- Now jump as soon as the rope is under you.
- Your core should be engaged, and your shoulders should not lift.
- Use your toes to jump off and land on them too.
- Repeat it until and unless your legs become fatigued.
Dumbbell Jump Squat
This exercise is extremely powerful, and the legs are engaging. The jump squat is not a difficult exercise, but when it is repeated, the body feels it. It increases the endurance, strength, and power of the calf muscles.
How To Do It?
- Hold the dumbbell with both of your hands.
- Go for a perfect squat now. Lifting the dumbbell in a specific position.
- Your hands cannot have a side movement. They should be still while holding the dumbbell.
- Now when you are on the ground position in the squat. Just have a jump in the air in the same movement of your squat. But remember that the dumbbell and your hands should not feel a movement.
- Your landing after the explosive jump should be soft.
- Now repeat the exercise until you are tired.
Downward Dog
This yoga pose is a great, simple, and effective calf exercise. It improves the stability of your body and the calf strength.
How To Do It?
- Place your hands onto the ground just below your shoulders. Place your knees below your hips.
- Get into a v-position.
- Now softly press your palms and lift your knees with the help of your toes. Simultaneously raise your hips upward.
- Now without bending your knees, just straighten your legs.
- On notice, you should know that you have created a triangle shape with the ground.
- If it is not so, then you are in the wrong pose.
- Remember that your core should be engaged, and your calf muscles should feel the pump.
- Maintain the pose till the time your body feels it should be stopped.
Straight-leg Calf Stretch Against Wall
This calf workout exercise improves your calf muscle strength, endurance, and size. It is easy to do and effective.
- Step back your one foot, and keep your back straight.
- Place your hands against the wall. Hands should be straight.
- Now lean your body forward to push the hands. You can’t move the wall; therefore, push it with your hands.
- Stretch your calves muscles as much as you can.
- Now switch the position of your legs and repeat the exercise.
- Repeat it until your body gets fatigued.
Jumping Jack
It is one of the most performed exercises globally. It stretches your calf muscles and increases the strength of the muscles. It indulges your core, legs, arms, abs, in short, the whole body.
How To Do It?
- Stand straight in attention.
- Now jump up and open arms and legs wide.
- Take your hands up and make them clap. Your feet should be open on the ground.
- Now get yourself in your initial position.
- Repeat the exercise until and unless you get tired.
Tiptoe Walk
This calf workout exercise improves your body’s stability and improves the strength and endurance of your legs.
How To Do It?
- You have to walk on the floor. But, there is a condition.
- The condition is simple and hard at the same time that your heels cannot touch the floor.
- Improvement in your calf muscles depends on the distance you covered on your toes.
Agility Ladder
It is one of the most practiced workouts. The agility ladder is widely used all over the world for leg workouts and weight loss. It not only improves the size of calf muscles but also helps in getting more sweat. Which ultimately leads to weight-loss.
How To Do It?
- Make the agility ladder lie on the ground or floor. Stand at one of its ends. If you lack an agility ladder, you can also draw a ladder with chalk on the ground.
- Now you have to run from one end to the other of the agility ladder.
- Your concentration is a must. You cannot put your feet on the dividing lines of the ladder.
- Going from one point to the other completes your one rep.
- Repeat it as much time as you can.
Precautions
Leg injuries are very serious and can stop a person’s movement for weeks; therefore, there are some precautions that a person should keep in his/her mind.
- Always carry first aid or move because there can be minor strain sometimes.
- If you are doing the calf workout with machines or equipment, then do it under a professional’s supervision.
- Do not extend the exercise much. Doing more leg workout can hurt your calf muscle sometimes.
- There should be proper guidance for the workout.
- Do not eat lunch or something else just before and after the workout.
Final Words
Calf muscles are extremely important to a human being. If you want to grow yourself as an athlete, the development of your calf muscles is important. These not only provide a perfect look but also improves the strength of a person. The above exercises are extremely good for the growth of your calf muscles.
