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For many people, calf raises are a throwaway exercise fitted in at the end of a workout. However, they should be something that everyone does on a regular basis.
Calf exercise fall into two categories - strength and flexibility. The key calf exercise for strength is calf raises.
These are quite a versatile movement - you can do them seated or standing, depending on the machine at your gym.
Even if you don't have access to a gym, there's no reason to not do these - you can do them on your stairs, a low exercise bench, indeed any stable platform that gets your heel at least 12 inches (30 cm) off the ground.
Remember that the key element to this exercise if the eccentric one - the lowering phase. This should be done slowly and carefully, allowing a full stretch at the bottom of each rep.
As we use this muscle all day every day simply walking around, it responds best to high rep sets - 16 to 20 reps is quite common.
Stretching this muscle is also crucial - there are various stretches that work this area, the most common is as follows: - Begin by standing at arm's-length from a wall or doorway (or anything you can lean against)
- Lean into wall, bracing yourself with your arms.
- Your front leg is relaxed, knee bent, with little weight on it.
- Straighten your back leg, heel to the floor, so that you feel the tightness in the upper part of lower leg, just below the knee.
- Hold for 30 seconds, then relax.
- Repeat twice for each leg.
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