Calves

                                                          

Calves:

Seated Calve Raises A seated calve raise machine is a standard in any gym. Sit on the machine with your knees underneath the pads and your feet on the platform. The trick to all calve exercises is to concentrate on flexing the muscle on the way up. Go all the way up on your toes and come as far down as you can with your feet still on the platform. Feet positioning determines which part of the calve muscle you work. Pointing your feet straight ahead will work the over all body of your calve, feet pointed inward will work the outer calve and feet pointed outward works the inner calve muscle. Alternate feet positioning throughout calve training.

Standing Calve Raises Most gyms carry a standard standing calve machine but if they don't improvise by using a Smith Machine that has a bar and a small platform for you to stand on. The platform allows for a better stretch of the muscle. As with all calve exercises, flex the muscle at the midpoint and go all the way up and all the way down and be sure to always be in control of the weight.

Donkey Calve Raises This movement involves bending at the waist while keeping your legs straight and resting the weight on top of your upper butt/lower back. You really should use a machine to do this exercise but if you want to improvise have a person sit on you lower back. It is fun just to watch someone straddles another to get more weight on his or her back. The same rules apply to this movement as the other two.

Toe Press Using the leg press machine put your feet all the way at the bottom of the carriage so that your heels hang over the edge. Push the weight up until the carriage is on the balls of your feet. Lower it down all the way and repeat. Keep a very slight bend in your legs for this exercise you do not want your knees to lock because you run the risk of having your legs buckle. For your protection put the safety peg in the highest position for this movement so that if your feet should slip off the platform the carriage will not fall all the way down. At the end of a good calve workout walking sitting and standing should be difficult.