Calves exercise
Dumbbell Calf RaiseHow to do it, with form in numbers
How to do it
How do you do the Dumbbell Calf Raise?
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand, arms by your sides.
- Stand with the balls of your feet on the edge of a step.
- Lower your heels slowly below the step.
- Pause, then rise onto your toes as high as you can.
- Hold the top for a moment, then lower slowly again.
Cues
- Stand tall and let the dumbbells hang still.
- Push through the base of your big toe.
- Pause at the bottom, squeeze at the top.
Common mistakes
- Bouncing at the bottom instead of pausing.
- Swinging the dumbbells or bending the knees.
- Rising only halfway onto your toes.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Stand on a stable step or a stack of weight plates about 10 cm high, with a dumbbell in each hand. Arms hang straight by the sides, palms facing the thighs, dumbbells beside the hips. Feet hip-width apart, toes straight ahead. Only the balls of the feet are on the step: its edge runs just behind the big-toe knuckle and the heels hang off. Knees straight but not pushed back, trunk upright, shoulders down and back, gaze ahead.
The movement
Only the ankles move. The body rises and falls as one straight piece and the dumbbells move straight up and down beside the hips without swinging. Lower the heels slowly below the step until the calves are fully stretched, pause briefly, then push through the balls of the feet and rise as high as possible. Hold the top, then lower again.
End position
Bottom: heels below the step, ankle in about 20° of dorsiflexion. The step must be higher than the 6.5 cm heel drop, so 8 cm is the lowest that gives the full stretch. Scale with foot length.
Tempo
1.5 s up, 0.5 s hold at the top, 2 s down, 0.5 s pause in the stretch.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Step height | 10 cm | 8–15 cm | [3] |
| Knee flexion, held through the rep | 0–5° (straight, not locked back) | 0–10° | [1][2] |
| Ankle dorsiflexion at the bottom | 20° | 10–25° | [1] |
| Ankle plantarflexion at the top | 30° | 25–40° | [1][2] |
| Feet spacing, centre to centre | hip width, about 20 cm | 15–25 cm | |
| Toe-out, each foot | 0° | 0–10° | [3] |
| Arms | straight, by the sides | elbows 0–10° bent | |
| Dumbbell swing front to back | 0 cm | ≤ 3 cm |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Dumbbell Calf Raise is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- Kinoshita et al. 2023, Front Physiol, "Triceps surae muscle hypertrophy is greater after standing versus seated calf-raise training"
- NASM, Calf Training: How to Program This Stubborn Muscle Group for Clients
- Riemann et al. 2011, J Strength Cond Res 25(3):634–639, "Medial and lateral gastrocnemius activation differences during heel-raise exercise with three different foot positions"
