# Dumbbell Seated Calf Raise: how to do it

- Main muscles: calves
- Equipment: dumbbell, bench
- Level: beginner
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/dumbbell_seated_calf_raise/4562cc83c5/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Sit on the end of a bench with the balls of your feet on a low block and your heels off it.
2. Stand a dumbbell on each thigh just above your knees and hold them steady.
3. Lower your heels slowly below the block for a full stretch.
4. Push through the balls of your feet and rise as high as you can.
5. Hold for a moment, then lower slowly and repeat.

## Cues

- Up tall, pause, slow down.
- Push through the big toe.
- Let the calves move the weights, not your arms.

## Common mistakes

- Bouncing at the bottom.
- Lifting the dumbbells with your hands.
- Cutting the range short.

## The version in our demo

With the knees bent the soleus does most of the work.

## Starting position

Sit tall on the end of a flat bench, feet hip-width with the balls of the feet on the edge of a 10 cm block and the heels off it, shins about vertical, knees about 90–105°. Stand a dumbbell upright on each lower thigh just above the knee and hold it there.

## The movement

Lower the heels to a full stretch below the block, pause, then rise as high as possible onto the balls of the feet and hold. Only the ankles move; the knees and dumbbells ride up and down.

## Breathing

Breathe in on the way down, breathe out as you rise.

## Tempo

1.2 s down, a 0.3 s pause in the stretch, 0.9 s up, a 0.6 s hold at the top.

## Form in numbers

| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Ankle | 30° plantarflexion at the top → 20° dorsiflexion at the bottom | full range |  |
| Heels vs the block | 8–9 cm above → 5.5–6.5 cm below | below the block at the bottom |  |
| Knee travel | 8–10 cm | — |  |
| Knees | 104° (male) / 95° (female), shins about vertical | 85–110° |  |
| Balls of the feet | on the block, 4.5 cm in from its edge | don't slide |  |
| Dumbbells | upright on the lower thighs, held by the hands | don't roll |  |

## Sources

1. [ExRx.net, "Barbell Standing Calf Raise" (rise onto the balls of the feet, lower until the calves stretch)](https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Gastrocnemius/BBStandingCalfRaise)
2. NSCA, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 4th ed. (2016)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/dumbbell-seated-calf-raise