Calves exercise
Seated Calf Raise (Machine)How to do it, with form in numbers
How to do it
How do you do the Seated Calf Raise?
- Sit tall with the pad across your lower thighs.
- Put the balls of your feet on the platform, heels hanging off.
- Release the safety lever and lower your heels slowly.
- Pause in the stretch, then push up onto your toes.
- Hold the top for a moment, then lower slowly again.
Cues
- Only your ankles move; your body stays still.
- Push through the base of your big toe.
- Pause at the bottom, squeeze at the top.
Common mistakes
- Rocking the body back to lift the weight.
- Bouncing at the bottom instead of pausing.
- Using only the top half of the movement.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Sit on the seated calf raise machine, trunk upright, hips at about 90°. The thigh pad rests across the lower thighs, a hand's width above the kneecaps, snug enough that it rises with the knees. Feet hip-width apart, toes straight ahead, and only the balls of the feet on the foot platform: its edge runs just behind the big-toe knuckle and the heels hang off. Knees bent to about 90° with the shins vertical, ankles under the knees. Hands hold the pad handles.
The movement
Only the ankles move. The hips, thighs and trunk stay still, and the thigh pad rides straight up and down with the knees. Lower the heels slowly below the platform until the calves are fully stretched, pause briefly, then push through the balls of the feet to raise the heels (and the pad) as high as possible. Hold the top, then lower again. With the knee bent the soleus does most of the work, which is why the machine exists.
End position
Bottom: heels well below the platform, ankle in about 20° of dorsiflexion. With the shin vertical, the knee rises and falls with the ankle, so the pad travels about 11 cm. Scale with foot length.
Tempo
2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knee flexion, held through the rep | 90° | 80–100° | [1][3] |
| Shin angle from vertical at the start | 0° | ±10° | |
| Thigh pad position above the kneecap | 8 cm | 5–12 cm | [2] |
| Ankle dorsiflexion at the bottom | 20° | 10–25° | [1][2] |
| 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° | [1] |
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 Seated 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"
- ACE, Get Stronger Calves With These 5 Exercises
- NASM, Calf Training: How to Program This Stubborn Muscle Group for Clients
- De Azevedo et al. 2023, J Phys Educ Sport 23(8):2266–2272, "Activation of triceps surae during exercises on leg press, Smith and seated calf raise machines"
