8 of the Best Exercises for a Calves Workout

Below are eight simple, but effective moves to help strengthen and stretch your calves. The best part? These calf exercises are easy to do at home. All you need is a jump rope, a pair of dumbbells, and a bench or chair.

Try incorporating these calf exercises into your workouts a couple times a week, Kelley says. But if you adhere to a demanding cardio routine, this amount may vary. “For example, a distance runner may need to resistance train calves less frequently to avoid overtraining,” he explains.

1. Standing calf raise on elevated surface

Benefits: “This is a great exercise to stretch and strengthen the calves (primarily the gastrocnemius) through a full range of motion,” Kelley says.

• Holding a dumbbell in your left hand, stand with the ball of your left foot on an elevated surface with your heel hanging off, and your right toes resting on your left ankle.
• Keeping your core engaged, raise your left heel as high as possible.
• Slowly lower your heel down below the raised surface until you feel a stretch in your calf.
• Repeat and do equal reps on both legs.

2. Seated calf raise

Benefits: “This exercise is great for soleus isolation,” Kelley says. To increase your range of motion and work your muscles even more, he suggests elevating the balls of your feet with a block.

• Sit tall on a bench or chair with your feet flat on the ground holding two heavy dumbbells on top of your knees.
• Keeping your core engaged, lift your heels off the ground as high as possible.
• Slowly lower your heels back down to the ground, and repeat.

3. Farmer’s walk on toes

Benefits: This variation on a traditional farmer’s walk is excellent for functional calf strengthening and balance, Kelley says. “Due to the plantar flexion hold, this move is a great finisher to exhaust your calf muscles,” Braun adds.

• Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your feet hip-width apart.
• Keeping your shoulders down and your core engaged, lift your heels so you’re standing on your toes.
• Without letting your heels touch the ground, walk forward on your toes.

4. Jump rope

Benefits: This is a good endurance exercise for your calves, and also helps improve total-body coordination, Kelley says.

• Holding the handles of a jump rope in each hand, jump with both feet as your turn the rope. Keep your core engaged and your shoulders lowered.

5. Dumbbell jump squat

Benefits: This plyometric gets power from the calf muscles during the ascension part of the jump, as well as stabilization during the landing, Braun says.

• Holding a dumbbell in each hand, stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Push your hips back to lower down into a squat position, until your thighs are parallel with the ground.
• In one explosive movement, straighten your legs to come out of the squat position and jump off the ground.
• Land softly with bent knees as you lower back into the squat position. Repeat.

6. Downward dog

Benefits: This classic yoga pose is a great calf stretch. To deepen the stretch, bend one knee and then the other to peddle the feet.

• Begin in a tabletop position with your hands planted on the ground beneath your shoulders and your knees below your hips.
• Pressing firmly into your palms, tuck your toes, lift your knees off the ground, and slowly extend your hips upward.
• Without locking your knees, carefully straighten your legs until your body creates a triangle shape with the ground.
• Remember to engage your core as you continue to lengthen your spine and lift your hips as high as possible.

7. Straight leg calf stretch against wall

Benefits: This is a good stretch to target your gastrocnemius and simultaneously improve ankle flexibility, Braun says.

• Standing arm’s distance away from a wall, step one foot back and slightly bend your front knee.
• Lean forward to push your hands against the wall, and press your back heel down into the ground for a deep stretch. Make sure your leg is straight.
• Switch legs and repeat.
• To isolate the soleus, try a variation with your back leg slightly bent.

8. Standing wall calf stretch

Benefits: Another wall stretch variation, this hits your gastrocnemius and can also help relieve tension in your Achilles tendon. “It also doubles as a good stretch for the plantar fascia,” Kelley adds, which is a common cause of heel pain.

• Standing in front of a wall, put one foot forward so your heel is on the ground and the ball of your foot is against the wall.
• Resting your hands on the wall, gently straighten your front leg and lean forward until you feel a deep stretch in your calf.
• Switch legs and repeat.