10 Best Calf Exercises for Men
It’s easy to focus on building other groups of muscles and skip your calves. The result is usually a jacked-up upper body and twigs below the knees to carry all that massive muscle mass.
Apart from jogging, there are several other calf exercises you can do to strengthen your leg and calf muscles. Calf exercises don’t just target the calves; some of the routines, although easy to perform, work the glutes, quads, and hamstrings.
If you’re planning a comprehensive leg day, here are some of the best calf exercises to include in your routine. The best part is that you can do these exercises at home, gym, or outdoors.
1. Jump Rope
Who hasn’t tried the classic jump rope exercise before? But not everyone is aware that this seemingly simple exercise does actually hits all the right spots in the calf and legs to give beef up those muscles. Find a good jump rope and do the exercise correctly, like this:
- Hold the handles of the jump rope in each hand
- Jump with both feet at the same time as you swing the rope to pass under your feet
- Keep your shoulders lowered and your core engaged
Reps: 30 seconds for each set
Sets: Repeat for five minutes
Rest: 30 seconds
2. Standing Barbell Calf Raise
Calf exercises don’t get any better than this classic. Why? It throws in some serious weight into the mix. Here’s how this works:
- Hold a barbell on your upper back
- Stand up straight with both feet facing forward and planted firmly on the floor
- Slowly raise both heels as you contract your calves
- Return your feet to the starting position
- Repeat
Reps: 15 reps per set
Sets: 5 sets
Rest: 45 seconds
3. Agility Ladder
The agility ladder exercise is not exclusively reserved for footballers, you know. Don’t have an agility ladder? That’s not a problem. You can always improvise with chalk or tape. Here’s how to do it:
- Place the ladder on the floor. If you are using tape or drawing, make sure there’s ample space between the rungs.
- Stand at one end of the agility ladder
- Hop between the spaces of the rungs until you get to the end of the ladder
- Walk back to the start of the ladder
- Repeat
Reps: 10 to 12 reps per set
Sets: 3 sets
Rest: 60 seconds
4. Lateral Lunge to Curtsy
If you want to up your calf exercises, try the lateral lunge. Besides crushing your calves, you’ll get the benefit of working on your lower back and upper leg as well. To make it more challenging, you can add dumbbells, plates, or any type of weight you are comfortable with. Once you’re ready, do the following:
- Stand upright with a dumbbell, kettlebell, or weight plate
- Assume a lateral lunge by moving your left foot to the side as you hinge your hips
- Push the left foot and move back into a standing position while bringing your left leg into a curtsy lunge
- Switch to your right leg to complete the rep
- Repeat
Reps: 12 reps per set
Sets: 2 to 3 reps
Rest: 45 seconds
5. Stair Run
You can train your calves by running up the stairs in a stadium or at home. The action of constantly flexing and extending your foot gives your calves a good workout. This is not running for cardio endurance, though. So, here’s how to do it properly.
- Start at the bottom of the stairs
- Run up the flight of stairs on the balls of your feet, making sure that you don’t skip any of the steps
- Walk down the to the starting position when you reach the top, or where you intend to stop (depending on the number of rows on the stairs)
- Repeat
Reps: 20 to 30 seconds per set
Sets: 3 to 4 sets
Rest: 45 to 60 seconds
6. Hill Runs
Okay, here’s one of the best calf exercises that don’t just smoke your calves but also works your quads, glutes, and hamstrings. Grab a pair of good-quality trail shoes, find a steep terrain outdoors or a hill, and do this:
- Go for a 20-second dash up the hill
- Jog back down
- Repeat
Reps: 20 seconds dashes
Sets: 5 to 6 sets
Rest: None between reps
7. Box Jumps
Here’s another good leg exercise that targets nearly all the muscles in your legs to build strength. It may seem easy, but don’t be fooled by appearances. Your calves and every part of your leg will thank you for this. To do this:
- Get a sturdy box and place it flat on the floor, making sure it won’t topple over when you jump onto it
- With your feet shoulder-width apart, stand a short distance away from the box, where you can safely jump on it
- Go down in a squat, swing your arms, and jump onto the box
- Step down from the box and repeat
Reps: 5 reps per set
Sets: 2 to 3 sets
Rest: 45 seconds
8. Farmer’s Walk
The farmer’s walk will strengthen your overall muscle and improve your balance while also working your calves.
Here’s how to do it:
- Grab a pair of dumbbells in both hands, letting them hang at your sides
- Raise yourself until you are on your toes
- Walk forward quickly, making sure your steps and short and light
- Start with lighter weight and increase it as you gain more balance
Reps: As much as you can
Sets: 3 sets
Rest: 2 minutes
9. Single-Leg Calf Raise
This is one of the simplest and basic calf exercises, yet it is highly effective:
- Stand on a raised platform like a step, block, or rail
- Raise one leg, keeping the other on the elevated surface, and let your weight rest on the ball of the other foot
- Wrap the raised leg around the other and slowly drop to the floor as you stretch your calf
- Pause for one or two seconds, and then push upward on the ball of your foot as you raise your heel
- Pause again when you go up before returning to the starting position
- Repeat
Reps: 20 to 25 reps per set
Sets: 5 sets
Rest: 45 seconds
10. Jumping Jacks
Jumping jacks are quite easy to do and are one of the best calf exercises you can do. It doesn’t require any equipment. As long as you can jump and clap, you’re pretty much an expert. To get the best results, do it this way:
- Stand fully upright with your arms at your sides and your feet together
- Jump and spread your legs as you clap your hands above your head all at the same time
- Once your feet touch the ground, go right back up
Reps: 20 to 25 reps per set
Sets: 5 sets
Rest: 45 seconds
Common Mistakes When Performing Calf Exercises
1. Limiting yourself to the typical rep range
The conventional 10 to 15 reps are okay but don’t stop there if you don’t have to. If you want an awesome pump, aim to hit 25 to 30 reps.
2. Using excessive weight
Weight can improve your results, but too much weight can rob you of gains. There’s no sense in using weights that are too heavy to prevent you from doing the exercise properly. Excessive weight can end a rep prematurely. Besides, too much weight adds excessive stress on your knees, vertebrae, and Achilles tendon.
Here are a few pointers to know if you are using excessive weight. If you feel pain in your Achilles tendon or the arch of your foot, you are using too much weight. If you can’t stop your knees from bending when you do calf exercise using weights, you are using too much weight.
3. Performing calf workouts after your leg workout
The worse time to work your calves is when you are already tired. If you wait until you’re done with your leg workout, you may not have enough energy left to do any meaningful calf workout. Isn’t this one of the main reasons calves are mostly ignored?
Here’s the deal, no muscle – calves or not – can develop if given subpar training. For the best results with your calves, you must train them with the same level of intensity as you would train your chest or back. Do these exercises when you are fresh.
Tips for Building Your Calves
- It is crucial to your success to do at least 15 reps for each exercise if you want to get good results in the least amount of time. If there is no specific set of reps in a particular exercise, aim to do between 15 and 20 reps, depending on your strength and fitness level.
- Endeavor to maintain a consistent workout schedule. If you plan on exercising your calves three times per week, stick to it. Like diet, cheating will likely cancel whatever progress you’ve made. Besides, most calf exercises are pretty easy to perform, so there’s really no reason to skip them.
- Remember to always keep your feet straight during your calf routines. You are not likely to see impressive results in good time if you do otherwise.
- If you are working out indoors, try doing your reps with your shoes off. Working your calves without shoes tend to yield better results because it allows you the freedom to tense your muscles more. And that’s what is required for building better calf muscles. However, it is okay to keep your socks on.
- Don’t worry if your calves don’t look like those you see on your gym buddies. These things take time for some people. And I’ll explain why it is so in a bit. But keep in mind that we all have different body and muscle types. So, don’t relent. If getting a perfectly sculpted calf is of significant importance to you, it is best to keep working those muscles. In time, you’ll get the results you want.
Calf Muscle Anatomy
In a way, you are always training your calf muscles if you do leg exercises, even if they are not targeting your calves. For example, deadlifts, lunges, squats, and other popular leg workouts, you are inadvertently engaging your calves. Look at it this way. When you engage in pressing or pulling motions, the muscles of your forearms are naturally engaged. In the same way, your calves are not excluded since they provide the base for all lower-body moves.
However, when you perform exercises that target your calves directly, you are essentially building the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles. When you look at your buddy’s calves, the main muscle you see is the gastrocnemius. It is sharply defined when developed. The soleus is located under the gastrocnemius, so you won’t see it outwardly.
The gastrocnemius muscle contributes to calf movements such as explosive speeds, power moves, acceleration, and jumping. On the other hand, the soleus contributes to running endurance and walking. The best calf exercises are those that target both types of muscles.
Calf Exercise FAQs
How often should you work out your calves?
Whether you are working on your calves or performing any exercise routine that somehow impacts your leg muscles, it is best to keep things reasonable. You don’t want to risk overstraining your calves.
Aim to keep calf exercises to an average of 3 times per week, depending on your workout and the types of exercises you enjoy. For example, if you run frequently, you are already engaging your calves adequately. Adding daily dedicated calf workouts to frequent distance running might be overdoing it.
Can daily walks improve calf size?
Talking daily walks can improve your overall health and wellbeing, whether you do it briskly or leisurely. However, it is least effective for improving calf size. The most straightforward way to develop calf muscles and increase your leg strength is to execute a set of calf-dedicated exercises.
Does genetics play out in calf development?
Yes, genetics do affect your overall muscle makeup. This explains why some people rarely exercise yet have massive calf muscles, and others burst their behinds without significant results. Your genetics play a role in allocating different percentages of Type I and Type II muscle fibers.
Type I fibers naturally resist fatigue, making them have lower growth potential. They are generally referred to as “slow-twitch” muscle fibers. On the flip side, Type II fibers, also known as fast-twitch muscle fibers, tend to develop faster. Someone with a higher percentage of Type I muscle fibers is likely to have greater and rapid growth potential than someone with more Type II.
But that doesn’t mean you should fret if you are not born with naturally massive or well-defined calves. You can increase your calf size and strength, regardless of your genetic makeup. It only means you’ll have to put in more concerted efforts if you have more dominant Type I muscle fibers. It doesn’t matter what your grandparents passed onto you in terms of genetics; you can build athletic calves if you follow the right workout routine, recovery plan, and good diet.
What exercises do you recommend for calves?
All of the exercises mentioned in this article are great for defining your calves and building strength. The best exercises for your calves will depend on your fitness level and whether you want to include equipment or not. In addition to the ones outlined here, you can also include some other great calf-dedicated workouts in your routine. These are static neutral hold, the seated band pushes, explosive calf step-up, seal jumps, dumbbell jump squat, and downward dog.