How to Do Dumbbell Calf Raises with Proper Form

Muscles Worked

Primary muscles: the calves. The gastrocnemius and soleus together form the triceps surae, the muscle group responsible for plantarflexion (pointing the foot down). The gastrocnemius is the larger two-headed muscle visible at the back of the lower leg; it crosses both the knee and the ankle joints. The soleus sits underneath the gastrocnemius and crosses only the ankle. Bending the knee shifts only a little work between them: at 45 degrees of knee bend, soleus activity rose by just 4% and gastrocnemius activity fell by 5% (Hebert-Losier et al., 2012). In a 12-week study, standing raises grew the gastrocnemius far more than seated raises and the soleus about the same (Kinoshita et al., 2023), so the standing raise trains both. Both muscles work as you rise onto the balls of your feet and as you lower under control.

Mechanism. The triceps surae attaches to the calcaneus (heel bone) through the Achilles tendon, the largest tendon in the body. The Achilles tolerates loads of several times bodyweight during running and jumping; calf raises build both contractile strength in the muscle and tendon stiffness in the Achilles itself. Calf raises are also used to treat Achilles tendinopathy in two different programs: heavy-load eccentric training, which works the lowering phase (Alfredson et al., 1998), and heavy slow resistance training. A randomized trial found the two equally effective (Beyer et al., 2015). Both are rehab programs that a physical therapist should set up.

Quick Facts

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Stand with dumbbells at your sides. Stand tall on a flat floor with your feet about hip-width apart and your toes pointing forward, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your arms hanging straight at your sides. Keep your knees soft rather than locked and your chest up.

   Tip: Stand tall and rise straight up. Do not lean forward.

2. Press through the balls of your feet. Slowly raise your heels off the ground by pressing through the balls of your feet. Focus on driving straight upward, not forward or backward, and let your knees straighten as you rise. Weight tracks through the big toe and the second toe, not the outside of the foot.
3. Rise as high as possible. Keep rising until your heels are as high as you can lift them. You should feel a strong squeeze in both calves at the top of the movement.

   Tip: Lift your heels as high as you can on every rep, not just the first few.

4. Pause briefly at the top. Pause for a moment at the top. The brief hold eliminates momentum and makes sure your muscles are doing the work.
5. Lower yourself slowly. Lower your heels slowly and under control until they touch the floor. Don't just drop back down.

   Tip: Lower your heels slowly and never drop them, even when the set gets hard.

6. Repeat without bouncing. Each rep should start from a full stop on the ground. Bouncing at the bottom uses elastic rebound instead of muscle contraction and cheats the exercise.

Common Mistakes

• Dropping down too fast. Gravity is not your friend on the lowering phase. A quick drop skips the controlled lowering half of the rep. Lower your heels slowly until they touch the floor.
• Bouncing at the bottom. Using elastic rebound to start the next rep cheats your calves out of the work. Come to a full stop at the bottom before each rep.
• Leaning forward. Tipping your torso forward moves the load over your toes, which makes the top of the rep easier for your calves. Stay upright and rise straight up.
• Partial range of motion. Rising only partway onto your toes cuts the rep short. Lift your heels as high as you can, then lower them all the way to the floor. Do not skip the bottom of the rep, where the calf is most stretched.
• Using too little weight. Your calves carry your entire bodyweight all day. They're strong. Don't be afraid to use meaningful resistance. If you can easily hit 20 reps, the dumbbells are too light.
• Weight rolling to the outside of the foot. If the load tracks through the pinky toe rather than the big toe, you're loading the ankle in inversion (the sprain-prone direction). Cue weight through the first and second toe.

Variations

• Bodyweight calf raise (easier). Perform the same movement without dumbbells. Ideal for learning the movement pattern or for high-rep endurance sets (20-40 reps).
• Elevated calf raise. Stand with the balls of your feet on a step or platform with heels hanging off the edge. The bottom of each rep drops below floor level, which adds range at the stretched end of the movement. Training in that stretched range grew the gastrocnemius more than training the top half did (Kassiano et al., 2023). Use it only if the deep stretch causes no Achilles pain.
• Single-leg dumbbell calf raise. Hold one dumbbell on the working side and perform all reps on one foot before switching. This puts the whole load on one calf. Rest your free hand on a wall or support for balance, and do the same reps on each leg. This is the standard progression once two-leg raises become easy.
• Seated calf raise. Sit on a bench with dumbbells resting on your thighs near the knees. Bending the knees shifts only a little work from the gastrocnemius to the soleus, and seated raises grew the gastrocnemius far less than standing raises. It is an option when standing bothers your feet, but you do not need it to train the soleus.
• Single-leg elevated calf raise (advanced). Combine single-leg load with elevated range. Hold a dumbbell on the working side, stand on a step with the heel hanging off, balance with the free hand on a wall or rack. The hardest progression most home lifters will ever need.

When to Avoid or Modify Calf Raises

Calf raises are safe for most healthy adults and are commonly used in rehabilitation. A few conditions warrant modification. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider or physical therapist before starting or returning to any exercise program, especially in the scenarios below.

• Acute Achilles tendinopathy or recent Achilles rupture/repair. Calf raise programs such as heavy-load eccentric training and heavy slow resistance training are used to treat Achilles tendinopathy, but a physical therapist should stage them. During an acute pain flare, skip the elevated variation (the bottom-stretch position loads the tendon hardest), drop to bodyweight, and keep the bottom of the rep at floor level rather than dropping below it. Any tendon pain is a stop signal.
• Active plantar fasciitis or heel pain. The pressure under the ball of the foot at the top of each rep can aggravate symptoms. Try seated calf raises (less bodyweight pressure on the foot) and avoid the elevated variation until heel pain resolves.
• Recent ankle sprain or unstable ankle. Two-leg raises in a controlled, slow tempo are often part of ankle rehab and help rebuild proprioception. Hold a wall or rack lightly for balance until single-leg stability returns. Avoid single-leg variations until you can balance on the affected leg for 30 seconds without wobbling.
• Recent foot, ankle, or lower-leg surgery. Get surgeon clearance. Isolation rehab typically progresses from isometric heel raises to bodyweight raises to loaded raises over weeks to months depending on the procedure.
• Severe varicose veins or peripheral vascular disease. The calf is the body's "second heart" venous pump and calf raises generally help circulation, but high-volume daily protocols should be cleared with a vascular physician if you have a known condition.
• Pregnancy with significant lower-leg edema or balance changes. Hold a wall or counter for balance, drop the load, and keep both heels at or above floor level rather than using the elevated variation.

Related Exercises

• Same target muscle (plantarflexion / lower leg): calf hops for explosive plantarflexion and elastic Achilles work; jump squats for triple-extension power that finishes through the calves.
• Compounds that load the calves: squats, front squats, Bulgarian split squats, and deadlifts all recruit the calves isometrically as ankle stabilizers but do not train them through full range. Calf raises are the accessory that closes this gap.
• Hip-and-hinge pairing for posterior chain: Romanian deadlifts for hamstrings and glutes; glute bridges for hip extension. Calves sit at the bottom of the same posterior-chain kinetic chain.
• Ankle mobility and tibialis health: cross-legged ankle stretch for dorsiflexion range; tibialis-raise work (front-of-shin) pairs with calf raises as the antagonist to balance the lower leg.
• Conditioning that hammers the calves: high knees and butt kicks load the calves at high cadence; alternating with strength work develops both reactive and contractile capacity.

How to Program Calf Raises

Programming should follow Ratamess et al., 2009 (the ACSM Position Stand on resistance training), with the practical adjustment that calves tolerate higher rep ranges and slightly higher frequency than most muscle groups because of their daily endurance role and high slow-twitch fiber composition.

Where in your workout. Calf raises are an isolation accessory. Place them late in the session, after compound work for the same kinetic chain (squats, lunges, deadlifts). Doing them first fatigues the ankle stabilizers and undermines your heavier lifts. A typical leg-day order: squat or hinge variation → unilateral lower-body work → posterior chain accessory → calf raises → conditioning. For runners and jumpers, calf raises can also live as a stand-alone 2-3 times per week (separate from lower-body strength days) to build Achilles capacity without competing for recovery with the heavier lifts.

Form floor over rep targets. If you can't hit a full peak contraction and a slow, controlled lowering, the rep doesn't count. Stop the set when the tempo breaks, even if the rep number is short. Quality reps build the calf; sloppy bounces train the elastic tendon at the expense of muscle adaptation.

Calf Raises in the FitCraft App

Calf raises might look like a beginner exercise, but how they fit into a program makes the difference.

The FitCraft app includes the dumbbell calf raise as a beginner strength exercise, with an interactive 3D demonstration. It is done standing on a flat floor with a dumbbell in each hand, the version taught on this page.

Use the variations and the programming table above to choose your version, load, sets and reps. Move to single-leg or elevated raises only when you can lift your heels high and lower them slowly on every rep.

Calves only grow if you train them consistently. FitCraft's streaks and collectible cards help keep the small accessory lifts from getting skipped.