Powerful At-Home Calf Exercises (No Gym Required)

June 18 2014

When you’re busy focusing on your biceps, chest, shoulders and abs, it’s easy to overlook your calves. And to make matters worse, the calves are one of the the most difficult muscle groups to strengthen — at least that’s the general belief. With a little work and dedication, however, you can build strong calf muscles using your own body weight and a pair of dumbbells.

Calf Raises

If you aren’t incorporating calf raises into your normal workout routine, you’re missing out on one of the easiest and most effective ways to build bigger calves. Calf raises are incredibly easy and can be performed without any special weights or equipment.

To perform a calf raise, stand with your back up against the wall, spread your feet about shoulder-width apart, and press your toes into the ground while raising your heels — so you are essentially standing on your tip toes. Hold this position for 10-20 seconds, drop back down to the normal standing position and repeat.

Note: it’s recommended that you focus on body weight calf raises at first and gradually work your way up to weighted calf raises once you develop the proper technique and form.

Variations of The Calf Raise:

• Try holding one leg up in the air while performing the calf raise on your “standing” leg. Single-leg calf raises are twice as hard, which means you’ll get a more beneficial workout.
• Holding a pair of dumbbells while performing calf raises will also boost the intensity of this workout. Simply hold a pair of dumbbells to your side while performing the steps mentioned above.
• Another simple way to change up your normal calf raise routine is to sit down on a chair or bench to perform them. Granted, this doesn’t offer any benefit versus standing, but it’s still a new way to perform this exercise nonetheless.
• If you don’t have access to dumbbells, you “up” the intensity of your calf raises by wearing some ankle weights.

Box Jumps

Another incredibly easy — and equally powerful — calf workout is box jumps. As the name suggests, this workout involves the use of a large box (or similar flat, stable object).

Once you’ve found a box or similar flat, stable object, stand about 6-10” away from it and jump forward while keeping your feet close together. Next, jump backwards so you’re back in the starting position; rinse and repeat.