A seated calf machine is made of steel and it has multiple features. Weight plates are slid onto a circular tube, there is a foot rest to place the balls of your feet and an upper thigh pad to push against when you do calf raises. The motion involved with calf raises is known as plantar flexion and there are multiple muscles that get recruited.
Soleus
The lower part of the calf muscle complex is known as the soleus. This is easy to remember because of the root word "sole" which indicates a proximity to the bottom of the foot. Whenever your heel drops down at an angle, the soleus is being worked. During the seated calf raise, the soleus gets stretched when your heels go down below parallel to the floor and it gets strengthened as you push your heels up.
Gastrocnemius
The gastrocnemius is the upper part of the calf complex and it is this muscle that gives the back of your lower leg that defined look. In similar fashion to the soleus, the "gastroc" is responsible for planar flexion and gets worked any time your toes point downward. In the case of the seated calf raise, you work your gastroc when your heels are lifted and you are on your tip-toes.
Plantaris
The plantaris is a small strip of muscle found right at the top of the gastrocnemius. If you were to place your toes on the floor, push your heel at a backward angle and contract your gastroc, you can feel this muscle right below your knee. It gets worked in conjunction with your soleus and gastrocnemius when you plantar flex and dorsi flex your foot. Dorsi flexion is the anatomical term for your toes pointing up.
Shins
The front of the shins have a long, narrow strip of muscle called the tibialis anterior. Whenever you dorsi flex your ankle, your tibialis muscles are being worked. When doing a seated calf raise, these muscles are contracting when you lower your heels downward to slow the momentum of the weight.
Sides of Calves
The peroneus longus and brevis are often referred to as the peroneals. These muscles run down the outside of your lower legs and they get worked when you are lifting up onto your tip toes. If you were to do a variation on the seated calf raise with your toes turned out to the sides, this muscle group would get even more emphasis. The longus is the longer of the two parts and you can feel it on the outside of your shin.
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