Most people concentrate on working their thighs, hips and butt to get killer legs, but a well-rounded leg workout should incorporate calf exercises. The calf muscles help you bend your knee and extend your foot, enabling you to push off the ground and propel yourself forward and backward. According to the Mayo Clinic, working the calf muscles also protects the Achilles tendon from injury, enabling you to absorb more force. This tendon connects the the calf muscles to the heel, and pulling or tearing this tendon limits mobility and sometimes requires surgery. Strong calves look great, but they will keep you injury-free, too.
Weighted Single-Legged Calf Raise
Stand with your right shoulder about six inches from a wall, your right palm against the wall at shoulder-height for support. Hold a dumbbell in your left hand. Lift your right foot off the ground, shifting your weight over your left leg. Keeping your body upright, your head facing forward, push through your toes, lifting your left heel off the ground until you are fully balanced on the toes of your left foot. Squeeze your calf muscle at the top and hold for a second before releasing your foot and lowering your heel. When your heel is almost touching the floor, raise your body back up, squeezing the left calf. Repeat 15 to 20 times before switching legs.
Weighted Plie Calf Raise
Place a lightly weighted bar across your shoulders, gripping it with both hands. Step your legs out wide, rotating your hips out, so that your toes are pointing to the left and to the right of your body. Bend your knees, keep your torso upright and slowly lower your buttocks toward the floor between your legs. Stop when your knees form an angle between 45 and 90 degrees, depending on your comfort level. From this position, lift both of your heels off the ground simultaneously, contracting your calf muscles. You will only want to lift your heels between one to two inches to maintain stability. Lower your heels to the ground and repeat 10 to 12 times.
Weighted Skips
Skipping and hopping exercises require contraction of the calf muscles, resulting in increased strength. Put on a weighted vest. The vest will add weight to your body, making the movement more difficult, but it won't limit mobility or require you to adjust your movements to account for holding a weight.
Start in a standing position, and using your arms to add momentum, press off with your right foot, driving your knee up in the air towards your chest until your hip and knee form 90 degree angles. Simultaneously press through the ball of your left foot, contracting your calf and hopping up in the air. Land lightly on the ball of your left foot with your knee slightly bent, and allow your right foot to land on the ground about a foot in front of its starting point. From here, propel your left knee upward while driving your right toe into the ground, continuing the skipping motion. Continue skipping for about 15 yards, rest for 20 seconds, then turn around and repeat the skipping exercise until you reach the starting line.
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