The calf muscles are located on the back part of the lower legs below the knees. They are involved with a motion known as plantar flexion. You will know you are plantar flexing your foot when you stand on your tiptoes to reach into the back of a high cabinet to get a glass. Simply put, whenever your toes point down, you are plantar flexing. Use standing and seated calf raises to work these lower body muscles.
Function
Although the calves are often referred to as one unit, there are actually two distinctive parts. The upper part is known as the gastrocnemius, and it has a lateral and medial head. The medial head is toward the inside of the leg, and the lateral head is toward the outside. The soleus is the lower part that goes down toward the Achilles tendon. The main function of standing and seated calf raises is to work both of these sections.
Features
The seated calf raise is done one of two ways--with a seated calf raise machine or with dumbbells resting on your thighs. The basic movement is the exact same with both exercises. You lift and lower your heels so your tiptoes are the only thing touching the floor. With a seated calf raise machine, you press your thighs into a padded support while your toes are on a platform. To adjust resistance on this machine, you slide weight plates onto a circular tube.
Resistance
The calves are strong muscles that need a high amount of resistance and high amount of reps to be fully worked. When doing standing and seated calf raises, external resistance is added. For example, with standing raises, hold a barbell across the shoulders or in front of the thighs, or hold dumbbells at your sides. With the seated and standing calf raise, a general rep range is 15 to 25 per set. What you should do with each set is work until muscle failure. This doesn't mean do reps until you can do no more. It means do reps until your form breaks down. An example of broken form is you are not able to lift the weight through a full range of motion.
Full Development
Any time you lift up onto your tiptoes while your legs are straight, you place more emphasis on your gastrocnemius. Whenever you lift up onto your tip toes with bent knees, you place more emphasis on your soleus. That being said, the standing calf raise develops the upper calves and the seated calf raise develops the lower calves. With this being the case, include both seated and standing calf raises with a calf building workout to ensure full development.
Proper Form
Calf raises are basic exercises, but there's more to them than just lifting your heels up and down. When you do either exercise, lift your heels in a steady motion, and forcefully contract your calf muscles at the top of the movement. After holding for a full second, slowly lower your heels back down, and hold again for a full second.
On the seated calf raise, you are able to lower your heels toward the floor. This allows the muscles a strong stretch, and it helps build definition. When doing standing raises, you can get this same effect by placing the balls of your feet on an aerobic step, stair step or calf block. A calf block is a tool specifically designed for calf raises. The bottom line is, lift your heels as high as possible and hold for second, and lower your heels as far as possible and hold for a second.
Variations
To place more emphasis on the medial head of the gastrocnemius, perform the standing calf raise with your upper, inner feet elevated on weight plates. To place more emphasis on the lateral gastrocnemius, stand on the plates with the outer, upper part of your feet on the plates.
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