<\/p>\n Time to shift your focus from quick, half-hearted sets to purposeful, performance-driven training, to give your calves the attention they deserve. These five exercises from Lauren will not only build strength and size but also improve stability, power, and athletic performance. We’ve also included home variations for each exercise too, just in case you don’t have access to a gym…<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n 1. Barbell standing calf raises<\/p>\n \n (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n First things first, if you want your calves to really grow and get stronger, the best way to do this is by incorporating weighted exercises \u2013 like the barbell standing calf raise. \u201cThis is important and I think this is something a lot of people skip, they do a lot of calf raises with just bodyweight, but we forget to load it up heavy,\u201d says Lauren. \u201cBut the calf is a muscle, and just like any other muscle, we want to train it hard and we want to train it heavy.\u201d This particular exercise targets the gastrocnemius, the main bulk of your calf. No barbells and squat racks free? Lauren says you can also use a Smith machine or a calf machine that sits on your shoulders, if your gym has one.<\/p>\n At-home option: Grab two dumbbells<\/a>, either hold them by your sides or on your shoulders, raise up onto the balls of your feet, then slowly lower back down<\/p>\n 2. Single-leg deficit calf raises<\/p>\n \u201cThe single-leg calf raise harder than a lot of people think, it looks pretty easy and simple, but if you haven\u2019t done them, it\u2019s challenging,\u201d says Lauren. This is because of two things: by performing the exercise off a weight plate, you\u2019re increasing the range of motion and you\u2019re working one calf at a time, both of which increase the difficulty of the exercise. The latter is particularly important for making sure you build equal strength across your calves easily. \u201cWe want something where you can elevate your foot so that when you get to the bottom, you\u2019re going to be below parallel with your heel, so you get a little bit of extra stretch in your calf.\u201d A 20kg weight plate, your bodyweight and something to hold to (like the side of a squat rack) is the perfect setup if you\u2019re in the gym.<\/p>\n At-home option: Use the step of your stairs and hold onto the banister for support<\/p>\n 3. Pogo hops<\/p>\n \n (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n This may take you back to the playground or P.E. classes, but not only do pogo hops give your cardio fitness a boost and help build plyometric power. \u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to emphasises is quickness and reducing ground contact time as you jump,\u201d says Lauren. \u201cIt\u2019s really similar to jump roping. We\u2019re trying to be light on the feet, trying to be bouncy, and trying to get as little ground contact time as possible.\u201d Stick with two legs to start with, but once these become too easy, Lauren says you can advance them to single-leg pogo hops. Struggle with them altogether? Lauren suggests looping a resistance band around a squat rack and holding onto it as you jump \u2013 it\u2019ll give your bounces a boost.<\/p>\n At-home option: No alternative needed, these are perfect for doing at home, as no equipment is required<\/p>\n 4. Bent leg calf raises<\/p>\n We know what you’re thinking, ‘another calf raise?!’, but Lauren says this one is important. “The reason we want to do a bent leg variation is because that’s going to hit the soleus, which is a deeper stabilising muscle that’s really helpful with deceleration, which is something a lot of athletes, but also runners and anyone who’s moving quickly, is going to need to be resilient and strong.” If your gym has a seated calf raise machine, use this. If not, head over to a weight bench<\/a>, grab a heavy kettlebell or dumbbell, rest it on your knee and then perform your calf raises one leg at a time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Are you training your calves properly? Let\u2019s be honest, your quads, hammies and glutes probably steal the spotlight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[337,97],"class_list":{"0":"post-116584","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/YotGXG8YgNZ6bZ3c53RMJ3.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/vXG9kVqsoFnxgeXsT7hQB4.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n