How to Do Barbell Standing Calf Raise: Muscles Worked & Proper Form

Muscles Worked in Barbell Standing Calf Raises

Primary muscles worked:

• Calves

How to Do Barbell Standing Calf Raises

1. Place a barbell on your shoulders, and stand with your toes and the ball of your feet on a step, like a weight plate or something similar. Stand upright in the starting position.
2. Lower yourself down by bending your ankles in a controlled movement.
3. Push yourself up by extending your ankles.

Commentary

Standing calf raises train both the inner (solues) and outer (gastrocnemius) calf muscles simultaneously.

A variant of the exercise is seated calf raises, in which the gastrocnemius is shortened and therefore somewhat disengaged, thus isolating the work to soleus.