Many athletes tend to underestimate leg muscles, but calf exercises are an important part of the training process. Strong leg muscles are needed for proportional development of the body and aesthetic appearance. In addition, they will help you improve results in all basic exercises that involve the legs. With the best calf exercises, you can not only burn fat, but also significantly increase muscle volume.

Basics
Before proceeding with the training itself, it is worth understanding the principles of working on this part of the body. Calf exercises should involve all the right muscles. The calf is the largest muscle in this group and is located on the back of the leg just below the knee. This muscle works when you exercise in a position with your knees not bent. Calf exercises should also work out the soleus muscle, it is located under the calf and is needed to bend the legs. The anterior muscle is responsible for flexion and rotation of the foot – you should not forget about it either.

Separate exercises for the calf muscles are not important for everyone. Some especially lucky athletes manage to keep their calves in perfect condition just by doing basic exercises. These muscles are trained during any work with the legs, but not everyone has enough basic exercises. Additional effective exercises for calves are needed for those who want to achieve pumped, strong muscles, contrary to genetics. You should not train these muscles too often, twice a week is enough. And do not forget that such isolated exercises are performed after the main workout.

Exercises in the gym for calves
Lifting from a standing position

Stand on a stand or exercise block with your toes, take a barbell in your hands or rest your shoulders on the supports of the simulator
Rise with the weight, achieve full muscle contraction
Lower yourself so that the heel is below the level of the toe.
This calf exercise should be done slowly, don’t rely on momentum.
Lifting from a sitting position

Lock your knees with the weight of a calf machine or a barbell
Rest on the step or platform of the simulator with socks
Raise your heels as far as possible while resisting the weight on your knees
This calf exercise pumps the soleus muscle
bench press

Use the leg machine, put your feet on the block at shoulder width
Raise the platform, resting on it only with socks
Try to squeeze it on the maximum possible height, if it does not work out, reduce the weight
These exercises for the calf muscles should not be done until they are completely clogged, overstraining the legs can not only exhaust the muscles, but also cause injury. The average number of repetitions and approaches is 10 to 3, getting used to this amount of work, you can increase the repetitions. Remember that the calves work in the main exercises, so you can avoid overtraining.