The calf muscle exercises on this page are the best calf exercises you can do to build muscle and strength in your lower leg area.


I am an expert on building the calves, so if you need to work on building your calves you've found the perfect site in Weight Lifting Complete.


The calves consist of 3 major muscles:

1. Gastrocnemius (largest posterior calf muscle)
2. Soleus 
3. Tibialis Anterior (largest anterior calf muscle) 

In order to build the calves to the fullest potential, you need to do calf muscle exercises for each of the 3 major muscle groups in the calf region.

Calf Muscle Exercises

Gastrocnemius Exercises Standing Calf Raise Donkey Calf Raise Soleus Exercises Seated Calf Raise Squat Raise Tibialis Anterior Exercises Reverse Calf Raise

Gastrocnemius Exercises

The gastrocnemius is the most well know calf muscle. You can work this muscle through standing calf raises, donkey calf raises, and all of the variations of those exercises.


Let's look at some videos...

• Standing Calf Raise

You can use a barbell, smith machine, hip belt, dumbbells, and more to perform variations of the standing calf raise.

• Donkey Calf Raise

The leg press calf raise is probably the single best gastrocnemius exercise you can do! The leg press calf raise is a form of the donkey calf raise. A donkey calf raise simply means you are bent at the waist.

Soleus Exercises

The soleus is often forgotten, but it definitely shouldn't be if you are trying to buld those calves. The soleus is worked when you are bent at the knee. Seated calf muscle exercises and squat position exercises work the soleus...

• Seated Calf Raise

You can use a barbell in a power rack, a smitch machine, dumbells, and seated calf raise machines. Anything will work as long as you are in a seated position.

• Squat Raise

I could not find a decent squat raise video, but I did find a good link with an animation showing you how to do a squat raise. Squat raises are one of the best calf muscle exercises you can do, yet no one really knows this exercise exists.


You can also perform this exercise with the weight sitting across your thighs. You can use a smith machine, a barbell, a dumbbell, or two dumbbells to do this exercise. I suggest you use a calf block also to get a better stretch!

Tibialis Anterior Exercises

The tibialis anterior is the huge muscle on the frontal area of your lower leg.


Many people never work this muscle group through direct weightlifting exercises.


If you need to work on your lower leg area and want to build bigger calves, you need to make this muscle a focus of your calf workouts too!


The best calf muscle exercises that work this frontal area of the lower leg are reverse calf raises.


You can watch a few different versions of the reverse calf raise in the videos below...

• Reverse Calf Raises

You can perform reverse calf raises either seated or standing. If seated, place the weight on your thigh area close to the knee. If standing, you can use dumbbells, barbells, or a hip belt to add extra weight.

Weightlifting Exercises by Major Muscle Group
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