Calf raises are an important part of a full-body workout, strengthening the muscle important for leg power, jumping, and running speed. Standing calf raises should be done until muscle failure, with weights added to increase difficulty. The exercise also stretches the calves, making it popular with athletes.
A key part of a productive fitness regimen is getting a full-body workout, and this means working every muscle in your body. In addition to the glamorous chest, abdominal and biceps muscles, the calf muscles in the legs are important to exercise. Among the best calf exercises in any training program are calf raises. This exercise can be modified to a standing dumbbell calf raise and can offer a strong cardiovascular and strengthening workout for your lower body, including your quadriceps and hamstrings.
Standing calf raises are performed standing with your back, neck, and chest straight. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart and flat on the floor, balanced between the balls and heels of your feet. The exercise is performed by pushing your body up using only the balls of your feet and calf muscles. You should live almost to a tiptoe position and then slowly come back down. The exercise can be done in normal sets with repetitions like other exercises, with sets of perhaps around 15-25 per set, resting between each set.
Unlike most other muscles and exercises, the standing calf raise should almost always be done to muscle failure. The standing calf raise exercise works a muscle that is worked every day while walking, and to make it stronger, it must be done until the muscle tears, allowing it to grow. The difficulty of the exercise can be increased by adding weights to your upper body, to add weight to the amount your calves are lifting. This can be done in the form of dumbbell calf raises, with weights in each hand, or with a barbell or weight vest.
The exercise completed by standing calf raises not only works to tone and strengthen the calves, but also stretches them. Because you extend them all the way to the balls of your toes, past the point where your calf is usually stretched when walking, you lengthen the muscle and use a part you rarely use. This added stretch is one reason why your calves are likely to be sore after exercise, and an indication of the productivity of your calf workout.
Standing calf raises are essential for strengthening the muscle that is important for leg power, jumping, and running speed. The exercise is popular with runners, track and field athletes, and basketball players, and helps with general fitness for other training programs. Variations of standing calf raises can be completed seated, with weights on the knees to add the extra weight with dumbbells, or on a weight machine, using the calf to push the barbell cams to heavier limits. than your body.
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