Calf Raises With Toes Turned In

Strong legs are toned from the hip to the ankle. Toned, muscular calves give your legs the look and feel of strength. One way to improve your calves is with calf raises. The calf raise, although a straight-forward, one-direction movement, has a variation to focus your training benefits.

  1. Calf Raise

    • During the traditional standing calf raise, you stand with your feet a hips-width apart and your feet parallel. Your toes face forward. You lift and lower your heels to strengthen your calves. The same forward-facing foot position is true during a seated calf raise. The forward-facing foot position works as it targets the gastrocnemius during the standing calf raise and the soleus during the seated calf raise.

    Toes In

    • You can change the focus of your calf raises by turning your toes toward each other. If you think of your foot position in relation to a clock, during the forward-facing position, your toes are both pointing toward 12 o'clock. Turn your toes in and point your right foot toward 10 o'clock and your left foot toward 2 o'clock. You can use this position during either the standing or the seated calf raise.

    Muscle Focus

    • The toes-in foot position during the calf raise changes the muscle focus to the medial part of your calves. Another way to look at it is that you shift the concentration to the muscles on the inner-portions of your lower legs. When you close your legs together, you can feel these muscles touch on your lower legs.

    Guidelines

    • Calf raises are performed with your feet flat on the floor, or with your feet elevated on weight plates, a box or a step. The weight of your body is your only resistance, which you can make more challenging by using one foot at a time, or you can hold a dumbbell in each hand. Calf-raise weight machines are also available as training tools. Perform one to three sets of eight to 12 repetitions with your toes turned in for strong and toned calves.