Exercises for the Calves & Ankles

Your calves are made up of two muscles, the gastrocnemius and soleus. Both muscles plantar flex your ankle joint, which means they lift your heels up off the floor. The strength of your calves impacts ankle joint stability. You can more thoroughly improve the strength of your ankles by also incorporating balance and stability exercises.

  1. Training

    • Perform your calf strength exercises two to three days per week with a day or two off in between. Before your workout, perform five to 10 minutes of an aerobic activity like jogging or jumping rope. This will increase blood flow and wake up your neuromuscular system. Complete two to three sets of each exercise. Hold a pair of dumbbells or use a barbell if you need to make the calf exercises more challenging.

    Gastrocnemius Exercise

    • The gastrocnemius is responsible for plantar flexing your ankles when your knees are straight. Therefore, standing calf raises are effective at targeting your gastrocnemius. Stand with your heels hanging off the edge of a stair, a step or a wooden block. Rise up on the balls of your feet, lifting your heels as high as you can. Control your heels back to the starting position. Calf raises should be performed slowly and under control. Avoid bouncing. Complete each of the two to three sets to exhaustion.

    Soleus Exercise

    • The soleus is the smaller of the two calf muscles and it’s responsible for plantar flexing your ankles when your knees are bent. An effective exercise for targeting your soleus is the seated calf raise, which is done while you’re sitting in a chair with the balls of your feet on a wooden block so your heels hang off the edge. Set a weighted barbell or a pair of dumbbells atop your thighs. Push off the balls of your feet and lift your heels up as high as you can. Return your heels to the floor. Adjust the weight of the barbell or dumbbells so your soleus becomes fatigued around 15 to 20 repetitions.

    Ankle Stability

    • To improve ankle stability, after you’re finished with your calf exercises, perform one-legged stances. Stand on one leg and hold this position for 30 seconds. Make it more challenging by closing your eyes. Once this becomes easy, do one-legged stances with your foot atop a pile of towels or a stability disc.

    Stretching

    • Finish up each of your calf and ankle workouts with static stretching, which involves getting into a position that elongates your calves and then holding that position for 30 seconds. Standing calf raises stretch your gastrocnemius and are done by placing your hands on a wall at shoulder-height. Place your feet in a staggered stance. Keep both heels down on the floor and lean forward to feel a stretch in your calf. Target the soleus by getting into the same position, except with your feet closer together so both knees are slightly bent. Push your knee toward the wall to stretch your soleus.