equipment

Machine, Bodyweight

sets

3-4

reps

12-20

rest

45-60 sec

1. Stand with the balls of your feet on a raised platform or machine step.
2. Let your heels hang off the edge.
3. Set your feet about hip width apart, pointing straight ahead.
4. Keep your legs straight with only a soft knee bend.
5. Stand tall and hold a support for balance.

1. Lower your heels below the level of the platform until you feel a calf stretch.
2. Pause briefly at the bottom without bouncing.
3. Push through the balls of your feet to rise up as high as you can.
4. Squeeze your calves at the top.
5. Lower back down under control to begin the next repetition.

Exhale as you rise onto your toes, inhale as you lower your heels.

• Use the full range — all the way down, all the way up.
• Keep your knees straight so the gastrocnemius does the work.
• Pause at the bottom rather than bouncing out of the stretch.
• Keep your feet pointing straight ahead.
• Move slowly — calves respond poorly to fast, bouncy reps.

• Using a short, bouncy range at the top only.
• Bending the knees to help push up.
• Bouncing out of the bottom stretch.
• Rushing through repetitions.
• Leaning heavily on the support and unloading the calves.

From heels dropped below the platform to fully up on the balls of the feet. The stretch at the bottom is as important as the squeeze at the top.