Muscles worked
With a dumbbell in your hand, you can load one calf far more than with bodyweight alone, without a machine. The gastrocnemius does the main work because your knee is straight, with help from the soleus. Unlike the bodyweight calf exercises, this one lets you progress in small, measurable steps. The side of your trunk works to keep you upright with the load on one side.
Common mistakes
- The dumbbell pulls you sideways. The weight on one side easily makes your upper body lean. Stand tall with your shoulders level, and pick a lighter dumbbell if you cannot.
- You jump up too much in weight. The step from bodyweight to a heavy dumbbell is bigger than it looks, since a single calf carries everything. Go up a couple of kilos at a time.
- Your arm and shoulder tense up. Many people hitch the shoulder or bend the elbow to hold the dumbbell. Let the arm hang straight down and relax your shoulder.
Variations and alternatives
- The single leg calf raise without a dumbbell is the step before, where you learn the balance.
- The seated calf raise trains the soleus more with bent knees and complements this exercise at the gym.
- The standing calf raise is the next step when your heaviest dumbbell is no longer enough.
Sets and reps
With the dumbbell you can train your calves heavier, so 8 to 15 reps per leg over three sets works well for building muscle. Warm up with a set on both feet without weight, see warming up. The ranges are explained in more detail in the guide to sets and reps.
Go up in weight when both legs hit the top of the range, and log weight and reps for each leg in a training log. That way you can see that progressive overload is really happening, and whether one side is falling behind. If it feels like pain in your ankle or Achilles tendon rather than tiredness in the calf, stop and get a doctor or physiotherapist to check it.