6 Best Home Workouts for Stronger Calves

Calves are one of the strongest and most active muscles in the human body, and also often underdeveloped. This lack of development is common since we spend so much time sitting and our leg muscles don't get worked nearly as much as they should.

The best way to see improvements in your calves is to create a balanced exercise routine that involves both upper and lower body movements. In this article, we will be looking at six of the best exercises to develop stronger calves. These can be done in a variety of ways and some will work more than one muscle group.

But before we dive into the workouts, let's take a look at how our calves muscles work.

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Anatomy of the Calf Muscles

The calf is located on the lower leg's posterior (back). It is made up of two muscles: the gastrocnemius and soleus muscle. Gastrocnemius is the larger of the two muscles and the bulkier portion of the calf. It has two origins, both of which attach to the femur. The soleus muscle is the smaller of the two calf muscles, and it originates along the soleal line and the upper portion of the posterior fibula.

Calf muscles, along with a variety of other leg muscles, play a vital role in our daily activity such as standing, walking, and running, making them important muscles for both everyday and performance-based activities.

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6 best home workouts that you can do for bigger, stronger calves

1.Standing Calf Raises

Standing calf raises strengthen calf muscles, increase ankle strength and stability, aid in injury prevention, improve athletic performance, aid in balance, and, of course, help you create bigger calves over time.

Take a look at this quick video:

How to do a standing calf raise:

• Raise your heels off the ground while pushing through the balls of your feet, toes pointed forward with a straight knee.
• Make sure you maintain control throughout the movement, with a little pause at the peak.

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2. Downward Dog Walk

It aids in stretching the lower body. This movement allows you to fully stretch your hamstrings, calves, and ankles.

How to do the downward dog walk:

• Tuck toes and lift hips up and back, sinking heels toward the floor, starting in a plank position.
• Spread fingers wide on mat, palms flat against the floor, and press shoulder blades down back while relaxing the neck.
• Press up onto your left toes, bending your right knee while straightening your left leg and reaching your left heel towards the surface.
• Return to the original position and repeat on the other side.

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3. Pencil Jumps

This focuses the workout significantly more on the front area of your shoulder muscles and calves. Pencil jumps are a warm-up activity that can also be used to enhance coordination.

How to do pencil jumps at home:

• Stand like a pencil with two feet together and arms next to your body.
• Make tiny hops as if you were rope skipping, keeping your arms close to your body.

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4. Standing Wall Calf Stretch

Another wall stretch that targets your gastrocnemius and can also help reduce Achilles tendon strain. It also serves as a nice plantar fascia stretch.

How to do the standing wall calf stretch:

• Put one foot forward in front of a wall, with the heel on the ground and the ball of your foot against the wall.
• Lean forward and gradually straighten your front leg while resting your hands on the wall.
• Do this until you feel a deep stretch in your calf.
• Switch legs and then repeat.

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5. Straight-leg Calf Stretch Against Wall

This is a good stretch to target your gastrocnemius and improving ankle flexibility at the same time. It also alleviates strain on the balls of your feet. Your arches will thank you.

How to do the wall calf stretch:

• Face a wall and place one foot in front of you and the other behind you.
• Lean your torso against the wall and keep your rear leg straight.
• Lean your upper body closer to the wall by bending your arms and keeping your rear leg straight.
• Hold your position for at least 30 seconds before repeating the process on the opposing side.

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6. Butt Kicks

Butt kicks are a plyometric (i.e. jump training) technique that is frequently performed as a dynamic stretch during a warm-up to stimulate the posterior chain muscles (backside of your body). They're fantastic for our calves, quads, hamstrings, and glutes.

How to do the butt kicks at home:

• To use your calves and powerful lower body muscles, push squarely off the balls of your feet with your torso upright.
• To maintain your spine firm and supported, squeeze your belly button to your spine.
• As you kick one heel up toward your glute, tighten your hamstrings and make a forceful and deliberate swing with your arms (as if you were running).
• Rinse and repeat, moving fast but carefully from one leg to the next.

When it comes to building stronger calves, consistency is key. Make sure you're getting in proper calf work every other day. It may not be the sexiest muscle group on your body, but strong calves will assist you in many athletic activities and they're a building block for an overall better physique.