Hi there! We all want perfect calves. At least I do. As a kid, people would often poke fun at my calves for being too skinny. I would always try different ways to build them up. While great calf muscles are difficult to achieve, they’re not impossible. There are several workout methods that help to build calf muscle and get your calves in shape. From squats to lunges to skipping rope, we’re talking all that AND more…
8 Ways To build calf muscle and get perfect calves
1. Jumping Jacks exercise for great calf muscles
When it comes to applying pressure, jumping jacks are among the simplest exercises you can do. Just stand straight on a flat surface.
Spread your legs out and keep your hands over your head. All you need to do is jump. Try to make sure every set lasts a minute.
When it’s over, take a short break, and resume when ready. Doing jumping jacks for a total of 10 minutes in a day can not only strengthen your calves but burn a lot of calories.
Also read What is a Calorie Deficit and How to Create one [Simple Guide]
2. Tiptoe Walk exercise to strengthen calf muscle
Here is another very simple workout. This one will not only make your calves stronger but also improve your body balance.
Don’t get the wrong idea, we don’t mean over a tightrope. That kind of stunt requires a lot of control over your balance.
We’re simply talking about walking on your toes over a flat, comfortable surface. With this exercise, you just have to make sure your heels don’t touch the ground.
This will make your leg muscles and bones work harder to maintain balance.
3. Squats exercise for perfect calves
Let’s be clear on one thing, squats will not directly help you to get good calves. Yes, they will strengthen your lower body, but they won’t build calf muscles.
With that said, you’re probably wondering why we’ve included this exercise. It is here because squats cause a minor hormone response.
These hormones are the ones that help in your calf growth. Squats can be done with or without weights. For beginners, we wouldn’t suggest having weights while doing squats.
Stand up straight with your legs stretched outwards, keep them parallel to each other. Now tighten your abs and bend your knees like you’re about to sit down.
Hold this position for a few seconds, then go back to the previous. If you’re doing this with weights, you can try carrying dumbbells on both hands. A maximum of 15 to 20 squats should be good enough.
4. Riding A Bicycle to build calf muscle
Similar to squats, cycling doesn’t directly help build calf muscles. Instead, it helps your hips and legs. It also strengthens your muscle fibers, in turn helping calf muscles.
If you’re doing it in a closed space like a gym, you can probably try doing it for 10 to 20 minutes each day.
Since it helps your heart muscles, it also works as great cardio. If you are one of those who actually want to go out to cycle then we would suggest you pick a nice open space like a park.
Basically anywhere you can get stimulation from nature. Try to get in a cycling session of 30 minutes a day. Being close to nature also adds to the benefit of cycling.
5. Seal Jump exercise to get perfect calves
When was the last time you saw a seal? Have you seen it jump up and down and clap its hands?
Well, that’s what you’re going to do in this exercise. Seal jumps require you to jump up and down while clapping your hands.
It may seem strange at first, but boy is it a fantastic calf workout! It’s similar to jumping jacks.
Whereas, here your arms are stretched out vertically rather than horizontally. As far as duration is concerned, it is similar to that of the jumping jack.
It also affects your calves the same way jumping jacks do. So this is another simple exercise for you to try at home.
6. Agility Ladder Drills exercise to build calf muscle
You might be wondering about an agility ladder and how it works. An agility ladder is a ladder you lay on the floor.
For this drill, you need to run, skip or hop from one end to the other. Of course, you might not have an agility ladder available at the moment.
So you can simply draw lines with chalk on the floor. You can also create one with tape.
There are numerous alternatives to an actual agility ladder. This workout requires a lot of movement for your legs.
The leg muscles are constantly moving rapidly while maintaining a proper balance. This helps to put pressure on your legs and provide the necessary workout for your calves.
7. Calf Raises exercise
There are many different types of calf raises. The goal of any type is to boost the growth of your muscles.
Now, there is just one question. How do we do these calf raises?
Since there are quite a few of them, we’ll explain them to you one by one. Bare with us because this will take some time.
Jumping Calf Raise: Do you remember jumping jacks? Well, jumping calves are similar. They’re just a little more delicate.
For this workout, you need to jump, but only using your calf muscles. You can’t use your toes as you did in tiptoeing.
You can’t use your heels either. While landing, you need to land flat on your feet. Apart from calf growth, it will also improve your sense of balance.
Standing Calf Raise: This calf raise is probably more popular than the previous one.
For this workout, you need a stand or a raised machine. After that, stand on the machine with just your toes, and raise your heels.
After that, lower your heels until you feel your calf muscles stretching. You can carry a dumbbell on one hand, while holding on to something else with the other.
Apart from calf muscle growth, this type of raise improves your lower body performance overall. It also strengthens the bones and muscles in your legs, which assists in preventing major injuries.
Seated Calf Raise: This type of calf raise is one of the best workouts for your muscle fibers.
When you have strong muscle fibers you have more endurance, stamina, and calf muscles. When coupled with cycling, this type of workout can prove to be beneficial to your lower body.
Now comes the important question, “How do you do this workout?”
Sit on a seated calf raise machine and rest your feet on the steps of each side. Once you have done that you can raise your calves and bend your hips at a 90-degree angle.
If you’re used to working out, you can even add a few weights to this exercise. For example, you can hold dumbbells on your thighs for better resistance.
It will also add to the pressure and boost your lower body strength.
8. Forward Lunges exercise to get perfect calves
Anyone who likes strength training knows about lunges. If you’re a workout freak, you have spent a lot of time doing them as well.
For this, you need to stand tall, take a step forward, and bend your knees. In other words, act like you’re proposing to someone.
After that, go back to the previous position and repeat the same thing with a different leg. This exercise engages your core.
So it’s not hard to figure out why this is so good for you. Do you want strong calf muscles?
Have you tried any of the workouts we mentioned in this article? Let us know in the comments below. We would love to hear from you!
