Exercise of the week 5/2/11

Standing Calf Raise

This exercise primarily works the large calf muscle, the Gastrocnemius, in your lower leg.  This muscle is very important in helping your foot plant and extend stably when you walk, skip, jog, run and jump.  Athletes definitely need this muscle to be in top condition so they can safely perform their sports, but non-athletes also benefit greatly from the training of this muscle.  The benefits to the non-athletes comes from all of the surrounding tissue that gets strengthened when performing this exercise.  Theses areas include the Achilles tendon- which is actually part of the Gastrocnemius, the ankle connective tissue, the foot musculature and the foot connective tissue.  When all of these surrounding tissues are trained the ankle/foot apparatus is a much stronger and a more stable platform.

How to perform:

♢ Beginners- stand with your feet flat on the floor and shoulder width apart
♢ Advanced- stand on the lowest stair, or stable platform, with your feet shoulder width apart
♢ Without locking your knees, keep your legs in a fixed position for the entire range of motion

Beginners

Advanced

♢ While pivoting from ~ the balls of your feet, lift yourself up onto your toes
♢ Hold and squeeze the muscles at the end of the movement
♢ Beginners- Relax your calves and let your heals return to the floor
♢ Advanced- Relax your calves and let your heals sink to a comfortable level below the starting point
♢ Repeat for the prescribed number of reps

Beginners

Advanced

This is an overall fantastic exercise.  There are many ways to increase the difficulty of this movement and I encourage you to seek them out.  One thing I do not recommend though is to undertake this exercise ballistically.  Make sure the entire range of motion is done in a slow and controlled fashion.  This will ensure you get the most out of the exercise and also help prevent an injury.  Good luck!  Please feel free to contact with any questions about this, or any other exercise, and I am always open to suggestions on which exercise to cover next week.

-Jason