Leg press calf raise

Leg press machine

Also called calf press on leg press

Leg press calf raise, start position — Images: Free Exercise DB (public domain)

Leg press calf raise, end position — Images: Free Exercise DB (public domain)

Calf raises on a leg press with the balls of the feet on the bottom edge of the platform and the knees straight. Push the sled with the toes, then let the heels travel back into a deep stretch.

Knees straight but not locked hard
Deep stretch at the bottom, pause there
Keep the safeties on and the feet secure

Movement

Pattern: Calf raise
Type: Isolation, one joint moves
Sides: Both sides together
Equipment: Leg press machine
Variation of: Machine standing calf raise

Muscles worked

Main movers get full credit for a set, helpers half.

Lower body

CalvesMain

Ratings

Scores 1-5 averaged over sources. Tap a rating for the claims behind it. Claims are our summaries of the linked sources, fact-checked by AI.

Muscle growth higher is better3.0
Solid; a reasonable default. 1 source.
By muscle: Calves 3.0 (1).
- 3/5 8 weeks in young women: full-range calf raise on a leg press grew the medial gastrocnemius about 7%; bottom-half partials grew it about 15%, suggesting the stretched range matters. Kassiano et al., Greater Gastrocnemius Muscle Hypertrophy After Partial Range of Motion Training Performed at Long Muscle Lengths. @ Abstractfor calvespaperTrial2023checked by AI