How to do the Single-Leg Calf Raise
Step by step
- Stand on one foot with the ball of your foot on the edge of a step, holding something for balance.
- Let your heel drop below the step for a gentle stretch.
- Press up onto the ball of your foot as high as you can.
- Squeeze your calf at the top for a moment.
- Lower slowly back to the stretch, then finish the set and switch feet.
The thing people get wrong
Use the full range - a deep heel drop and a high rise up - and lower slowly instead of bouncing off the bottom.
Coaching cue
Use your hand on the wall only for balance, not to pull yourself up.
Stay safe
Keep a hand on something solid; slipping off the step edge on one foot rolls the ankle.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Rest the toes of your other foot lightly on the step for support.
- Harder: Pause three seconds at the top and take three seconds to lower.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Calves
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.