CalvesMachineBeginner

How to Do a Calf Press

By Bryan Alger, Co-Founder of Gravitus

· Updated Sep 30, 2026

A calf press is a machine calf exercise done sitting with your legs out straight. With the balls of your feet on the bottom edge of the footplate, let your calves stretch fully, then push the plate away with your ankles. It trains the gastrocnemius and soleus. Most lifters do 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 20 reps.

Sets x reps 3-4 x 10-20

Median 10-rep weight 220100 lbkg men 13060 lbkg women

Muscles Gastrocnemius, soleus

Setup Plates rest at your deepest stretch

1Stretch. Legs out straight, balls of your feet on the bottom edge of the plate. Let the plate come back until your calves are fully stretched, and pause.
2Press. Push the plate away with your ankles until your toes point as far as they go. Your knees stay straight the whole time.

Watch 1 video demonstration

Technique

How to do a calf press

Set the seat so that with the plates resting, your legs are almost straight and your toes are pulled back toward your shins. That resting point is the bottom of every rep.
Put the balls of your feet on the bottom edge of the footplate, hip-width apart, toes forward, heels off the plate. Hold the handles and keep your back on the pad.
Push through the balls of your feet until your toes point as far as they go. Only your ankles move; your knees stay straight.
Let the plate come back over 2 seconds until your calves are fully stretched, and pause for a second just before the plates touch the stack.
Press again from the stretch. Set the plates down only after the last rep.

Setup

How to set up the calf press machine

SeatPlates rest at your deepest stretchIf your heels could still drop when the plates touch down, move the seat one notch closer.

KneesStraight, not lockedA soft knee is fine. Bent to 90 degrees, it becomes a seated calf raise.

FeetBalls of the feet on the edgeHip-width, heels off the plate. Toes out works the inner head more, toes in the outer head.

BackFlat on the padRecline the backrest if tight hamstrings pull your knees bent.

The seat decides how deep each rep goes, and the stretched half of the rep builds the most muscle. Two well-known calf growth trials were run on a pin-loaded seated leg press used exactly like a calf press. In one, reps through only the stretched half, from full stretch to the foot square to the shin, grew the gastrocnemius the most (Kassiano 2023). In another, turning the toes out grew the inner head more and turning them in grew the outer head more (Nunes 2020).

Knee angle

Should your knees be straight or bent?

Straight, or close to it. The gastrocnemius crosses the knee, so it only pulls hard with the leg straight. A small bend costs little: in heel raises with the knee bent 45 degrees, gastrocnemius activity was only 5% lower than with it straight, and soleus activity 4% higher (Hébert-Losier 2012).

A 90 degree bend is a different exercise. That is a seated calf raise, and in 12 weeks of seated raises at 90 degrees the gastrocnemius barely grew (Kinoshita 2023).

Knees bend on their own

Sitting upright with straight legs stretches your hamstrings. If they pull your knees bent, recline the backrest a notch or move the seat back until your legs straighten, then check that the plates still rest at your full calf stretch.

Gravitus data

How much weight should you calf press?

On Gravitus, the median man lifts 220 lb (100 kg) for 10 reps on the calf press, and the median woman 130 lb (60 kg).

Men, typical 220 lb for 10 reps

Most lift: 155 to 295 lb
Top 10% lift: 360 lb or more
Starting out: under 155 lb

Women, typical 130 lb for 10 reps

Most lift: 90 to 195 lb
Top 10% lift: 250 lb or more
Starting out: under 90 lb

Men, typical 100 kg for 10 reps

Most lift: 70 to 132.5 kg
Top 10% lift: 162.5 kg or more
Starting out: under 70 kg

Women, typical 60 kg for 10 reps

Most lift: 40 to 87.5 kg
Top 10% lift: 112.5 kg or more
Starting out: under 40 kg

One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 5 lb (2.5 under 40). From 4,325 men and 1,068 women who log the calf press on Gravitus, computed Oct 11, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
Percentile	Men	Women
25th	205 / 155 lb	120 / 90 lb
Median	295 / 220 lb	175 / 130 lb
75th	390 / 295 lb	260 / 195 lb
90th	480 / 360 lb	335 / 250 lb

One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 2.5 kg (1 under 20). From 4,325 men and 1,068 women who log the calf press on Gravitus, computed Oct 11, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
Percentile	Men	Women
25th	92.5 / 70 kg	52.5 / 40 kg
Median	132.5 / 100 kg	80 / 60 kg
75th	177.5 / 132.5 kg	117.5 / 87.5 kg
90th	217.5 / 162.5 kg	150 / 112.5 kg

The number you log is the pin on the stack. Calf press machines run on sliding seats, levers and cables with different leverage, and a 45 degree leg press counts the sled and plates instead, so the numbers do not carry across. Compare yourself to your own log on the same machine and seat notch.

Anatomy

Muscles worked

GastrocnemiusThe two-headed muscle on the back of your calf. With your knees straight it does most of the work.

Primary

SoleusThe flat muscle under the gastrocnemius. It crosses only the ankle, so it works whatever the knee angle.

Secondary

Tibialis posterior, peroneals, toe flexorsKeep your ankle from rolling in or out as you press.

Stabilizer

Compare

Calf press vs leg press calf raise vs seated calf raise

Attribute	Calf press machine	45 degree leg press	Seated calf raise
Position	Sitting, legs out straight	Lying back under a sled	Sitting, knees bent 90 degrees
Loaded with	Weight stack	Plates on a sled	Plates or stack on your thighs
First rep starts	At the stretch	Legs straight, sled unracked	At the top, stop released
Works most	Gastrocnemius, soleus	Gastrocnemius, soleus	Soleus
Best for	Deep stretch, fast weight changes	Heaviest loads	Extra soleus work

Verdict

The calf press and the leg press calf raise train the same muscles, because your knees are straight on both. The calf press is quicker to set up and load, and if a foot slips the plates drop onto the stack instead of a sled sliding toward you. The seated calf raise does not replace either: with the knees bent, the gastrocnemius hardly grows (Kinoshita 2023).

Programming

Sets, reps and progression

3-4Sets

10-20Reps

0-2Reps left

Train calves 2 to 3 times a week and stop each set 0 to 2 reps short of failure. The trials on this machine used 3 to 4 sets of 15 to 25 reps, 3 times a week (Kassiano 2023, Nunes 2020), and sets of 10 grew calves too (Kinoshita 2023).

When you reach failure, you can keep going with short reps in the stretched half. Over 10 weeks, sets extended that way grew the gastrocnemius as much as twice as many normal sets, 8% for both (Goli 2026).

Add reps first. When every set reaches 20 full reps, move the pin down one plate and go back to 12. Keep the seat notch the same, or the new number means nothing.

Form

Common mistakes

Seat too far backThe plates touch down before your calves are stretched, so every rep skips the half that builds the most muscle. Move the seat one notch closer.
Knees bentThe rep turns into a seated calf raise and the gastrocnemius does less. Straighten your legs, and recline the backrest if your hamstrings fight it.
Whole foot on the plateYour heels have nowhere to go, so you cannot stretch. Only the balls of your feet go on the bottom edge.
Bouncing off the stackYour Achilles tendon springs back and lifts part of the weight. Pause for a second just above the stack.
Pushing with the kneesBending and straightening your knees makes it a leg press. If they move, the weight is too heavy.

Variations

Calf press variations

Single-leg calf pressOne foot on the plate at a time. The foot position trial trained one leg at a time on this machine (Nunes 2020).

Calf press on a seated leg pressThe same lift on a seated leg press. Balls of the feet on the bottom edge, legs straight.

Leg press calf raiseOn a 45 degree sled. Unrack with your legs straight first, and keep the safety stops set.

Standing Calf RaiseKnees straight, standing under shoulder pads. The same muscles with your body in the load.

Seated Calf RaiseKnees bent 90 degrees under a pad, which leaves mainly the soleus.

FAQ

Questions people ask

What is a calf press?

A machine calf exercise done sitting with your legs out straight. You push a footplate away with the balls of your feet by pointing your toes, and let it come back until your calves are stretched.

Is calf press and calf raise the same?

It is the same ankle movement. In a calf raise you lift your body or shoulder pads; in a calf press you sit and push a plate away. With your knees straight, both train the gastrocnemius and soleus.

What muscles does the calf press work?

The gastrocnemius most, with the soleus underneath it. Small muscles around the ankle keep it from rolling in or out.

Should my knees be straight or bent on the seated calf press machine?

Straight, or with a soft bend. A 45 degree bend lowered gastrocnemius activity only 5% (Hébert-Losier 2012), but at 90 degrees the gastrocnemius hardly grew over 12 weeks (Kinoshita 2023).

Does the calf press machine work?

Yes. Two calf growth trials, 8 and 9 weeks long, used a pin-loaded seated leg press as a calf press, and the gastrocnemius grew in every group (Kassiano 2023, Nunes 2020).

How much weight should I calf press?

For 10 reps, the median on Gravitus is 220 lb (100 kg) for men and 130 lb (60 kg) for women. The strongest quarter lifts 295 lb (132.5 kg) and 195 lb (87.5 kg) or more.

Gravitus See where your calf press ranks

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References