CalvesMachineBeginner

How to Do Seated Calf Raises

By Bryan Alger, Co-Founder of Gravitus

· Updated Sep 30, 2026

A seated calf raise is a machine calf exercise done sitting with your knees bent 90 degrees under a pad. With the balls of your feet on the platform, lower your heels as far as they go, then rise onto your toes. It mainly trains the 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 11050 lbkg men 6530 lbkg women

Muscles Soleus, some gastrocnemius

Setup Pad snug on your lower thighs

Seated Calf Raise bottom and top positions

1Bottom. Pad snug on your lower thighs, balls of your feet on the edge of the platform. Lower your heels as far as they go and pause for a second.
2Top. Push through the balls of your feet and rise as high as you can, then lower over 2 seconds. Only your ankles move.

Watch 1 video demonstration

Technique

How to do a seated calf raise

Sit down and set the knee pad so it rests snug on your lower thighs, just above your knees, with your knees bent about 90 degrees.
Put the balls of your feet on the edge of the platform, hip-width apart, toes forward, heels hanging off.
Rise onto your toes to lift the pad off the safety stop, then push the stop lever forward to release it.
Lower your heels slowly as far as they go, until your calves are fully stretched, and pause for a second at the bottom.
Push through the balls of your feet and rise as high as you can. Lower over 2 seconds into the next rep. After the last rep, rise once more and pull the lever back before you stand up.

Setup

How to set up the seated calf raise machine

Knee padSnug on your lower thighsJust above the kneecaps, not on them. If the pad lifts off your legs at the top, lower it a notch.

KneesBent about 90 degreesThighs level, shins upright. The trial that compared seated and standing raises used 90 degrees.

FeetBalls of the feet on the edgeHip-width, toes forward, heels free to drop below the platform.

Safety stopRelease it at the topRise onto your toes to take the weight off the stop before you swing the lever out. Put it back after the last rep.

Your heels dropping below the platform is what gives the rep its depth. In the 12-week trial, reps ran from 20 degrees below flat to 30 degrees above it (Kinoshita 2023). In straight-knee calf raises, the stretched half of the rep built the most muscle (Kassiano 2023). That has not been tested with the knee bent, so go all the way down and pause there.

Gravitus data

How much weight should you use for seated calf raises?

On Gravitus, the median man lifts 110 lb (50 kg) for 10 reps on the seated calf raise, and the median woman 65 lb (30 kg).

Men, typical 110 lb for 10 reps

Most lift: 80 to 150 lb
Top 10% lift: 200 lb or more
Starting out: under 80 lb

Women, typical 65 lb for 10 reps

Most lift: 45 to 100 lb
Top 10% lift: 145 lb or more
Starting out: under 45 lb

Men, typical 50 kg for 10 reps

Most lift: 37.5 to 67.5 kg
Top 10% lift: 90 kg or more
Starting out: under 37.5 kg

Women, typical 30 kg for 10 reps

Most lift: 20 to 45 kg
Top 10% lift: 65 kg or more
Starting out: under 20 kg

One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 5 lb (2.5 under 40). From 13,333 men and 2,212 women who log the seated calf raise on Gravitus, computed Oct 11, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
Percentile	Men	Women
25th	110 / 80 lb	60 / 45 lb
Median	145 / 110 lb	90 / 65 lb
75th	200 / 150 lb	135 / 100 lb
90th	265 / 200 lb	195 / 145 lb

One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 2.5 kg (1 under 20). From 13,333 men and 2,212 women who log the seated calf raise on Gravitus, computed Oct 11, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
Percentile	Men	Women
25th	50 / 37.5 kg	27.5 / 20 kg
Median	67.5 / 50 kg	40 / 30 kg
75th	90 / 67.5 kg	60 / 45 kg
90th	120 / 90 kg	87.5 / 65 kg

The number you log is the plates or pin on the machine, not your bodyweight. Plate-loaded seated calf machines hang the plates at different distances along the lever, so the same plates feel lighter or heavier between brands. Compare yourself to your own log on the same machine.

Why it is lighter

Why you use less weight than on a standing calf raise

Expect to load less on the seated machine. On Gravitus, men log about a third less weight on the seated calf raise than on the standing one. Three things add up:

Your body rests on the seat. Standing, you lift your body and the stack on every rep. Seated, you lift only the pad and the plates on your thighs.
The gastrocnemius drops out. It crosses the knee, so bending the knee to 90 degrees shortens it and it can pull far less. With the knee bent 90 degrees, calf strength was 31% lower than with the leg straight, and gastrocnemius activity 35% lower (Kovács 2024).
The soleus does not make up the gap. Its activity rose by 15 to 28% in the first half of slow reps with the knee bent, not enough to replace the gastrocnemius (Kovács 2024).

Picking a start weight

Do not carry your standing number across. Pick a weight you can lower all the way for 15 reps with a pause at the bottom, and add plates from there.

Anatomy

Muscles worked

SoleusThe flat muscle under the gastrocnemius. It crosses only the ankle, so it keeps working with the knee bent and does most of the lifting here.

Primary

GastrocnemiusThe two-headed muscle you see on the back of your calf. It crosses the knee, so with the knee bent it is shortened and pulls much less.

Secondary

Tibialis posterior, peroneals, toe flexorsHelp point the foot and keep your ankle from rolling in or out as you rise.

Stabilizer

Benefits

Benefits of seated calf raises

Calf work with no load on your back. The weight sits on your thighs, not your shoulders or spine.
Soleus work without the gastrocnemius. It adds calf sets when straight-knee raises are uncomfortable or your standing machine is taken.
Simple to learn and load. Only your ankles move, and the safety stop catches the weight between sets.
Calf work you can do sitting anywhere. Unweighted seated heel raises done slowly and nonstop for hours, called soleus pushups, cut the rise in blood sugar after a glucose drink by 52% (Hamilton 2022). That is a different activity from a loaded set of 15, and it was not tested with weight.

What they do not do is grow the soleus more than standing raises. Over 12 weeks the soleus grew 2.9% on the seated leg and 2.1% on the standing leg, a difference the study could not tell apart from chance (Kinoshita 2023).

Compare

Seated vs standing calf raise vs calf press

Attribute	Seated	Standing	Calf press
Knees	Bent 90 degrees	Straight	Straight
Works most	Soleus	Gastrocnemius, soleus	Gastrocnemius, soleus
12-week growth, soleus	2.9%	2.1%	Not tested
12-week growth, whole calf	2.1%	5.6%	Not tested
Best for	Extra soleus sets	Calf size	Deep stretch, back supported

Verdict

Standing, if you pick one. Training one leg each way for 12 weeks, the standing leg grew its gastrocnemius 9 to 12% and the seated leg less than 2%, while the soleus grew about the same either way (Kinoshita 2023). Do seated raises on top of a straight-knee calf exercise, not instead of one.

Research

Seated calf raise claims the research does not back

Most seated calf raise guides repeat the same advice. Four common claims are wrong or untested:

You need seated raises to grow the soleus. Seated raises do take the gastrocnemius out, but over 12 weeks the soleus grew about as much from standing raises, 2.1% vs 2.9% (Kinoshita 2023).
The soleus is slow-twitch, so it needs 20 to 30 reps. The soleus is mostly slow-twitch fibers, but it grew with seated sets of 10 at 70% of max (Kinoshita 2023), and sets taken close to failure build muscle across a wide range of reps (Schoenfeld 2021).
Squeeze and hold at the top. In straight-knee raises the top half of the rep built the least muscle, 3.4% vs 15.2% for the bottom half (Kassiano 2023). Spend your pause at the bottom.
Turn your toes out or in to hit different parts. Toe angle changed which gastrocnemius head grew in a straight-knee study (Nunes 2020). With the knee bent the gastrocnemius does little, and no study has tested toe angle on this machine, so point your toes where it feels best.

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 seated leg in the 12-week trial did 5 sets of 10 twice a week (Kinoshita 2023). If you also do standing raises or calf presses, 2 to 3 seated sets after them is enough.

Add reps first. When every set reaches 20 full-depth reps, add 10 lb (5 kg) and go back to 12. If the new weight makes your reps shorter, it is too heavy.

Form

Common mistakes

Pad on the kneecapsIt presses on the kneecap and shifts as you rise. Set it on your lower thighs, just above the knee.
Bouncing out of the bottomYour Achilles tendon stretches and springs back, lifting part of the weight for you. Pause for a second with your heels low.
Heels hitting the platformYour feet are too far forward, so the rep stops before the stretch. Only the balls of your feet go on the edge.
Lifting with your thighsLeaning back or driving the pad up with your hips turns it into a half rep. Only your ankles move; lighten the weight if more than that does.
Loading your standing weightThe gastrocnemius cannot help with the knee bent, so a standing load turns every rep into a short one. Start lighter and use full range.

Variations

Seated calf raise variations

Seated Dumbbell Calf RaiseA dumbbell stood on each thigh, just above the knee, with the balls of your feet on a plate or step. Works at home.

Seated Barbell Calf RaiseA padded bar across your lower thighs. A Smith machine bar works the same way and needs no balancing.

Single-leg seated calf raiseOne leg at a time on the machine or with a dumbbell. Evens out a weaker side.

Standing Calf RaiseKnees straight, so the gastrocnemius works too. Grew the whole calf more over 12 weeks (Kinoshita 2023).

Calf PressSitting with your legs out straight, pushing a footplate away. The same muscles as standing, with your back supported.

FAQ

Questions people ask

What muscles do seated calf raises work?

The soleus most, the flat muscle under the gastrocnemius. The gastrocnemius helps a little, and small muscles around the ankle keep it from rolling in or out.

What are the benefits of seated calf raises?

Calf work with no load on your back, extra soleus sets when straight-knee raises are uncomfortable, and a lift that is simple to learn. They do not grow the soleus more than standing raises (Kinoshita 2023).

What is the difference between seated and standing calf raises?

Your knees. Seated, they are bent 90 degrees, which shortens the gastrocnemius and leaves mainly the soleus. Standing, they are straight, so both muscles work. Standing raises grew the whole calf more over 12 weeks, 5.6% vs 2.1% (Kinoshita 2023).

Do seated calf raises work the gastrocnemius?

A little. With the knee bent 90 degrees its activity was 35% lower than with the leg straight (Kovács 2024), and over 12 weeks of seated raises it grew less than 2% (Kinoshita 2023).

Are seated calf raises effective?

For the soleus, yes, but standing raises grew the soleus about as much and the gastrocnemius far more (Kinoshita 2023). Use seated raises as extra calf work alongside a straight-knee exercise.

How much weight should I seated calf raise?

For 10 reps, the median on Gravitus is 110 lb (50 kg) for men and 65 lb (30 kg) for women. The strongest quarter lifts 150 lb (67.5 kg) and 100 lb (45 kg) or more.

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References