What flexed-knee calf exercise can you do instead of seated caise raise? Suggestions?
I am asking this because the seated calf raise at my gym is crazy dangerous. I injured myself with it. You know when you finish the set and you cant lift the weight over the pin or you slap the pin and it rebound back. Then the weight crush your calf and makes your foot dorsiflex to the shin. It happened two times. fucking hurts . I am not touching this machine anymore.
Oh my god I don’t even want to think about that.
How about putting dumbbells on your knees and doing them that way?
use the smith machine with the neck pad that people use when doing squats… or in a power rack with the pins at a hieght so that doesn’t happen.
never tried either of these just thought they might be good
One-legged with smith machine. Use neck pad AND towel on thight.
I can’t use dumbbells. Just can’t load enough weight.
Get a 5" box or so, and stand on the edge with a weight belt.
None of the above suggestions are with a flexed knee, except putting dumbbells on your knees which is fine unless you have anything close to reasonable calf strength.
My advice is to continue to use the seated calf machine and leave a couple of reps in the hole on each set. Don’t worry, your growth won’t suffer.
[quote]giterdone wrote:
None of the above suggestions are with a flexed knee, except putting dumbbells on your knees which is fine unless you have anything close to reasonable calf strength.
My advice is to continue to use the seated calf machine and leave a couple of reps in the hole on each set. Don’t worry, your growth won’t suffer.[/quote]
Doh! You’re right.
I honestly cant think of any other way to do knee’s bent calf work…
Maybe put something on the foot pads so you don’t have to struggle so much to re-rack the weight?
[quote]giterdone wrote:
None of the above suggestions are with a flexed knee, except putting dumbbells on your knees which is fine unless you have anything close to reasonable calf strength.
My advice is to continue to use the seated calf machine and leave a couple of reps in the hole on each set. Don’t worry, your growth won’t suffer.[/quote]
Wrong. Seated calf raise with smith machine is a pretty good alternative if you don’t have access to a seated calf machine.
You sit on a bench, put your toes on a box, put a towell on thight and lower the bar on it. It basically has got a very similar strengh curve to most seated calf raises machines and is a pretty good alternative.
[quote]ParagonA wrote:
giterdone wrote:
None of the above suggestions are with a flexed knee, except putting dumbbells on your knees which is fine unless you have anything close to reasonable calf strength.
My advice is to continue to use the seated calf machine and leave a couple of reps in the hole on each set. Don’t worry, your growth won’t suffer.
Wrong. Seated calf raise with smith machine is a pretty good alternative if you don’t have access to a seated calf machine.
You sit on a bench, put your toes on a box, put a towell on thight and lower the bar on it. It basically has got a very similar strengh curve to most seated calf raises machines and is a pretty good alternative.
[/quote]
I was going to suggest this, I’ve seen guys in my gym do it. Except without the box, the Smith in my gym has a length of metal across the bottom that they use instead
I was thinking about this before and the only thing I came up with for direct soleus work (besides the exercises mentioned) was a body-weight bent knee calf raise as illustrated with these lovely diagrams 
Because the soleus responds well to high rep work (20plus reps) I think this might do the job!
Diagram 1: keep your body pushed against the wall (as in a wall squat) with your legs locked into an ATG squat position then simply calf raise up! your body should slide up and down against the wall. Shift your foot position to target the soleus.
Diagram 2: keep your upper back pushed against ‘one spot’ on the wall. cross your leg over the working leg for added weight now calf raise up!
screw it’ i can’t upload the diagrams? ah well the world will never know…
[quote]giterdone wrote:
None of the above suggestions are with a flexed knee, except putting dumbbells on your knees which is fine unless you have anything close to reasonable calf strength.
My advice is to continue to use the seated calf machine and leave a couple of reps in the hole on each set. Don’t worry, your growth won’t suffer.[/quote]
This is what I do. It sucks not going to failure on the first couple sets, but flat out isn’t worth it when you can’t raise the weights back to the pin. I only go to failure on the final set for seated calf presses.
im pretty sure if both knees are bent you dont have a choice but to sit. so i think thats your only option
[quote]ParagonA wrote:
giterdone wrote:
None of the above suggestions are with a flexed knee, except putting dumbbells on your knees which is fine unless you have anything close to reasonable calf strength.
My advice is to continue to use the seated calf machine and leave a couple of reps in the hole on each set. Don’t worry, your growth won’t suffer.
Wrong. Seated calf raise with smith machine is a pretty good alternative if you don’t have access to a seated calf machine.
You sit on a bench, put your toes on a box, put a towell on thight and lower the bar on it. It basically has got a very similar strengh curve to most seated calf raises machines and is a pretty good alternative.
[/quote]
I do calves after quads. With my quads pumped there is no way I could deal with the discomfort of the heavily weighted bar, even with towel, sitting on my quads. If I had pads of some sort it might work.
[quote]forlife wrote:
giterdone wrote:
None of the above suggestions are with a flexed knee, except putting dumbbells on your knees which is fine unless you have anything close to reasonable calf strength.
My advice is to continue to use the seated calf machine and leave a couple of reps in the hole on each set. Don’t worry, your growth won’t suffer.
This is what I do. It sucks not going to failure on the first couple sets, but flat out isn’t worth it when you can’t raise the weights back to the pin. I only go to failure on the final set for seated calf presses.[/quote]
Apparently the OP’s machine doesn’t allow him to go to failure safely. The seated machine in my gym is the same. So, if I feel the need to up the intensity I’ll get close to failure, strip some weight off and bang out a few more reps. or, do a rest-pause set
Mine is a standard seated calf press, where you move the catch away from the machine to do your reps, then move it back at the end of your set. The problem is that you have to raise the weights all the way in order to get the catch under the bar. When going to failure on my last set, I just lower my knees until the weights rest on the ground, then return the bar after removing all the weights.
Sit into an asian squat off a step. Stay in that position (hold on to something in front of you) and then start raising your heels up and down. You may need to wear a weighted vest/backpack for extra loading.
There is also the ballet heel raise…
[quote]forlife wrote:
Mine is a standard seated calf press, where you move the catch away from the machine to do your reps, then move it back at the end of your set. The problem is that you have to raise the weights all the way in order to get the catch under the bar. When going to failure on my last set, I just lower my knees until the weights rest on the ground, then return the bar after removing all the weights.[/quote]
Gotcha. I think the OPs and mine are different as there is no way to rest the weights on the ground without overstretching the calf or achilles tendon. The distance to the ground is too great. i would like your version better.