How to do it
- Sit or stand with the balls of your feet on a step and loop a band over your knees or shoulders.
- Let the heels drop below the step until you feel a full stretch through the calf.
- Press up onto the toes as high as you can go against the band, hold, then lower slowly.
Cues that matter
- Pause a full second at the top and a full second at the bottom — calves respond to time, not speed.
- Keep the knees straight to bias the gastrocnemius.
Common mistakes
- Bouncing out of the stretch on every rep.
- Cutting the range short at the top.
Muscles worked
Primary
- Calves
- Gastrocnemius
Sets and reps
What to do with it depends on what you are training for. These are the ranges MuscleMap uses when it puts Band Calf Raise in a session, with 75 seconds between sets.
- Strength
- 6–8 reps
- Build muscle
- 10–15 reps
- Endurance
- 15–25 reps
Same muscle, different kit
Movements that train the same part of the calves with different equipment — for a day the resistance band is taken, or a gym that does not have one.