Barbell Calf Raise

Muscles worked by the Barbell Calf Raise

Primary

CalvesGastrocnemius

Secondary

Soleus

Also called: calf, calves, gastrocnemius, gastroc.

Equipment

Barbell

Also called: bar, olympic barbell, straight bar, olympic bar, power bar.

How to do the Barbell Calf Raise

1. Place a barbell across your upper back as in a squat.
2. Stand with the balls of your feet on a raised platform.
3. Push up onto your toes as high as possible.
4. Pause and squeeze your calves at the top.
5. Lower your heels below the platform and repeat.

Form tips

• Avoid bouncing out of the bottom stretch position.
• Keep your knees straight but not locked throughout the set.
• Move slowly to stay balanced under the bar.

At a glance

Barbell Calf Raise in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Bodyweight Calf Raise
• Donkey Calf Raise
• Dumbbell Calf Raise
• Hack Squat Calf Raise
• Machine Calf Raise
• Seated Calf Raise
• Standing Calf Raise
• Banded Ankle Stretch

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "barbell-calf-raise",
  "name_en": "Barbell Calf Raise",
  "name_de": "Langhantel-Wadenheben",
  "name_es": "Elevación de Talones con Barra",
  "description_en": "A standing calf raise loaded with a barbell across the upper back, using a raised platform for a deeper heel stretch.",
  "description_de": "Eine Wadenübung mit Langhantel auf dem oberen Rücken, ausgeführt mit den Fußballen auf einer Erhöhung für volle Bewegungsweite.",
  "description_es": "Una elevación de talones con barra sobre la espalda realizada en una plataforma, que aísla los gemelos con un rango completo.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "push",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "intermediate",
  "equipment": "barbell",
  "body_part": "lower_legs",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "gastrocnemius"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "soleus"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "knee_safe",
    "shoulder_safe",
    "lower_back_safe",
    "no_axial_load"
  ],
  "variation_group": "calf-raise",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Place a barbell across your upper back as in a squat.",
    "Stand with the balls of your feet on a raised platform.",
    "Push up onto your toes as high as possible.",
    "Pause and squeeze your calves at the top.",
    "Lower your heels below the platform and repeat."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Lege eine Langhantel wie bei der Kniebeuge auf den oberen Rücken.",
    "Stehe mit den Fußballen auf einer erhöhten Plattform.",
    "Drücke dich so hoch wie möglich auf die Zehenspitzen.",
    "Halte kurz inne und spanne die Waden oben an.",
    "Senke die Fersen unter die Plattform und wiederhole."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Coloca una barra en la parte alta de la espalda como en una sentadilla.",
    "Párate con las puntas de los pies en una plataforma elevada.",
    "Sube sobre los dedos de los pies lo más alto posible.",
    "Haz una pausa y aprieta los gemelos en la parte superior.",
    "Baja los talones por debajo de la plataforma y repite."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Avoid bouncing out of the bottom stretch position.",
    "Keep your knees straight but not locked throughout the set.",
    "Move slowly to stay balanced under the bar."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Halte die Beine gestreckt, ohne die Knie hart durchzudrücken.",
    "Federe am tiefsten Punkt nicht nach, sondern halte die Dehnung kurz.",
    "Bewege dich kontrolliert, damit du mit der Hantel nicht ins Schwanken gerätst."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Evita rebotar en la parte baja del movimiento.",
    "Mantén las rodillas extendidas pero sin bloquearlas con fuerza.",
    "Sube y baja en vertical, sin dejar que los tobillos se venzan hacia fuera."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/barbell-calf-raise-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/barbell-calf-raise-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "barbell-calf-raise");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.