Donkey Calf Raise

Muscles worked by the Donkey Calf Raise

Primary

CalvesGastrocnemius

Secondary

Soleus

Also called: calf, calves, gastrocnemius, gastroc.

Equipment

No equipment — this is a bodyweight exercise.

How to do the Donkey Calf Raise

1. Bend at the hips and place your hands on the floor in front of you, hips high and legs nearly straight.
2. Set your feet hip-width apart with your weight on the balls of the feet.
3. Lower your heels as far as they go (below the edge if you stand on a raised platform) for a full stretch.
4. Drive up onto the toes as high as possible, squeezing the calves.
5. Lower under control to a deep stretch.

Form tips

• Pause briefly at the top to maximize the contraction.
• Use a slow eccentric for full stretch.
• Add a partner or weight on the lower back for resistance.

At a glance

Donkey Calf Raise in German & Spanish

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

Related exercises

• Barbell Calf Raise
• Bodyweight Calf Raise
• Calf Raise Hold
• Dumbbell Calf Raise
• Hack Squat Calf Raise
• Kettlebell Tibialis Raise
• Machine Calf Raise
• Plate-Loaded Donkey Calf Raise

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": "donkey-calf-raise",
  "name_en": "Donkey Calf Raise",
  "name_de": "Esel-Wadenheben",
  "name_es": "Elevación de Pantorrilla a la Burra",
  "description_en": "A bent-over calf raise that maximizes calf stretch by hinging at the hips.",
  "description_de": "Ein vornübergebeugtes Wadenheben, das die Wadendehnung durch das Hüftbeugen maximiert.",
  "description_es": "Una elevación de pantorrilla inclinada que maximiza el estiramiento al flexionar las caderas.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "push",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "intermediate",
  "body_part": "lower_legs",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "gastrocnemius"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "soleus"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "leg_day",
    "calf_focus"
  ],
  "variation_group": "calf-raise",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": true,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Bend at the hips and place your hands on the floor in front of you, hips high and legs nearly straight.",
    "Set your feet hip-width apart with your weight on the balls of the feet.",
    "Lower your heels as far as they go (below the edge if you stand on a raised platform) for a full stretch.",
    "Drive up onto the toes as high as possible, squeezing the calves.",
    "Lower under control to a deep stretch."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Beuge dich an den Hüften und stelle die Hände vor dir auf den Boden, Hüfte hoch, Beine fast gestreckt.",
    "Stelle die Füße hüftbreit, das Gewicht auf den Fußballen.",
    "Senke die Fersen so weit wie möglich (unter die Kante, wenn du auf einer erhöhten Plattform stehst) für volle Dehnung.",
    "Drücke so hoch wie möglich auf die Zehen, spanne die Waden an.",
    "Senke kontrolliert in eine tiefe Dehnung."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Flexiona las caderas y apoya las manos en el suelo delante de ti, con la cadera alta y las piernas casi rectas.",
    "Separa los pies a la anchura de las caderas, con el peso sobre las puntas.",
    "Baja los talones todo lo que puedas (por debajo del borde si estás sobre una plataforma elevada) para un estiramiento completo.",
    "Empuja arriba sobre las puntas tanto como puedas, contrayendo las pantorrillas.",
    "Baja con control hasta el estiramiento profundo."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Pause briefly at the top to maximize the contraction.",
    "Use a slow eccentric for full stretch.",
    "Add a partner or weight on the lower back for resistance."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Halte oben kurz inne für maximale Kontraktion.",
    "Nutze eine langsame exzentrische Phase für volle Dehnung.",
    "Lass einen Partner oder ein Gewicht auf den unteren Rücken für Widerstand."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Pausa brevemente arriba para maximizar la contracción.",
    "Usa una excéntrica lenta para el estiramiento completo.",
    "Añade un compañero o peso sobre la zona lumbar para más resistencia."
  ],
  "met": 3.5,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/donkey-calf-raise-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/donkey-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 === "donkey-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.