Plate-Loaded Donkey Calf Raise

Muscles worked by the Plate-Loaded Donkey Calf Raise

Primary

CalvesGastrocnemius

Secondary

Soleus

Also called: calf, calves, gastrocnemius, gastroc.

Equipment

Donkey Calf Raise Machine

Also called: donkey calf machine, bent-over calf raise machine, hip-loaded calf raise, donkey raise machine.

How to do the Plate-Loaded Donkey Calf Raise

1. Load the plate horns and step onto the platform with the balls of your feet on the edge and your heels hanging free.
2. Bend forward at the hips and settle the pad across your hips, then rest your forearms on the support in front of you.
3. Keep your knees straight and your back flat, with your torso close to parallel to the floor.
4. Push through the balls of your feet and raise your heels as high as you can, pausing briefly at the top.
5. Lower your heels below the platform until you feel a strong calf stretch, and repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Form tips

• The forward hinge is the exercise. Standing up straight turns this into an ordinary standing calf raise and gives away the extra stretch you came for.
• Keep the knees straight throughout. Bending them shifts the work from the gastrocnemius to the soleus, which is the seated calf raise, not this one.
• Let the heels drop all the way below the platform edge. The bottom of the range is where this machine earns its place, and cutting it short wastes the setup.

At a glance

Plate-Loaded 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
• Donkey Calf Raise
• Dumbbell Calf Raise
• Hack Squat Calf Raise
• Machine Calf Raise
• Seated Calf Raise
• Single Leg 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": "plate-loaded-donkey-calf-raise",
  "name_en": "Plate-Loaded Donkey Calf Raise",
  "name_de": "Esel-Wadenheben an der Maschine",
  "name_es": "Elevación de Pantorrilla a la Burra en Máquina",
  "description_en": "A donkey calf raise on a plate-loaded machine, with a pad across the hips and the torso hinged forward so the calves are stretched at the bottom of every repetition.",
  "description_de": "Ein Esel-Wadenheben an einer scheibenbeladenen Maschine, mit einem Polster über der Hüfte und nach vorn gebeugtem Oberkörper, sodass die Waden bei jeder Wiederholung unten gedehnt werden.",
  "description_es": "Una elevación de pantorrilla a la burra en una máquina de discos, con una almohadilla sobre las caderas y el torso inclinado hacia delante para estirar los gemelos en la parte baja de cada repetición.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "push",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "equipment": "donkey_calf_raise_machine",
  "body_part": "lower_legs",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "gastrocnemius"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "soleus"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "leg_day",
    "calf_focus",
    "knee_safe",
    "shoulder_safe",
    "no_axial_load"
  ],
  "variation_group": "calf-raise",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Load the plate horns and step onto the platform with the balls of your feet on the edge and your heels hanging free.",
    "Bend forward at the hips and settle the pad across your hips, then rest your forearms on the support in front of you.",
    "Keep your knees straight and your back flat, with your torso close to parallel to the floor.",
    "Push through the balls of your feet and raise your heels as high as you can, pausing briefly at the top.",
    "Lower your heels below the platform until you feel a strong calf stretch, and repeat for the desired number of repetitions."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Belade die Scheibenaufnahmen und stelle dich mit den Fußballen auf die Kante der Plattform, die Fersen hängen frei.",
    "Beuge dich in der Hüfte nach vorn, lege das Polster über deine Hüfte und stütze die Unterarme auf der Auflage vor dir ab.",
    "Halte die Knie gestreckt und den Rücken flach, der Oberkörper nahezu parallel zum Boden.",
    "Drücke über die Fußballen und hebe die Fersen so hoch wie möglich, mit kurzem Halten oben.",
    "Senke die Fersen unter die Plattform ab, bis du eine starke Wadendehnung spürst, und wiederhole für die gewünschte Anzahl an Wiederholungen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Carga los soportes de discos y sube a la plataforma con los metatarsos en el borde y los talones al aire.",
    "Inclínate hacia delante desde las caderas, coloca la almohadilla sobre ellas y apoya los antebrazos en el soporte que tienes delante.",
    "Mantén las rodillas estiradas y la espalda plana, con el torso cerca de la paralela al suelo.",
    "Empuja con los metatarsos y eleva los talones tan alto como puedas, con una pausa breve arriba.",
    "Baja los talones por debajo de la plataforma hasta notar un estiramiento fuerte en los gemelos y repite el número de repeticiones deseado."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "The forward hinge is the exercise. Standing up straight turns this into an ordinary standing calf raise and gives away the extra stretch you came for.",
    "Keep the knees straight throughout. Bending them shifts the work from the gastrocnemius to the soleus, which is the seated calf raise, not this one.",
    "Let the heels drop all the way below the platform edge. The bottom of the range is where this machine earns its place, and cutting it short wastes the setup."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Die Vorbeuge ist die Übung. Aufrecht zu stehen macht daraus ein gewöhnliches stehendes Wadenheben und verschenkt genau die zusätzliche Dehnung, für die du hergekommen bist.",
    "Halte die Knie durchgehend gestreckt. Gebeugte Knie verlagern die Arbeit vom Zwillingswadenmuskel zum Schollenmuskel — das ist das sitzende Wadenheben, nicht dieses.",
    "Lass die Fersen ganz unter die Plattformkante sinken. Der untere Teil des Bewegungsumfangs ist das, was diese Maschine rechtfertigt; ihn zu verkürzen macht den Aufbau sinnlos."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "La inclinación hacia delante es el ejercicio. Ponerte erguido lo convierte en una elevación de talones de pie corriente y regala justo el estiramiento extra que venías a buscar.",
    "Mantén las rodillas estiradas todo el tiempo. Flexionarlas traslada el trabajo del gemelo al sóleo, y eso es la elevación sentado, no esta.",
    "Deja que los talones bajen del todo por debajo del borde de la plataforma. La parte baja del recorrido es lo que justifica esta máquina, y recortarla desperdicia todo el montaje."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/plate-loaded-donkey-calf-raise-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/plate-loaded-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 === "plate-loaded-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.