Standing Calf raises

DonaldChadDavis
DonaldChadDavis Posts: 89 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Howdy, folks. I've been trying to do standing calf raises on a machine at my university's gym but each rep causes my feet slip closer to the edge until I have to reposition them. It normally happens after three reps. Any tricks to try other than new shoes?

Thanks

DCD

Replies

  • halleymw
    halleymw Posts: 246 Member
    Hmm What machine are you using? is it the actual calf machine, or are you using the smith machine. Certainly if your feet are moving that is not good, but why are they moving? are your shoes or the floor slippery for some reason? Are you standing on something such as a couple of plates so that you have more range of motion than just off the floor? hard to tell what is going on for sure from the question. apparantly slipping is a problem with these machines.
    http://forums.truenutrition.com/archive/index.php?t-3341.html

    Mike
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Get off your tippy toes and very the weight solidly under the ball of your foot
  • DonaldChadDavis
    DonaldChadDavis Posts: 89 Member
    Thanks, Mike and Dav. I will try raising my toes to get the weight on the ball of my foot. As far as the machine, I don't know. It's a contraption that has to padded bars that sit over your shoulders and a place to put weights on it and you would to a calf raise. I have legs today, I'll try to remember to check the machine name and let you know if the form change helps. I'm guessing it's probably better either way.

    Thanks,
    DCD
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Thanks, Mike and Dav. I will try raising my toes to get the weight on the ball of my foot. As far as the machine, I don't know. It's a contraption that has to padded bars that sit over your shoulders and a place to put weights on it and you would to a calf raise. I have legs today, I'll try to remember to check the machine name and let you know if the form change helps. I'm guessing it's probably better either way.

    Thanks,
    DCD

    If it's the machine itself that is causing you problems, rather than your form, then you could look into free weight alternatives. You could find a heavy pair of dumbbells and do a single calf at a time. You could also shoulder a barbell like you're high bar squatting and do your calf raises this way.
  • DonaldChadDavis
    DonaldChadDavis Posts: 89 Member

    If it's the machine itself that is causing you problems, rather than your form, then you could look into free weight alternatives. You could find a heavy pair of dumbbells and do a single calf at a time. You could also shoulder a barbell like you're high bar squatting and do your calf raises this way.

    Thanks. I'll see how that works. I tried keeping my weight on the ball of my foot it helped a good bit. Oh it's the calf machine. I didn't know what the smith machine was (I'm a gym noob).

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