Do you feel your calves rising? Don’t worry, it’s normal (but here’s the catch)

The glutes and hamstrings are activated to some degree during calf raises. The glutes will not be isolated, but will contract to keep you upright. However, if you somehow hang onto your hips, the glutes are activated to a much greater extent. Additionally, if you’re doing a heavy calf lift, you tend to lift some of that weight with your hips or knees, which engages the glutes or hamstrings more.

Will calf raises work buttocks?

Calf raises isolate the major muscles of the calves, namely the gastrocnemius, soleus, and plantaris. But you may notice that other muscles in your posterior chain (the muscles that make up the back lower half of your body) are involved, such as your glutes and hamstrings. This is even more noticeable if these muscles are weak.

Glutes & Hamstrings are activated during calf raises

Something you should be aware of is that the glutes and hamstrings are activated to some degree during calf raises.

Well, truth be told, more so when you’re doing standing calf raises.

Essentially, in order to stay upright while “carrying” the load, both your glutes and hamstrings go through an isometric contraction.

This is true whenever you are “burdened” while standing.

So by holding a heavy barbell across the back of your shoulders before you squat, you’ll see your glutes and hamstrings contracting isometrically.

Doing standing bicep curls will do the same thing, but to a lesser extent.

And even carrying a few shopping bags will again involve isometric contraction of the glutes and hamstrings.

Now, actually the glutes (or hamstrings) are not actively involved in the calf raise.

However, I think it’s important to point out that they will be “activated” in some way.

If they weren’t, as soon as you take the load, you basically collapse and fall to the ground.

Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, but I hope you get my point.

So whether you’re doing calf raises with a single arm barbell, a barbell, or a calf raise machine, your glutes will be stimulated.

In reality, this means you should never feel your glutes during seated calf raises, but I know some people do.

I will touch on this point in a moment.

You are hung on your hips

Although calf raises seem like a very simple exercise to perform, that doesn’t mean they’re never performed with poor technique.

In fact, I would rate the calf raise as one of those exercises where it is quite common not to feel the calves working due to improper form.

Earlier I talked about pushing the toes in, as opposed to lifting the heels my article on calf raises that hurt your legs.

And that’s just one of the many mistakes that can prevent you from doing calf raises in your target muscles, the calves.

Something I see quite often is people bringing their hips into play when doing calf raises.

This is most often done by bending slightly at the hips.

In truth, if you’re doing it, you probably don’t even realize it.

The movement can usually be so slight as to be barely noticeable.

It’s almost as if you’ve managed to get your body into a modified Romanian deadlift stance.

So your hips are shifted slightly back and your torso is tilted slightly forward.

In this way, you activate the gluteal muscles to a much greater effect.

This is why you can feel it in your glutes if you have assumed this body position during seated calf raises.

In fact, it also brings the hip flexors into the equation, which is why some people complain of tight hip flexors or hip flexor pain whenever they do calf raises.

Additionally, this hip hinge type stance can also cause you to bend at the knees, which then activates the hamstrings with greater effect.

All these small inattentions remove the impact of the movement from the calves and stress various other parts of the body.

And that’s usually why you feel the “burn” in your glutes rather than your calves.

You are using too much weight

I’d say the main reason either your hips or knees enter the equation when doing calf raises is because you’re trying to lift too much weight.

In fact, you can usually cheat again on increasing your calves without even realizing you’re doing it.

This is generally why I think it’s better to increase the body weight of the calves before adding weight.

In fact, you may find yourself cheating if you use nothing but your own body weight, so you have no hope of performing the exercise correctly using additional weight.

Anyway, back to the point, maybe you’re using too much weight in your calf raises?

The calves are obviously very small muscles compared to the quads and other leg muscles.

So it’s quite common to let the bigger muscles, the glutes, take over during the set.

Once you do this, you’re no longer training your calves, and your glutes (or other leg muscles) are getting all the stimulation from your movement.

You’ll be able to tell if you’re using too much weight because you tend to bend at the knees or hinge at the hips again.

In addition to using a lighter weight, I would also recommend starting with the mind-muscle connection.

You can do this by first doing a few reps of bodyweight calf exercises (or using the calf strength test I mentioned above) and really focusing on using your calves.

So don’t push through your toes, simply lift your heels.

Perform each repetition slowly and with control.

Hold at the top of the movement for 3 and really contract your calf muscles.

Once you’ve completed a few reps with your own weight, you can add weight.

However, focus on using the exact same technique as above.

So go slow and controlled, hold yourself up and really squeeze your calf muscles.

You’ll find that if you’re frantically trying to blast through reps, it usually means you’re using too much weight.

And that’s when you over-activate your glutes.

Try calf raise variations

One thing I will say is that calves usually respond better to variety.

So, if you look at the above example of using too much weight, you can change it in the following workouts.

So maybe do your first calf workout in the 8-12 rep range and then another workout later in the week in the 15-25 rep range.

You can also change the position of the legs with each set.

So keep your toes pointing forward for one set, pointing inward for the next set, and pointing outward for the next set.

You can also change the equipment (or lack thereof) you use to lift your calves.

I know many people who swear by doing calf raises on the leg press machine (or hack squat) over any other method.

There is usually no gluteal involvement and the calves get a real pounding.

I’ve already talked about using bodyweight calf exercises in addition to weights.

💪 Complete calf exercise routine 🦵
Exercises	Repetition/series	Primary muscle	Secondary muscle
Increasing the weight of the standing plate	12-15 reps, 3-4 sets	Gastrocnemius	Soleus
Increasing the weight of the seat plate	12-15 reps, 3-4 sets	Soleus	Gastrocnemius
Seated One Leg Calf Raises	10-12 reps, 3 sets per leg	Soleus	Gastrocnemius
Standing one leg raise	10-12 reps, 3 sets per leg	Gastrocnemius	Soleus
Pulse increases	15-20 repetitions, 3-4 sets	Gastrocnemius and Soleus as well
1.5 Calf Raises	12-15 reps, 3-4 sets	Gastrocnemius	Soleus
3-way calf raise	12 reps (in each direction), 3 sets	Gastrocnemius and Soleus alike, with emphasis on different fibers due to directional changes
Wall calf raises	12-15 reps, 3-4 sets	Gastrocnemius	Soleus
Squat Calf Raise	12-15 reps, 3-4 sets	Gastrocnemius	Soleus and quadriceps as a stabilizer
Calf hold	Hold for 30-60 seconds, 3 sets	Gastrocnemius and Soleus as well
Toe Walk	30-60 seconds or set distance, 3 sets	Gastrocnemius	Soleus
Glute Bridge Raise the calves	12-15 reps, 3-4 sets	Soleus	Gastrocnemius and glutes
Single Leg Glute Bridge and Raise	10-12 reps, 3 sets per leg	Soleus and glutes	Gastrocnemius
Calf lift rings	10-12 repetitions (in each direction), 3 sets	Gastrocnemius and Soleus the same, with a circular motion involving different fibers
Brought to you by mybodyweightexercises.com

Additionally, you can change the type of load you use.

You can choose from calf raises with one-arm dumbbells, two-arm dumbbells, with a barbell, blacksmith, sandbags, resistance bands, and of course, seated or standing calf raise machines.

Basically, if your glutes are really burning with your current preferred calf variation, try something else.

I know we tend to look for the “best exercise” with all different body parts.

And when it comes to calves, we most often find standing calf raises to be the best way to train them gastrocnemiusand sits down to train soleus.

However, a little variety could help you re-energize your calves and relieve tension from your glutes.

Key learning points

• During standing calf raises, the glutes will always be activated in some way.
• If you can feel your glutes, you’re probably hanging at your hips or using too much weight.
• Make sure your body stays perfectly straight for each repetition.
• Do not bend at the knees or hips when raising your calves.
• Raise your calves slowly and in a controlled manner.
• Contract your calves at the top of the movement.
• Try variations of calf raises with both weights or your own body weight, and also change the position of your feet to hit different parts of the calf muscles.

If you know you know, look it up my article on calves that make you feel like you need to pee!