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LegsPin machineIsolation — ankle plantarflexion

Seated Calf Raise

Reviewed by Bryan Cortez, MS

Bent knee = soleus = high reps; the seated raise is the half everyone skips.

Rep Sweet Spot
15-30
Sets
3-4
sets
RIR
0-1

How to do it

Setup

  • Knees under the pad, balls of the feet on the platform, knees bent ~90 degrees.

Execution

  • Deep stretch down, press up onto the toes, pause; the soleus needs higher reps to fatigue.

Common Errors

  • Too few reps (the soleus needs high reps)
  • Half range with no deep stretch
  • Bouncing
  • Letting the knees drift instead of staying pinned

No-Fly Zone

under 8 reps (the soleus barely responds to low reps)

Programming

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The Evidence

Isolates the soleus with a bent knee. Does NOT train the gastrocnemius — pair with a standing raise.

SFR — 4

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What about supplements?

Train hard and hit your protein first — that's most of it. If the fundamentals are handled, two are worth it for building muscle:

Creatine

Monohydrate, 5 g/day. The most studied muscle supplement.

See it on Divine Wellness USA

Clean Whey protein

An easy way to hit your daily protein target.

See it on Divine Wellness USA

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.