Swinging Dumbbell Calf Raises

Why Is This Exercise So Effective?

This exercise works by placing an irregular, unbalanced stress on the calves, increasing their strength and stability enormously. By using irregular resistance, you can build the calves from many angles at once.

How To Do It

Execute this exercise just like regular one dumbbell calf raises only swing a moderately heavy dumbbell in front, behind, to the sides, forward and back while you are doing the exercise.

• The idea is to place irregular stress on the muscle while it is contracting to force it to adapt to those multiple stresses.
  
  
• This exercise will feel like the pump you get from running in the sand.
  
  
• The muscle has to constantly react to where the load is coming from, thereby increasing the number of muscle fibers recruited for the exercise.
  
  
• Alternate hands and keep the dumbbell moving constantly. Hold the dumbbell in the same hand as the working leg or in the opposing hand. Whatever variations you choose will just change the stress on the muscle, making the exercise more effective.
  
  
• For the most irregular stress, do these standing on the handle of a rolling dumbbell (or on the plates themselves, just be sure to hold on tight to something solid with your other hand).

How to incorporate this exercise into your workouts:

Do this exercise fairly early in your calf workouts as it does require a lot of dynmaic stability in the calves.

• If you have already worked your calves, you may find them fatiguing before you can get the most effective workout possible with this exercise.

Common Errors

1. Not swinging the dumbbell around enough

The swing should not be just a simple pendulum-type slow back and forth. Do it violently and unpredictably in order to force maximum muscle fiber recruitment.

Tricks

1. Swinging body calf raises

This is basically the same idea as the dumbbell version except that instead of moving the dumbbell you are moving yourself.

• Hold onto something with both hands.
  
  
• As you rise up and down, change your body position constantly so you are never pushing straight up and down. Lean to the left, right, forward, back, slowly, quickly, roundhouse, etc. Just constantly move yourself around.