4 Easy Calf Exercises and Stretches to do at Home

There is nothing worse than having a muscle spasm in the calf section of your leg. It can easily bring you to your knees. However, one of the things that people find helps is to strengthen these calf muscles, as well as doing stretches that help to ease the muscle that is in the calf. Think about all the calf muscles go through on a regular day...they are a major muscle group that is used each time that you walk, so it makes sense that you would want these to be strong and ready to handle everything.

Calf Muscle Exercises

The good news is that you can do some easy calf exercises at home to help strengthen your legs. These exercises are simple enough to do without equipment so that there is nothing holding you back.

• Calf Raise: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart then lift onto the ball of your feet and lower again. Keep repeating. It is super easy to do that you can literally do this while waiting in line to checkout at the grocery store.
• Jumping jacks: You may think of this as an aerobic exercise, which it is. But, it is also working the calf muscles.
• Step up with hops: If you have a step at home, then step up and then put a hop into your step, making the calf muscles work even harder.
• Downward Dog: We all know the downward dog position in yoga, but you can make this a great calf muscle exercise, but getting into positing then alternating bending your knees inwards so the calf muscles are getting a workout.

How to Stretch Calf Muscles

Remember, after any workout and before, you will want to take the time to stretch the calf muscles so that you are not getting cramps later. To stretch the calf muscles, you have several options. However, one of the easiest two stretches to do includes raising up and standing on your tip toes, holding this, then slowly releasing. You may also find that putting one foot forward with a slight bend, then placing your other leg behind you, as you lean onto the forward leg really helps to work the tension out of calf muscles that have just gone through a great workout.

With these stretches and exercises, there should be no reason that your calf muscles are weak or suffering with cramps.