Calf exercises can help you work back towards comfortable walking, exercise and running after an injury. The important part is choosing a starting point your calf can manage and building from there. Bent-knee and seated heel raises are useful options in some plans, but they are not the right starting exercise for every painful calf.
At The Recovery Room, we help you understand what an exercise is for, how to do it and when to move on. This guide explains the main ideas and gives you practical points to look out for.
Key takeaways
- Choose exercises around your current symptoms and the activity you want to regain.
- A controlled movement matters more than copying someone else's weight or repetition count.
- Bent-knee and straight-knee exercises place different demands on the calf.
- Notice how your leg feels afterwards, as well as during the exercise.
When to seek urgent medical help
Do not exercise a calf to test for DVT. Unexplained one-sided pain and swelling, especially with warmth or skin colour changes, needs urgent GP or NHS 111 assessment if a clot is suspected. Calf symptoms with chest pain or breathlessness require 999 or A&E; do not drive yourself. Read the NHS DVT advice.
Stop an exercise if you develop sharp or increasing pain, new swelling, altered sensation or difficulty moving normally. Seek advice appropriate to the symptoms; sudden severe pain requires emergency assessment.
Start with a clear aim
It is easier to follow an exercise plan when you know what you are working towards. Your first goal might be walking more comfortably. Later, it could be spending longer on your feet or returning to running.
We use that goal, alongside the assessment, to help choose the exercises. You should not be left with a long list and no idea which parts matter most.
If the pain is new or has not been assessed, especially if ordinary walking is difficult, let us help you work out an appropriate starting point before adding demanding exercises.
Getting to know a seated heel raise
When a seated heel raise is suitable for you, the movement is straightforward: sit on a stable seat with your feet supported on the floor, lift your heels while keeping the front of the feet supported, then lower with control.
The aim is a manageable movement, not forcing the highest lift. Keep the seat stable and avoid adding a heavy object to your knees just because you have seen it in a video.
If we include this exercise in your plan, we will explain the range, effort and amount that suit you. Being able to do a seated exercise is a useful step in some plans, but it does not by itself show that you are ready to run.
Moving on to standing calf exercises
Standing brings different demands, including balance. A secure support can help you concentrate on the movement when that is part of your plan. We can check whether you are lifting smoothly or shifting most of the work onto the other leg.
A bent-knee variation changes the task, but it does not completely switch off the other calf muscles. We will show you the knee position we want rather than leave you guessing how far to bend.
Keep the movement controlled. Do not move onto a step or lower your heel below it unless that extra range is part of the exercise you have been advised to do.
How much should you do?
An exercise name is only the beginning. A useful plan also tells you how many repetitions to do, how often, what support or resistance to use and what to watch for afterwards.
Those details need to fit the person and the injury. We will help you make sense of them, rather than expect you to choose between several online programmes.
You can keep a simple note: what you did, whether the movement was comfortable and how walking or other everyday activities felt later. That gives us something useful to work with at a review.
Make progress one step at a time
There are several ways to make a calf exercise more demanding: changing the weight, the movement, the speed or how much you do. You do not need to change everything at once.
When we progress an exercise, we will explain what is changing and why. If it feels unclear or does not go as expected, get in touch so we can help you adjust it.
Later work may prepare you for more demanding activities, where appropriate. Our return-to-running guide explains why running needs its own discussion, rather than being the automatic next step after a heel raise.
What if an exercise makes the calf worse?
Do not force a sharp or increasing pain or keep repeating a movement that changes how you walk. Stop and get advice about the response. New swelling or altered sensation also needs attention, with urgent symptoms handled through the medical services described above.
If you are following a plan with us, tell us what happened during the exercise and afterwards. You do not have to solve the adjustment yourself.
Do you need stretching as well?
A stretch and a strengthening exercise do different jobs. Whether both belong in your plan depends on the problem and what you need to regain.
Our soleus stretching guide explains the difference. For wider context, read about treatment and rehabilitation or start with the main soleus pain guide.
Frequently asked questions
Do bent-knee raises isolate the soleus?
Are seated raises a good place to start?
Should I add weight as soon as it feels easy?
What if I cannot do an exercise in my plan?
Let’s build a plan you can follow
If you are unsure which calf exercises to choose, we can assess the problem, show you suitable movements and explain how to build towards your activities.
Learn more about exercise rehabilitation service.
Book an appointmentReferences
- NHS: DVT
- Hull University Teaching Hospitals: calf strain advice
- Green and colleagues, 2022: calf injury assessment and rehabilitation
- Pedret and colleagues, 2026: calf injuries
Clinical information: Reviewed by James Kirkpatrick, MSc Sports Therapy, on 29 October 2026. Editorial wording updated 29 October 2026.
