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Analysis v1
Strong Support

For young women who want to work all three muscles in their calf (the two parts of the gastrocnemius and the soleus), doing calf raises with straight legs works better than doing them with bent knees.

42
Pro
0
Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

42

Community contributions welcome

42

Muscle Swelling of the Triceps Surae in Response to Straight-Leg and Bent-Leg Calf Raise Exercises in Young Women

Randomized Controlled Trial
Human
2023 Jul 1

The study compared two types of calf raise exercises in young women and found that straight-leg raises work all three calf muscles better than bent-leg raises, which mainly targets the soleus. The researchers specifically recommend straight-leg raises when you want to train all three muscles together.

Contradicting (0)

0

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No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Muscle Swelling of the Triceps Surae in Response to Straight-Leg and Bent-Leg Calf Raise Exercises in Young Women

Score: 42
DOI: 10.1519/jsc.0000000000004491

Similar Assertions

When young women want to strengthen their soleus muscle (the lower calf muscle), doing calf raises with bent knees works better than doing them with straight legs.

42
0
86%

When young women do calf raise exercises until they can't do any more, doing them with bent legs makes the calf muscle grow about twice as much as doing them with straight legs.

42
0
76%

When young women do calf raises until they can't do any more, doing them with straight legs makes the outer calf muscle grow about twice as much as doing them with bent knees.

42
0
75%

When young women do calf raises until they can't do any more, doing them with straight legs makes the upper calf muscle grow way more than doing them with bent knees (+8.8% vs -0.9%).

42
0
74%

The outer part of your calf and the deeper calf muscle don’t grow better with either straight-knee or bent-knee calf raises — they respond similarly to both.

61
0
73%