How Foot Position Changes Calf Muscle Growth

Bigger Calves: The ULTIMATE Guide (32 Studies)

House of Hypertrophy

Doing specific calf exercises for nine weeks can make the calf muscles bigger, but exactly how much they grow depends on how you position your feet during the workout. This shows that small changes in your exercise form can target different parts of the muscle differently.

Changing the way you point your feet while doing calf raises can target different parts of your calf muscle. Pointing your toes outward mainly builds the inner part of your calf, while pointing them inward mainly builds the outer part. This gives you a simple way to shape your calves exactly how you want them.

If you do calf raises with your toes pointed outward, you'll build more muscle in the inner part of your calf compared to pointing your toes inward or straight ahead. After nine weeks of training, this outward toe position led to an 8.4% muscle growth, while the other positions only added 3.8% and 5.8%.

When doing calf raises, pointing your toes inward builds more muscle in the outer part of your calf than pointing them out or straight ahead. Over nine weeks of training, this inward position can increase that specific muscle by about 9%, while other toe positions only add around 5-6%.