Donkey calf raise: proper form, muscles worked and common mistakes

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How to do it

With the torso bent over and load on the hips, raise the heels over the forefoot through a full range. The bent-over position stretches the calf more in the bottom.

Muscles worked

Main muscle: calves. When it plans weekly volume, every set of this exercise counts in full for calves: the generator does not split it with other muscles.

Donkey calf raise or leg press calf raise: two ways to load the calf with a straight knee

Both variants work with the knee extended, so the gastrocnemius stays the lead muscle, but they differ in where the weight lands. In the leg press calf raise you are reclined with your back supported; in the donkey calf raise your torso leans forward with a bent hip and the load rests on your pelvis, through a pad on the machine or, in the classic form, with a partner sitting on your lower back. It is a more awkward posture and less common in gyms.

Choose it if your gym has the machine and you want a change of feel from the press or the standing version, or when you want variety inside a multi-session calf block. If your lower back complains with the torso flexed under load, prefer the press. As with any calf raise, it works best with higher reps, 12 to 20, and a clear pause in the stretch.

A detail of its own: keep the spine neutral for the whole set. The habit is to round your back and squash against the stop to gain momentum; instead, grip the handles, brace your abdomen and place the pad on your pelvis, not on your lower back. Progress with tempo before weight: a three-second lowering is enough to feel the difference.

Recommended sets and reps

As an isolation exercise, it works best in 3–4 sets of 10–15 reps with 0–2 RIR. Use it at the end of the session to add volume without systemic fatigue.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Bouncing at the bottom using the Achilles tendon stretch reflex, without a pause or full stretch.
• Not adjusting the seat and pads to your body: your joint should line up with the machine's pivot.
• Cutting short the part of the range where the muscle is stretched: that is exactly where this exercise gives the most stimulus.

What the research says

As an isolation move, it is mostly a way to add volume to one muscle. Gentil and colleagues (2013) found that, in beginners, adding it to a multi-joint exercise gave no extra arm growth; it pays off later on, or for muscles the compounds barely reach.

It loads the muscle in the stretched position, which is where several trials find more growth: more hypertrophy from seated than lying leg curls (Maeo and colleagues, 2021) and better quad results from training the long part of the range (Pedrosa and colleagues, 2022). So do not cut the bottom of the rep short.

On how hard to push: the meta-analysis by Refalo and colleagues (2023) found no clear advantage in going to failure over stopping just short of it. That is why the generator programs it with reps in reserve (RIR) instead of asking for failure on every set.

Donkey calf raise: a flexed hip does not take work away from the gastrocnemius

In the donkey calf raise the torso leans forward and the hip is flexed, but the knee stays straight. That is what matters: the gastrocnemius crosses the knee and the ankle, not the hip, so leaning over does not shorten it. It keeps working in a stretched position, as in the standing raise.

The gap between a straight and a bent knee is not small. Kinoshita and colleagues, in 2023 in Frontiers in Physiology, trained each leg of fourteen adults with one version for twelve weeks: with a straight knee the whole triceps surae grew 5.6%, and with the knee at 90 degrees, 2.1%, almost all of it from the soleus (Kinoshita et al., 2023).

The bent-over position has a practical advantage: it spreads the load between your supported hands and your back, without loading the shoulders the way a standing machine does. Keep your back neutral and the knee almost locked; bend it to move more weight and you lose exactly what makes the exercise useful.

Related guide

Best leg exercises for the gym and at home

Alternative exercises

• Standing calf raise
• Seated calf raise
• Leg press calf raise
• Barbell calf raise
• Dumbbell calf raise

More isolation exercises

• Leg press calf raise
• Single-leg step calf raise
• Seated calf raise
• Low cable shrug
• Band shrug

Add it to your routine

Progrevia can generate a personalized routine that includes Donkey calf raise based on your level, goal and available days.

Frequently asked questions

What muscles does Donkey calf raise work?

Donkey calf raise mainly works the calves muscle group, plus synergist and stabilizer muscles depending on the variation.

How many sets of Donkey calf raise should I do?

Between 3 and 5 sets per session, adjusting the total weekly volume for calves to your level (about 10–20 sets per muscle per week).

Why is it called a donkey calf raise, and why is it still used?

The name comes from the bent-over posture, which looks like a loaded donkey, and from the classic way of loading it with another person sitting on your back. Today it survives on machines that reproduce that posture with plates. It is not essential: if you lack the machine, the press or the standing version cover the same muscle.

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