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HomeFitnessDonkey Calf Raises: A Forgotten Exercise From The Golden Era of Bodybuilding

Donkey Calf Raises: A Forgotten Exercise From The Golden Era of Bodybuilding

Donkey Calf Raises

Mention donkey calf raises in a gym today and most guys will think you just came up with a fake name for an exercise.
Unfortunately the donkey calf raise is rarely discussed or seen in gyms today, which wouldn't be sad if it were another fad exercise that didn't do much for your physique.

From my own experience as well as from reading a number of old bodybuilding books it's deemed as one of, if not the best bang for your buck exercise for building big calf muscles.

The donkey calf raise was without a doubt a staple in the golden era of bodybuilding, a time where arguably the greatest physiques graced the stage (and beaches!) we have ever seen... we're talking Arnold Schwarzenegger, we're talking Franco Columbo (RIP).

Arnold was known for saying his calf muscles were his weakest, they were essentially non-existent... this weak point soon became a strong point as he annihilated his calf muscles with calf raises... many of which were the donkey calf raise variation (if you Google Arnold donkey calf raises you'll find a plethora of photos of Arnold performing these in different gyms with different people on his back!).
Coincidence? I think not.

Why Did Donkey Calf Raises Disappear?

Over the last 10 years of lifting weights I've literally never seen someone perform donkey calf raises in a gym in Australia.
That said during my travels there are a couple of old school bodybuilding style gyms in Indonesia that have a dedicated donkey calf raise machine that gets used day in, day out.

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You'd be hard pressed to find a donkey calf raise machine in any chain gym anywhere because the machine itself is pretty big and clunky and they are not particularly cheap to find/buy these days.

That's enough to turn off most gym-owners from wanting one, particularly when they know most of their members would be far more grateful to have another chest press machine or preacher curl.

Further on in this article we'll go through how to perform traditional (golden era bodybuilding style) donkey calf raises along with a number of variations you can perform with the equipment you have in your gym today.

How To Perform Golden Era Donkey Calf Raises


Stand on the edge of the calf raise block of your calf raise machine.

Bend forward at the hips until your torso is essentially parallel to the floor and you're pushed up against the pad of your machine.

Reach your arms forward to grab onto the handles of your calf raise machine.

Have your workout partner (or partners!) climb onto your back.

From here begin to flex at the ankle as you lower your heels down until you feel a deep stretch in your calf muscles.

Pause for a moment before raising up on your toes.

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At the top of the repetition squeeze your calf muscles for a count of one before lowering your heels back down for the proceeding repetition.

Repeat for the desired number of repetitions, traditionally you'd be going quite high in terms of reps per set on this exercise (anywhere from 20 to 100 reps!)

A Quick Refresher On Foot Placement During Your Calf Raises...

The gastrocnemius has 2 heads

The medial head of the gastrocnemius is the inner portion of your calves.

The lateral head of the gastrocnemius is the outer portion of your calves.

 If the medial or lateral head of your gastrocnemius are lagging behind we can alter our foot position to target the desired head.

Building Overall Calf Size


Here we see the foot position for a standard set of calf raises.
With feet forward you'll be targeting equal amounts of the medial and lateral heads.

As you're dividing the load evenly across the gastrocnemius you'll find that you're able to calf raise signfiicantly more weight when utilizing this standard foot placement as opposed to the variations below.

How To Target Inner Calves

In order to target the inner portion of the calves, aka. the medial head of your gastrocnemius we must point out toes outwards.

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Position your toes out while calf raising on your seated calf raise machine, smith machine, leg press or donkey calf raise and you'll be placing the majority of tension on your inner calves.

How To Target Outer Calves

In order to target the outer portion of the calves, aka. the lateral head of your gastrocnemius we must point out toes inwards.

Position your toes in while calf raising on your seated calf raise machine, smith machine, leg press or donkey calf raise and you'll be placing the majority of tension on your outer calves.

Donkey Calf Raises Without Someone On Your Back (Variations)

Don't have a training partner to jump on your back to replicate Arnold's golden era style donkey calf raises? No worries - there are a few versions you can without a doubt perform solo in the gym without needing a donkey calf raise machine including...

The Smith Machine Donkey Calf Raise

Place your calf raise block under the bar of your smith machine.

Set your stoppers around mid-level to ensure you'll have appropriate range of motion when raises and lowering the bar on the calf block.

Place a roman chair in front of your smith machine, you will hold onto these to support yourself during your reps.

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Place your desired weight on the smith machine barbell.

Rest the barbell on your lower back while you flex your ankles to perform your calf raise while holding onto the roman chair handles.

Upon completion of your set just lower yourself down slightly until the stoppers on your smith machine catch the barbell.

You can also check out a guide for this variation on ExRx here.

Alternatively you can support yourself using a kettlebell like this innovative gym-goer did here.

Incline Bench 45LB Plate Donkey Calf Raise

Place a few 45lbs plates on top of each other on the floor, you'll be using these as your makeshift calf raise block.

Place an incline bench in front of your 45lbs plates, you'll be leaning forward and holding onto the back of your incline bench for support.

Bend forward at the hips.

From here begin to flex at the ankle as you lower your heels down until you feel a deep stretch in your calf muscles.

Pause for a moment before raising up on your toes.

At the top of the repetition squeeze your calf muscles for a count of one before lowering your heels back down for the proceeding repetition.

As we're performing these with no additional resistance aim for upwards of 50 repetitions per set.

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Dip Belt Donkey Calf Raise

Utilize the same form as the variation listed above, however wear a dip belt around your waist and attach the desired weight, be it a 45lb plate or a lighter/heavier kettlebell.
Lower yourself to the ground to remove the additional weight between sets.

What's Your Take On Donkey Calf Raises? Let Me Know Below!

 

Scott J.
Scott J.https://ignorelimits.com
I’m SJ. I’m a fitness enthusiast and published author. I transformed my body from a skinny fat 135lbs with 18% body fat to a solid 192lbs at 8% body fat. I became qualified in a field I was passionate about. I founded several online businesses that allow me to pursue ideas and projects in my life that I am passionate about without having to constantly worry about money. I published several eBooks explaining the training and dieting techniques I used to achieve the body I have today. I learnt a plethora of new information on dieting and fitness by reading and applying what I read, to find out what does work and what doesn’t work, because as I’m sure you’ve noticed the health and fitness industry is full of non-sense claims and BS. I found out what was true and what worked for me and applied that knowledge. And you bet I had fun during the whole process.

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