StrengthIn review

Single-Leg Dumbbell Calf Raise

A heel raise on one standing leg with one dumbbell held at the side.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Calf
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Intermediate
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Unilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Hold one dumbbell in one hand at your side.
Stand on one leg with the free foot clear of the floor. Use light fingertip contact with a wall if needed.

Do the rep

Keep the standing knee nearly straight and raise the heel.
Pause at the highest controlled position.
Lower the heel to the floor and repeat before changing legs.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the standing heel reaches the highest controlled position and returns to the floor without help from the free foot; count each leg separately.

Breathing

Exhale as the heels rise; inhale as they lower.

Cues

Keep the free foot off the floor.
Keep pressure spread across the ball of the foot.
Use the wall for balance without pushing through the hand.

Common mistakes

Using the free foot
What you seeThe free foot pushes against the floor.
FixKeep the free foot lifted for the full rep.
The standing calf must lift the body and the dumbbell.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if you lose balance.
End the set when the free foot must assist.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Calves · moderate confidence

Assisting

Forearms and grip · moderate confidence

Equipment

Dumbbell

Optional: Wall

Stand on level ground with one dumbbell held at the side. Use light fingertip contact with an optional wall for balance.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A editorial reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 11, adapted from existing Allena records and the owner rules approved 2026-10-12 (#340). No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the owner rules; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_standing_calf_raise, the closest Wave 1 record. The draft carries no Wave 1 review evidence.
Technique uses 1 dumbbell(s). Load is logged in kg with load-and-reps only; the bodyweight variant is a separate record.
The CSV says bilateral. The movement is unilateral and counts each_side, as the closest one-leg model.
The CSV optional bench is removed; the movement uses level ground. An optional wall supports balance, as ex_single_leg_calf_raise.
Skill changes from CSV beginner to intermediate because one-leg balance and calf strength are needed, as ex_single_leg_calf_raise (rule 3).
Failure cost low: a failed calf raise stops safely on the floor, as ex_standing_calf_raise and the Wave 1 dumbbell curl and lateral raise. Rule 3 lists dumbbells as moderate; the owner must confirm this movement-based exception.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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