Donkey Calf Raise Machine
The donkey calf raise is a machine calf raise performed bent forward at the hips with the knees straight, rising onto the balls of your feet against a pad across your hips. It works the calves, mainly the gastrocnemius, through a deep stretch at the bottom of each rep.
Also called: Donkey Calf Raise, Bent-Over Calf Raise, Machine Donkey Calf Raise, Donkey Raise · Equipment: machine · Pattern: push
Step by step
- Stand on the platform with the balls of your feet on the edge, heels free, feet about hip-width apart and toes pointing forward.
- Hinge forward at the hips and set the pad across your hips. Rest your forearms on the support or hold the handles so your torso sits roughly level, with a flat back.
- Straighten your knees, keeping a soft bend rather than locking them, and hold that knee angle for the whole set. Rise onto your toes to take the weight and release the safety lever if the machine has one.
- Let your heels sink below the platform under control until you feel a deep stretch in your calves. Pause there for a moment.
- Push through the balls of your feet, favouring the big-toe side, and rise as high as you can.
- Hold the top briefly, then let your heels sink back down under control into the stretch.
- After the last rep, rise onto your toes, reset the safety lever if fitted, and step off the platform.
- Knees straight and soft, the same angle every rep
- Heels all the way down, pause in the stretch
- Push through the big toe
- Rise as high as you can
- Flat back, pad across the hips
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Gastrocnemius: medial head | Prime mover | B |
| Gastrocnemius: lateral head | Prime mover | B |
| Soleus | Secondary | B |
| Gastrocnemius | Secondary | D |
| Hamstrings: biceps femoris (long head) | Dynamic stabiliser | D |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Knees bending during the rep
Fix: Keep a soft, straight knee from the first rep to the last.
Half reps near the top
Fix: Let your heels sink fully below the platform on every rep.
Bouncing out of the bottom
Fix: Sink slowly into the stretch and pause for a moment before rising.
Rolling onto the outside of the foot
Fix: Push through the ball of the foot on the big-toe side as you rise.
Back rounding under the pad
Fix: Hinge from the hips with a flat back and keep the pad across your hips.
Rushing the top
Fix: Rise as high as you can and hold the top briefly before sinking.
What the research says
Muscle growth · first choiceRehab & prehabGeneral fitnessSport performanceEndurance
- Knee position — A 12-week trial training one leg with straight-knee calf raises and the other with bent-knee (seated) raises found far more gastrocnemius growth on the straight-knee side, while the soleus grew similarly on both. The donkey raise keeps the knee straight; no study has tested the donkey position itself.
- Stretched range — An 8-week trial in untrained women found calf raises done only through the bottom, stretched half of the range grew the inner gastrocnemius more than full-range or top-half reps.
- Load and effort — Research finds muscle growth is similar across a wide range of loads when sets finish close to failure, and true failure adds only a small extra return. Many lifters use moderate-to-higher rep sets for calves.
- Volume and frequency — Research links more weekly sets for a muscle to more growth, with diminishing returns, and training a muscle about twice a week is a common way to spread that volume.
- Pairing with seated raises — Because straight-knee and bent-knee raises emphasise different calf muscles in the research above, many programmes include both.
Swap it mid-workout
- Calf Raise Machine
- Seated Calf Raise Machine
- Smith Machine Calf Raise
- Standing Calf Raise Machine
- Barbell Calf Raise
- Calf Raise
With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.
Log the donkey calf raise machine in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.