The best Yoga stretches for calves

I’ve had two different Yoga students ask me recently about calf stretches, as they were suffering from tight and sore calves. I realised I have concentrated so much on the hamstrings during my years of Yoga teaching, because I personally have tightness here, and I hadn’t spent as much time specifically looking at which poses stretch out the calves. There are a number of traditional yoga asana poses which involve stretching this muscle, but in this post I will be honing in on the exercises that really deliver!

There are a few things to consider before getting started with the below exercises:

Blocks and straps are your friend: Seriously, these props are so helpful for isolating the calf muscle and really accessing that stretch. If you don’t have these accessories, a towel, stack of books or a stair make good alternatives.

The calves are actually two muscles: And they need to be stretched seperately! Soleus: this part of the calf muscle starts just below the knee so is stretched with the knee bent. Gastrocnemius: this part of the calf muscle starts above the knee, so the knee needs to be straight when stretching it. So what does this mean for the below exercises? Basically you need to perform some of the stretches in two different ways in order to stretch the whole calf muscle.

Hold For Longer: Studies have shown the most effective way to stretch is to hold for thirty seconds. This gives the muscle fibers time adequate time to relax. Any less than 30 seconds and there will be smaller changes in muscle length.

Safety first: Calf stretches should not be done immediately after an injury to prevent further damage. You should be able to push down through your toes without pain before you commence calf stretches. Consult your doctor or physio if you are thinking about undertaking stretches after injury.

Seated calf stretch, variation on Paschimottanasana

Try this stretch with and without the block. The block will help to make the stretch gentler as it reduces the angle of the legs, without will make it stronger. Draw your toes and foot up towards you, and pull through the towel to increase the flexion at your ankle until you feel a strong stretch in the back of your calf.

To stretch your gastrocnemius muscle, keep your knee straight. To stretch Soleus, bend your knee slightly. Hold for over 30 seconds on each side.

Block calf stretch

Out of all of the stretches listed here, this one, standing on a block, is my absolutely favourite. You really isolate and feel the stretch in the calves using gravity to assist.

Stand with one foot on the block and the other on the edge of your step. Drop your heel toward the floor until you feel the stretch. Bend your supporting leg to help you balance. Repeat on each side, holding for over 30 seconds.

Standing calf stretch

The foot positioning for this one is slightly shorter than what you’d have for warrior 2 (which is also great for stretching the calf), but this shorter stance helps to concentrate the stretch in this muscle. This stretch is a really easy one to do if you don’t have any props or if you need to stretch when you’re on the go. To stretch your gastrocnemius muscle, keep your back knee straight. To stretch Soleus, bend your knee slightly. Hold the pose on each side.

Standing calf stretch, variation of Dandayamana Janushirasana

Okay, this one is here for a bit of fun! The other poses above are definitely the easier options for stretching the calves. But if you want the challenge of a standing posture which is also stretching out these muscles, this is a great asana to try! Bend the knee of your standing leg if you need to, in order to allow you upper body to maintain integrity.

As well as stretching the calf here, we’re stretching the achilles tendon and the hamstring. We’re also getting a great glute and core workout at the same time - it’s really tough to hold this pose, but your body will thank you for it!