Single leg calf raises safe?

[fqqs]

At my gym there is a standing calf machine, but it has very little weight on a stack. I maxed out it. So I wonder if switching to one-legged calf raises would be good option? I mean are there any reasons not to do single leg calf raises? Uneven spine compression etc?

 

[bjg]

better not to , instead:
1- use the machine to do the raises slowly and concentrate on contracting your calves with a one second pause at the top and go down well stretching your muscle. if you have a smith machine available , you can use that and a step to do calves and weight as much as you want
2- you can use the leg press machine to do calves , some leg presses allow that...here you can use one leg at a time.
3- you can do one legged calf raises by standing on the edge of a step , with one arm hold a dumbbell with your arm straight down, and the other arm hold yourself to a bench or something to keep yourself stable, do the raises at the side where you are holding the dumbbell. then switch to the other leg

 

[fqqs]

better not to , instead:
1- use the machine to do the raises slowly and concentrate on contracting your calves with a one second pause at the top and go down well stretching your muscle. if you have a smith machine available , you can use that and a step to do calves and weight as much as you want
2- you can use the leg press machine to do calves , some leg presses allow that...here you can use one leg at a time.
3- you can do one legged calf raises by standing on the edge of a step , with one arm hold a dumbbell with your arm straight down, and the other arm hold yourself to a bench or something to keep yourself stable, do the raises at the side where you are holding the dumbbell. then switch to the other leg

so why not to do one leg calf raises?

 

[bjg]

^^ when you do single leg calf raises as i suggested above using a dumbbell, you can move the dumbell a bit forward and close to your body in a way that the weight is almost aligned with the leg you are using and with your spine. when you are using the calf machine, the force against your shoulders is a bit away from your spine, and like you said it creates uneven forces and can cause lots of stress and uneven compression on the cartilage between vertebrates on the nerves and muscles surrounding them , even your cervical area is affected.... which can lead to injury when repeated. and beware that when you do raises, the action of changing direction as you push up after going down, creates much higher forces than the actual weight you are using unless you go down slowly the you stop then you push slowly up avoiding sudden acceleration. some people can argue that it does not matter as long as your back is tight and you use perfect form, but i personally do not recommend that.

 

[bjg]

by the way the single leg calf raises with a dumbbell is a very effective exercise when done properly.

 

[fqqs]

by the way the single leg calf raises with a dumbbell is a very effective exercise when done properly.

Ok, thanks BJG!

 

[flex365]

by the way the single leg calf raises with a dumbbell is a very effective exercise when done properly.

+1 on that. I find them to be more effective.