🔥 CALF DEVELOPMENT

✅ How does foot position affect calf muscle activation; It is generally thought that internally rotating the feet will activate the lateral gastroc and externally the medial head. This seems to be generally supported by some studies which looked at the effect of the foots position on calf activation.
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The study showed that during an externally rotated position the medial gastroc appeared to be more activating than the medial. While performing the calf raise with an internally rotated foot position tended to activate the lateral gastroc more. This was deduced based on both the eccentric and concentric activation of the movements. The above shows only eccentric activation.

These results are only for standing calf rises, whether they would translate to seated and other variations is not known yet. However this can give you an idea of how to train your calfs more precisely by altering your foot position to target one part more than the other. I would suggest performing all 3 variations to strengthen them equally to avoid imbalances.
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It is also well know than training calfs with a bent knee targets the deeper soleus muscle more than the gastroc because it crosses the knee joint. This may be useful in increasing the gastroc leverage point for increase power or for making it look bigger.