To test whether your ankle and calf are as strong as they should be, stand on one leg and perform single-leg heel raises until your form breaks down, then compare your score to the table below. Healthy adults in their twenties typically manage 30 or more reps per leg, with the benchmark falling by roughly 4 to 5 reps each decade after that. Scoring well below your age-matched range is linked to a higher risk of ankle sprains, calf strains, falls and slower recovery after lower limb injury or surgery.

Why your calf and ankle strength matters more than you think

Most people only think about their calves when they pull one during a run or notice their ankle giving way on uneven ground. In reality, the muscles at the back of your lower leg, known as the plantar flexors, are doing constant background work: absorbing shock with every step, stabilising your ankle and powering you forward whether you are walking to the station or sprinting for a bus.

Strength here tends to decline quietly with age, and because it rarely causes pain on its own, most people never notice until it shows up as a problem elsewhere, such as a recurring ankle sprain, a stubborn calf strain or a frustratingly slow recovery after knee or hip surgery.

The good news is that you do not need a gym or a physiotherapist in the room to check where you stand. There is a simple, well-researched test you can do at home in under a minute.

What is the single-leg heel raise test?

The single-leg heel raise test, sometimes called the single-leg calf raise test or heel-rise test, is a clinical assessment physiotherapists use to measure the strength and endurance of your calf and ankle plantar flexor muscles. It involves standing on one leg and repeatedly raising your heel as high as possible until your form breaks down.

It is one of the most widely used and well-validated tests of lower limb function in physiotherapy, partly because it requires no equipment and partly because it gives a genuinely useful real-world picture of how your calf performs under repeated load, which is exactly what it has to do during walking, running and stairs.

How to do the single-leg heel raise test at home

1. Stand on one leg near a wall or sturdy chair, using it lightly for balance only, not to take your weight.
2. Keep the knee of your standing leg straight throughout.
3. Raise your heel as high as you can, then lower it fully back down. That is one rep.
4. Repeat at a steady, controlled pace.
5. Stop counting when your form breaks down: when your heel height noticeably drops, your knee starts to bend or your balance goes.
6. Rest, then repeat on the other leg and compare the two sides.

A few sloppy extra reps will give you a falsely high score, so prioritise quality over quantity. It is also worth testing both legs, since a meaningful difference between your left and right side is often more clinically useful than the total number itself.

Single-leg heel raise norms by age

Research testing 566 healthy adults aged 20 to 81 found that the number of single-leg heel raises people can perform declines steadily with age. Average results by decade were:

Age	Average reps
20s	30–37
30s	27–33
40s	25–28
50s	22–24
60s	19
70s and beyond	14–17

As a general clinical guide, 25 or more reps with good form is often used as a healthy benchmark, though comparing your result to your own age-matched range is the more meaningful approach. These figures come from peer-reviewed research published in the journal Physiotherapy (Hebert-Losier et al., 2017).

What does a low score mean?

Scoring well below your age-matched range does not necessarily mean something is wrong, but it is a useful flag. Reduced single-leg heel raise performance has been associated with:

• A higher risk of ankle sprains and recurrent ankle instability
• Calf strains during running or sport
• Reduced balance and a higher risk of trips and falls, particularly in older adults
• Slower or less complete recovery after foot, ankle, knee or hip injury or surgery

If one leg performs noticeably worse than the other, that asymmetry is often more informative clinically than either number on its own, especially if you have a history of injury on that side.

How to improve your ankle and calf strength

Calf and ankle strength responds well and reasonably quickly to the right loaded exercise programme. Most rehabilitation approaches progress through:

• Bodyweight calf raises on both legs to build a base level of strength and control
• Single-leg calf raises to build the specific strength and endurance the test measures
• Slow, heavy single-leg raises with added load, holding onto a rail or bannister for safety, once form is solid
• Both straight-knee and bent-knee variations, since these target slightly different parts of the calf (gastrocnemius and soleus respectively)

Consistency matters more than intensity here. Small, regular sessions over several weeks tend to produce far better results than occasional heavy ones.

When to see a physiotherapist

It is worth booking an assessment if:

• Your result is significantly below your age-matched range on one or both sides
• There is a clear difference between your left and right leg
• You have a history of ankle sprains, calf strains or ongoing balance problems
• You are recovering from foot, ankle, knee or hip surgery and want to check your strength is on track

A physiotherapist can confirm whether weakness, movement compensation or something else entirely is behind your result and build a programme suited to your specific stage of recovery or activity goals.

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