If you have ever stood at the kitchen counter, done a set of single-leg heel raises on your recovering calf, and wondered whether your number is good, bad, or embarrassing, you are not alone. The frustration is real: you want a target, and the internet keeps handing you one — 25 — without telling you where it came from or whether it applies to you.
Here is the useful part. The number 25 is not arbitrary. It comes from a specific study, with a specific procedure, in a specific group of healthy adults. Once you understand the procedure and the age effect, you can stop chasing a universal target and start using the test the way it actually works: as a repeatable benchmark you compare against yourself and against age-appropriate norms.
What the single-leg heel raise test actually measures
The heel-raise test (HRT) is used to quantify ankle plantarflexion strength — the pushing power of your calf complex, mainly gastrocnemius and soleus. It is a simple, low-equipment way to load the plantarflexors through a functional range while standing on one leg. According to a 2022 review and meta-analysis by Richard Bohannon, the test is suitable for people who can stand without physical assistance, which covers most self-directed adults in the 30–55 range once they are weight-bearing.
What it does not measure is everything. It is not a diagnostic test for a specific tendon or nerve problem, and it is not a validated return-to-sport clearance tool. It is one input — a strength-endurance signal — that becomes meaningful when you standardize how you perform it and track it over time.
Where the number 25 comes from: Lunsford & Perry
The most cited reference point is Lunsford and Perry’s study of healthy adults. In that study, the dominant heel was raised to more than 50% of maximal excursion while monitored with a goniometer. Pace was set with a metronome at one heel raise every two seconds. Participants used fingertip support on the tester. The reported mean was 27.9 repetitions, and the criterion for normal was 25 repetitions.
That is the origin of the 25-rep benchmark. It is a criterion for normal in a healthy adult sample, not a recovery milestone. The distinction matters. A criterion for normal tells you what a healthy reference group could do under a specific protocol. It does not tell you what a person six weeks after an ankle fracture should do, or what predicts a safe return to running.
Why one number is misleading: procedures vary
Bohannon’s review found that procedures for the heel-raise test varied considerably across studies. The variations include:
- Standing surface: flat ground versus a 10-degree incline wedge.
- Excursion criterion: full ankle range versus greater than 50% of maximum.
- Pace: one raise per second versus one raise every two seconds, or faster metronome settings.
- Support: fingertip support on a wall or tester versus no support.
Almost all studies used a metronome or similar instrument to set frequency, and all but one allowed hand or finger support for balance. Those details change the number you get. A slow, full-range rep with no support is a different test from a fast, partial-range rep with a hand on the wall. If you compare your number to a norm collected with a different procedure, you are comparing apples to incline wedges.
This is why the first practical step is not to chase a target. It is to fix your procedure.
Age changes the expected number
Bohannon’s meta-analysis pooled data from 13 qualifying studies and found a grand mean of 28.7 heel-raise repetitions for adults with a mean age under 40, and 11.8 repetitions for adults with a mean age over 60. The heterogeneity was high in the older group (I² = 97.1), which means the studies disagreed substantially — but the direction is clear: older adults perform far fewer repetitions on average.
The decade-wise data from Chitre and Prabhu, included in the review, show the gradient:
- 20–29 years: 31.9 reps
- 30–39 years: 28.4 reps
- 40–49 years: 17.7 reps
- 50–59 years: 14.5 reps
- 60–69 years: 7.2 reps
Bohannon’s conclusion is direct: older adults should not be expected to perform 25 heel-raise repetitions. If you are 55 and recovering from a calf strain, holding yourself to a 25-rep target derived from a younger healthy sample is not ambition. It is a mismatch.
A practical self-test protocol you can run at home
You do not need a goniometer or a metronome to get a useful number. You need consistency. Here is a procedure that mirrors the standardized elements common across the studies, adapted for self-testing with a stopwatch, a wall, and a tape measure.
Setup
- Stand on a flat, stable surface near a wall. Wear flat shoes or go barefoot — pick one and keep it the same every time.
- Place your fingertips lightly on the wall for balance. Do not pull or push with your hand. The hand is a safety rail, not a helper.
- Stand on the test leg. Let the other foot hang relaxed behind you, not touching the ground.
- Define your range. A practical option: rise as high as you can onto the ball of your foot, pause for a beat, then lower until your heel just touches the ground. That is one repetition. If you want to mirror the Lunsford & Perry criterion more closely, aim for more than 50% of your maximum heel height rather than a full rise — but pick one definition and stick to it.
Pace
Use a stopwatch or a metronome app. Set a pace of one heel raise every two seconds — up on the count, down on the next count. That is 30 raises per minute. This matches the Lunsford & Perry cadence and is slow enough to control.
Execution
- Start the stopwatch.
- Perform continuous heel raises at the set pace until you cannot complete another rep with the same range and control, or until you hit a predetermined stop signal (see below).
- Stop the test when form breaks down: you cannot reach your defined top range, you cannot control the lowering phase, or you need to push off the wall.
- Record the number of complete repetitions.
Stop signals
Stop the test if you feel sharp pain, a sudden twang, or a sensation that the calf is about to give way. Muscle fatigue — a deep burn that builds and makes the next rep feel impossible — is expected. Joint pain or tendon pain that worsens rep to rep is not a training effect; it is a signal to stop and reassess.
How to interpret your number
Once you have a consistent number, you can place it in context. The table below summarizes the reference points from the retrieved literature. These are norms for healthy adults without pathology, not recovery benchmarks.
| Reference | Population | Mean repetitions | Procedure notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lunsford & Perry (as reported in Bohannon 2022) | Healthy adults, mean age ~30–35 | 27.9 (criterion for normal: 25) | Dominant heel, >50% max excursion, goniometer-monitored, metronome at 1 raise/2 s, fingertip support on tester |
| Bohannon (2022) meta-analysis | Adults mean age <40 | 28.7 | Pooled across 13 studies with varying procedures |
| Bohannon (2022) meta-analysis | Adults mean age >60 | 11.8 | Pooled across studies; high heterogeneity (I² = 97.1) |
| Chitre & Prabhu (as reported in Bohannon 2022) | 20–29 years | 31.9 | Decade-wise data, >50% max excursion, electrogoniometer, metronome at 1 beat/s, finger on wall |
| Chitre & Prabhu | 30–39 years | 28.4 | Same procedure |
| Chitre & Prabhu | 40–49 years | 17.7 | Same procedure |
| Chitre & Prabhu | 50–59 years | 14.5 | Same procedure |
| Chitre & Prabhu | 60–69 years | 7.2 | Same procedure |
If you are 45 and you get 18 reps on your first standardized test, you are not failing. You are within the range reported for your decade in one dataset. If you are 35 and you get 12, that is below the reported mean for your age group — but it is a starting point, not a verdict. The number is a snapshot. The trend is the signal.
Using the test for recovery tracking
For self-directed rehab, the heel-raise count is most useful as a longitudinal measure. Here is how to make it work:
- Fix your procedure. Same surface, same footwear, same pace, same range definition, same support. Write it down. If you change the procedure, you invalidate the comparison.
- Test at consistent intervals. Once every one to two weeks is enough. Testing more often adds noise without adding information.
- Track the trend, not the single number. A rise from 12 to 16 over three weeks is meaningful progress even if 16 is still below the age norm. A drop from 20 to 14 after a flare-up is a signal to reduce load and reassess.
- Pair the number with function. Can you walk downstairs without a limp? Can you stand on the ball of your foot to reach a shelf without pain? Can you do a single-leg bridge without the calf cramping? The heel-raise count is one input alongside pain, gait quality, and daily function.
- Do not use it as a pass/fail gate. There is no evidence in the retrieved sources that a specific heel-raise number predicts safe return to running, sport, or work. Treat it as a strength-endurance marker that informs loading decisions, not a clearance certificate.
Criteria-based progression: what to do with the number
The heel-raise count is a benchmark, not a goal in itself. Use it to guide the next step in loading. A practical framework:
- If your number is stable or rising and you have no reactive pain: add load. That could mean adding a backpack with books, switching to a slower tempo (three seconds down), or adding a deficit (heel drop off a step) to increase range under load.
- If your number is falling or pain is increasing: reduce load. Drop the added weight, reduce range, or reduce frequency. Re-test in one week.
- If your number is plateaued for three or more weeks: change one variable. Increase range, increase load, or increase frequency — not all three at once.
- If you are within the age-appropriate range and function is good: you do not need to chase a higher number. Maintain with one to two sets of 10–15 reps, two to three times per week, and shift your attention to other qualities — balance, gait speed, or sport-specific loading.
These progression principles are my recommendations based on the loading logic common in rehabilitation, not findings from the retrieved normative studies. The studies tell you what healthy adults can do. They do not tell you how to train. The training decisions are yours, ideally made with a clinician who knows your history.
What the test does not tell you
It is worth being explicit about the limits. The retrieved sources provide norms for healthy adults without pathology. They do not provide:
- Recovery-specific benchmarks for people with Achilles rupture, calf strain, or post-surgical stiffness.
- Evidence that a specific heel-raise number predicts return to sport or reinjury risk.
- Reliability data for the test in the target population of self-directed adults with persistent pain.
- Minimal detectable change values that tell you how much of a change is real versus measurement noise.
That means you should hold the number loosely. It is a useful, cheap, repeatable signal. It is not a diagnosis, a prognosis, or a permission slip.
Frequently asked questions
Should I test the injured side, the healthy side, or both?
Test both. The healthy side gives you a personal reference point that controls for your age, body size, and training history. The injured side gives you the recovery signal. A common practical target is to bring the injured side to within 90% of the healthy side’s repetition count on the same procedure — but that is a clinical convention, not a finding from the retrieved sources. Use it as a rough guide, not a rule.
How often should I re-test?
Every one to two weeks. More frequent testing adds fatigue and noise without adding useful information. If you are in a heavy loading phase, test on a lighter day.
What if I can’t do even one single-leg heel raise?
Start with double-leg heel raises, or single-leg heel raises with both hands on a stable surface and partial range. Build the range and control first. The test is not useful until you can complete at least one controlled repetition with your defined range.
Does the number matter for return to running or sport?
The retrieved sources do not address this. The heel-raise test measures plantarflexion strength-endurance. Return to running involves many other factors: tendon tolerance, gait mechanics, load management, and sport-specific demands. Use the heel-raise number as one piece of the picture, not the deciding vote.
Why do the norms vary so much between studies?
Because the procedures vary. Bohannon’s review found differences in standing surface, excursion criterion, pace, and support. Those differences change the number you get. This is why fixing your own procedure matters more than matching a specific published norm.
The bottom line
The question “how many single-leg heel raises should I be able to do?” has a better answer than a single number. The Lunsford & Perry criterion of 25 repetitions is a reference point from a specific protocol in healthy adults. It is not a universal recovery target. Age matters: adults over 60 average far fewer repetitions, and the decade-wise data show a steady decline from the 20s onward. Procedure matters: your number depends on how you test.
So fix your procedure, test consistently, compare against age-appropriate norms, and track your trend. Use the number to guide loading decisions, not to judge yourself. The calf does not care about a benchmark. It cares about progressive, tolerable load — and the heel-raise test is one way to measure whether that load is doing its job.
References: Bohannon RW. The heel-raise test for ankle plantarflexor strength: a scoping review and meta-analysis of studies providing norms. J Phys Ther Sci. 2022;34(7):528–531. doi:10.1589/jpts.34.528. Lunsford BR, Perry J. The standing heel-rise test for ankle plantar flexion: criterion for normal. Phys Ther. 1995;75:694–698. Chitre P, Prabhu S. Decade wise analysis of ankle plantarflexors strength in adults using one leg heel raise test. J Nurs Health Sci. 2017;6:106–109.