Breakthrough discovery of “special” muscles that can promote fat burning while sitting
“Special” muscles can promote glucose and fat burning metabolic fuel for hours while sitting.
The ‘soleus pushup’ is a metabolic innovation that rivals any therapeutic approach.
A breakthrough discovery from the same mind whose research drove the idea that “too much sitting is not the same as too little exercise” is set to turn a sedentary lifestyle on its ear: Although only 1% of your body weight, the soleus muscle, the calf, is properly active. If so, the rest of your body can significantly improve metabolic health.
And Mark Hamilton, professor of health and human performance at the University of Houston (UH), has discovered such a method for optimal activation. He pioneered the “soleus pushup” (SPU) which effectively improves muscle metabolism for hours, even while sitting. One of the 600 muscles in the human body, the soleus is a rear lower leg muscle that runs from just below the knee to the ankle.
“We are not aware of any existing or promising pharmaceuticals that come close to increasing and maintaining whole-body oxidative metabolism to this degree.” – Mark Hamilton
Recently published in the journal iScience, Hamilton’s research indicates that the soleus pushup’s ability to maintain a higher oxidative metabolism to improve blood glucose control is more effective than any popular method currently identified as a solution. For example, soleus pushup exercises are more effective at improving oxidative metabolism than weight loss and intermittent fasting. Oxidative metabolism is the process by which oxygen is used to burn metabolites such as blood glucose or fat. However, this depends, in part, on the instantaneous energy demand of the muscle when it is working.
Mark Hamilton, professor of health and human performance at the University of Houston, pioneered the “soleus pushup,” a calf muscle that makes up only 1% of your body weight, but can improve metabolic health throughout the rest of your body when activated. Proper credit: University of Houston
“We never dreamed this muscle had this kind of power. It’s always been inside our bodies, but until now no one has investigated how to use it to optimize our health,” Hamilton said. “When properly activated, the soleus muscle can increase local oxidative metabolism to high levels for hours, not just minutes, and it uses a different fuel mix.”
Muscle biopsies revealed that there was minimal glycogen contribution to fuel soleus. Instead of breaking down glycogen, the soleus can use other types of fuel, such as blood glucose and fat. Glycogen is usually the main type of carbohydrate that fuels muscle exercise.
“The soleus’ less-than-normal dependence on glycogen helps it work effortlessly for hours without tiring during this type of muscle activity, because the muscle has a certain endurance limit due to glycogen depletion,” he adds. “As far as we know, this is the first concerted effort to develop a specific type of contractile activity centered around optimizing human metabolic processes.”
The soleus pushup activates the soleus muscle differently than standing or walking. Credit: University of Houston
When SPU was tested, whole-body effects on blood chemistry included a 52% improvement in blood glucose (sugar) excursions and a 60% lower insulin requirement within three hours of consuming a glucose drink.
The new method of keeping soleus muscle metabolism humming is also effective at doubling the normal rate of fat metabolism during fasting between meals, reducing blood fat levels (VLDL triglycerides).
The soleus muscles are the strongest muscles in the back of the lower leg. They run from just below the knee to the ankle and are involved in standing and walking.
Soleus pushup
Based on years of research, Hamilton and his team developed the soleus pushup, which activates the soleus muscle differently than standing or walking. SPU targets solace to increase oxygen consumption – more than what is possible with these other types of solace activities, as well as resistance to fatigue.
So, how do you perform a soleus pushup?
Briefly, while sitting with the feet flat on the floor and the muscles relaxed, the heel lifts while keeping the front of the foot in place. When the ankle moves to the top of its range of motion, the leg is passively released to return to the bottom. The goal is to simultaneously shorten the calf muscles while the soleus is naturally activated by its motor neurons.
Although the SPU movement may look like walking (even though it’s performed while sitting), it’s actually just the opposite, according to the researchers. When walking, the soles are designed to reduce the amount of energy used by the body due to how it moves. Hamilton’s method is reversed and Solace uses as much energy as possible for a long period of time.
“The soleus pushup looks simple from the outside, but sometimes what we see with our naked eyes isn’t the whole story. It’s a very specific movement that requires wearable technology and experience to optimize health benefits right now,” Hamilton said.
Mark Hamilton, professor of health and human performance at the University of Houston. Credit: University of Houston
Additional publications are in the works on how to instruct people to accurately learn this single movement without the sophisticated laboratory equipment used in this recent study.
It’s not a new fitness tip or diet of the month, scientists are quick to point out. This is a powerful physiological movement that capitalizes on the unique properties of the soleus.
A possible first step towards a healthcare breakthrough
Hamilton called it the “most important study” ever completed in his Metabolic Innovation Lab at UH, and said the discovery could solve a variety of health problems associated with spending hours each day living with muscle metabolism that’s too low, caused by inactivity. . The average American sits for about 10 hours a day.
Mark Hamilton, a professor of health and human performance at the University of Houston, pioneered the “soleus pushup,” which effectively improves muscle metabolism for hours, even while sitting. Credit: University of Houston
Regardless of a person’s physical activity level, excessive sitting increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, dementia and more. More than half of all American adults, and 80% of people over age 65, are living with metabolic problems due to diabetes or prediabetes.
A low sedentary metabolic rate is especially troublesome for people who are at high risk for age-related metabolic diseases such as metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.
Hamilton said that inactive muscles require less energy than most people realize, pointing the way to finding metabolic solutions to help prevent some age-related chronic diseases, which he said is “one of the most fundamental, yet overlooked problems.”
Study authors pictured left to right: Deborah Hamilton, Senior Research Manager; Mark Hamilton, Professor; and Theodore Jedrick, research assistant professor. Credit: University of Houston
“All of the 600 muscles combined typically contribute about 15% of whole-body oxidative metabolism within three hours of carbohydrate ingestion. Despite the fact that the soleus is only 1% of body weight, it can easily double, sometimes even triple, its metabolic rate during SPU contractions for whole-body carbohydrate oxidation. able to increase
We are not aware of any existing or promising pharmaceuticals that come close to increasing and maintaining whole-body oxidative metabolism to this degree.”
Reference: Mark T. “A Potent Physiological Approach to Increasing and Maintaining Soleus Oxidative Metabolism Improves Glucose and Lipid Regulation,” by Hamilton, Deborah G. Hamilton, and Theodore W. Zederic, 5 Aug. 2022. iScience.
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104869
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