Researchers from the University of Houston have made interesting finds about the soleus muscle, a posterior leg muscle in our calves. The soleus is an important muscle. We use it to walk, jump, bike and more, but this study has discovered that it may help boost our metabolism, too.
A Leg Up On Our Metabolism
Your metabolism is, as the Oxford Dictionary puts it, “the chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life,” but most people talk about metabolic health as it pertains to weight gain and weight loss. A “fast” metabolism means that the body burns higher than average amounts of calories even at rest, while a slow metabolism means that the body burns lower than average amounts of calories.
So, what does this have to do with a random muscle in our leg? Well, according to the University of Houston researchers, plenty. Marc Hamilton, the professor of Health and Human Performance that spearheaded the research has pioneered the “soleus pushup,” which he claims is an effective exercise that can kickstart metabolic rates.
Most exercise raises metabolic rates slightly, and frequent exercise increases the impact, but the soleus pushup, according to Hamilton’s research, is able to increase metabolic rates more than any other exercise by a large margin.
It turns out that the impact any exercise has on metabolism is relative to the immediate energy needs of that muscle, and the soleus muscle needs a lot of energy to function, which means it needs a lot of oxygen to create that energy.
Glycogen and You
Glycogen, the form of glucose (a simple sugar) stored in muscles and livers, is the most common type of glucose that we use for energy. It breaks down easy, so to speak, so our bodies prefer it over other forms of stored energy. However, the soleus has the least amount of nearby glycogen stores, so doing a soleus pushup causes the body to look for other forms of energy.
Blood glucose, which, shocker, is glucose found in the blood, is used up when the soleus pushup is done continually. Blood glucose is harder to convert into energy than glycogen is, which means our body needs to increase its metabolic processes to get energy.
The most important part of the soleus pushup, though, is that it is most effective when done for hours at a time, not minutes. However, since the motion requires minimal effort and can be done sitting down, hours at a time isn’t a big ask.
So, How Effective is This Soleus Pushup?
In a word, immensely.
According to Professor Hamilton, “all of the 600 muscles combined normally contribute about 15% of the whole-body oxidative metabolism after ingesting carbohydrate.” That essentially means that in most circumstances, any boost in metabolic rate is usually about 15% of a raise. Hamilton continues though, and this is the juicy bit.
“Despite the fact that the soleus is only 1% the body weight, it is capable of raising its metabolic rate during soleus pushup contractions to easily double, even sometimes triple, the whole-body carbohydrate oxidation.”
That means that the soleus pushup can double, even sometimes triple, your metabolic rate.
Double, even sometimes triple.
Now, to get the perfect results that Hamilton got, the people performing the study needed wearable equipment and instruction to get the motion down. It appears to be simple, as it looks just like a seated calf raise done by pushing the heel up towards the knee and back down again, but it isn’t so easy.
As research goes on, however, it may become possible for everyone to achieve the same level of results. Right now, though, Hamilton’s point is this: the soleus pushup is the most effective exercise at raising metabolic rates. Doing some version of the soleus pushup, even if it isn’t perfect, can still lead to results, they just may not be as huge as the results seen in the study.
Who Does This Help?
First off, everyone. Second off, this research can be specifically huge to those suffering from Type-2 diabetes and heart disease, which is almost half of all American adults.
By lowering blood sugar, the risks of these diseases go down significantly. The soleus pushup, when performed for a little over two hours, was found to lower blood sugar noticeably, but when performed for over three hours, there was a “52% improvement in blood glucose and 60% less insulin requirement.”
Anyone who is diabetic or has a metabolic disease should know how incredible lowering blood glucose and insulin levels like that is. This is a monumental study, one that Professor Hamilton says is “most important study ever completed” at his labs.
