In the new study, Marc Hamilton, professor of Health and Human Performance at the University of Houston, have made a potentially ground-breaking discovery for human health. In this study they discovered a new technique. A very light and focused muscle exercise called "Soleus push-up" can dramatically boost the body's metabolism and rate of oxygen consumption.

In our body, there are some muscles that use glucose directly from the blood, and one of those muscles is the Soleus muscle. The soleus, one of 600 muscles in the human body, is a posterior leg muscle that runs from just below the knee to the heel. The soleus muscle doesn't use glucose from the glycogen; it uses glucose direct from the blood. These soleus push-ups raise oxygen consumption and glucose levels; they even reduce levels of triglycerides in the blood and improve lipid regulation.

Regardless of a person’s level of physical activity, too much sitting has been shown to increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, dementia and more. Over half of all American adults, and 80% of people over 65, are living with the metabolic problems caused by either diabetes or pre-diabetes.

Having a low metabolism while seated is especially troublesome for people who are at high risk for age-associated metabolic diseases such as metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. This new exercise (soleus push-up) boost the metabolic rate and can be done while sitting.

What Research shows:

In this study, people were given 75 grams of glucose to drink, and after testing their extended glucose levels, an experiment was performed on them. They split the people into two groups. One group was sedentary while the other did soleus push-ups. The soleus pushup group also experienced a decrease in blood glucose by 52% and insulin reduced by 60%.The Soleus push-ups exercise is called the laziest method to lower blood glucose. The below chart explains how much the sugar level dropped by doing the soleus push-ups:

Time

Blood Sugar before exercise

Blood Sugar after exercise

Reduction in blood glucose

60

206±6

163±7

-43±7

75

207±4

159±7

-47±6

90

198±4

151±7

-48±8

105

191±4

142±6

-49±7

According to Hamilton, when activated correctly, the soleus muscle can raise local oxidative metabolism to high levels for hours, not just minutes, and does so by using a different fuel mixture.”

Benefits of Soleus push-ups:

Benefits of incorporating soleus push-ups in your daily work out:

• Improves blood sugar

• Raise metabolic rate

• Increase lower leg strength

• Balance

• Stability

How to do Soleus Push-ups?

Anyone can follow this exercise, especially people who don't like to work out or people who are unable to walk or move, such as obese, lazy, or disabled people.

• Sit with your feet flat on the floor.
• Raise your heel, keeping your toes planted on the floor.
• When your heel reaches the top of its range of motion, passively release your foot to come back down.