It is the dream of many come true: burn calories without taking off the back of the chair, without any effort, without having to put on sportswear, without sweating, without getting tired and in just a few minutes. In the office or at home, sitting comfortably on the couch while we swallow an entire season of our favorite Netflix series.

It is undeniable that the research led by Marc Hamilton – professor of Health and Human Performance at the University of Houston (United States) – and published at the end of 2022, is just what the laziest needed to defend, once again, their disdain for physical activity ... or rather the opposite?

To try to discern whether Hamilton's study is the perfect excuse or a wonderful incentive to start, we would obviously have to start by telling what it reveals. Well, basically, this professor and his team have discovered that the soleus, a muscle that represents only 1% of body weight -approximately, can work by itself the 'magic' of accelerating our metabolism if activated correctly.

Before finding out how, it is necessary to explain that the soleus is a wide and thick muscle, located on the back of the legs, below and behind the twins. Among its functions, plantar flexion, foot extension or heel elevation stand out. That is, it makes possible everyday things such as walking, running, standing on tiptoe or climbing stairs.

Well, as concluded in this report, just by doing SPU ('soleus 'pushup' or soleus push-ups) during our workday it is possible to effectively accelerate muscle metabolism for hours (it should be remembered that, in addition to supporting our bones and viscera, our muscle mass is a powerful metabolic 'oven') without the need for us to stand up. Moreover, this specific soleus flexion that they propose is more effective than the one that is done when we get up, stand on tiptoe or walk.

This research suggests that the effectiveness of soleus flexion in maintaining oxidative metabolism (the process by which oxygen is used to burn blood glucose or fats that depends, in large part, on the energy needs of the muscle when it is working) is elevated, improving the regulation of blood glucose levels, It is more effective than other methods as popular today as exercise or intermittent fasting.

"We never dreamed of the soleus having this ability. When properly activated, this muscle can raise local oxidative metabolism to high levels for hours and does so by 'pulling' a different fuel mixture than usual," Hamilton said.

BETTER THAN NOTHING...

Igor López, personal trainer of MR Trainers, helps us to understand a little better what this group of professors from the University of Houston proposes. "In this study, what was done was to propose to people with sedentary lives, who spent many hours sitting at the computer during the day, to work dorsiflexion and plantar flexion to, in this way, activate the soleus."

Through some machines, he continues, "they sent them some specific exercises with this mission and they realized that, only with movements as small as these and that can be executed without getting up from the chair, they already managed to generate benefits for the organism among which were the burning of calories. "

However, it should be clarified that, "in people who do not move absolutely nothing during the day, it is relatively easy to improve the functioning of the metabolism just by introducing a little movement".

This research, López continues, "is now becoming very viral because it seems that it 'endorses', from a scientific point of view, a method to burn calories with minimal effort, when the approach should be the opposite: if just by doing this, we are already burning, imagine the gift we give to our metabolism by going out for a walk, go to the gym, etc.!"

In short, it is clear that doing soleo push-ups while we work does not cost us anything, it is quite discreet and 'scores', but, the truth, it would not be bad if we were a little more 'ambitious' and moved a little more; That this of limiting ourselves to raising and lowering the heels is already throwing the bar of physical activity on the floor (never better said).

  • Netflix
  • HBPR

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