Controlling blood sugar is very important for diabetics, and in this report we offer a very simple exercise that can help with that, and also help lower blood fats.
Before going into details, we emphasize that what we offer here is for guidance only, and is not a treatment for diabetes, or a substitute for consulting a doctor and taking treatment.
The exercise was presented by Dr. Mark Hamilton, a professor of health and human performance at the University of Houston in the United States, in a study published last September in the "iScience" magazine.
The University of Houston said in a report on the study that this discovery is groundbreaking.
How does this exercise lower blood sugar?
This technique moves a specific muscle in the body.
What is this muscle that by moving it can lower blood sugar?
The answer is the soleus muscle in your calf. Although it only accounts for 1% of your body weight, it can do big things to improve the metabolic health of the rest of your body if activated properly.
And the soleus muscle is one of the 600 muscles in the human body, and it is the posterior leg muscle that extends from the bottom of the knee to the heel.
What is the name of the required exercise?
Its name is the soleus pushup (SPU) which effectively raises muscle metabolism for hours even while sitting.
How effective is this exercise?
According to the study, sole exercise's ability to maintain an elevated oxidative metabolism to improve blood glucose regulation is more effective than any common methods currently being promoted as a solution, including aerobic exercise, weight loss, and intermittent fasting.
What is oxidative metabolism?
Oxidative metabolism is the process by which oxygen is used to burn metabolites such as blood glucose or fat, but it depends in part on the immediate energy needs of the muscle as it works.
different fuel mixture
"We never dreamed that this muscle would have this kind of ability," Hamilton said. "It's been inside our bodies all along, but no one has investigated how it can be used to improve our health until now."
"When the soleus muscle is properly activated, it can raise local oxidative metabolism to high levels for hours, not just minutes, and it does so using a different fuel mixture," he added.
The soleus press activates the soleus muscle differently than it does when standing or walking.
glucose use
The study revealed that there is a negligible contribution of glycogen in soleus nutrition.
Instead of breaking it down, the sole can use other fuels such as blood glucose and fat.
Normally, glycogen is the predominant type of carbohydrate that fuels exercise muscles.
He added, "The insole's dependence on glycogen helps it work for hours effortlessly and without stress during this type of muscle activity, because there is a specific limit for muscle endurance due to glycogen depletion."
When the soleus push-up was tested, the whole body effects on blood chemistry included a 52% improvement in blood glucose (sugar).
The new approach to maintaining soleus muscle metabolism is also effective in doubling the normal rate of fat metabolism in the fasting period between meals, which reduces blood lipid levels.
Activation of the soleus muscle
Building on years of research, Hamilton and his colleagues developed the soleus press, which activates the soleus muscle differently than standing or walking.
This exercise aims to increase oxygen consumption more than is possible with these other types of sole activities, while also combating fatigue.
How do you exercise sole pressure?
While seated with feet flat on the floor and muscles relaxed, the heel is raised while the front of the foot remains in position.
When the heel reaches the top of its range of motion, the foot is passively released downward.
The goal is to simultaneously shorten the calf muscle, at a time when the soleus is normally activated by motor neurons.
While the solemn push-up movement may look like walking (even though it's performed while seated), it's quite the opposite, according to the researchers.
When walking, the body is designed to reduce the amount of energy used due to how the sole moves.
Hamilton's method turns that on its head, making the sole use as much energy as possible over a long period of time.
"The pressure on the sole looks simple from the outside, but sometimes what we see with the naked eye is not the whole story," Hamilton said. "It's a very specific movement that at the moment requires technique and experience."
But the researchers stress that this isn't a new fitness tip or a new diet for this month, it's a powerful physiological movement that takes advantage of the sole's unique features.
Regardless of a person's level of physical activity, excessive sitting has been shown to increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and more.
More than half of American adults, and 80% of people over 65, suffer from metabolic problems caused by either diabetes or prediabetes.
A low metabolic rate while sitting is particularly troublesome for people at risk of developing age-related metabolic diseases such as metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.
"All 600 muscles combined typically only contribute about 15% of the whole body's oxidative metabolism within the 3 hours after carbohydrate ingestion," Hamilton added. "Despite the fact that the soleus muscle makes up only 1% of body weight, it is able to raise the metabolic rate during The soleus pressure contractions to double, sometimes even triple, the whole-body carbohydrate oxidation."
"We are not aware of any current or promising medications that come close to increasing and maintaining whole-body oxidative metabolism to this extent," he continued.