Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

'Soleus pushup' fuels metabolism for hours while sitting

stories.uh.edu

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 206 posts

Re: 'Soleus pushup' fuels metabolism for hours while sitting

#141

Post by kentlyons »

ibrahimsow1 wrote: post #4

I don't understand the physical motion. Simply raising the heel whilst sitting?

I went looking at the published paper (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S258900422...) and it says on pg3: "this specific type of plantarflexion because the relatively high soleus electromyography (EMG) on-time (i.e., soleus activation) coincided with upward angular motion of the ankle". The supplementary materials show EMG and range of motion graphs.

A bit of googling says plantar flexion is the same muscle movement needed for pushing the accelerator pedal while driving or ballet dancers standing on their toes.

My guess (not my field of expertise) is the muscle is activated strongly in isolation (the toe pushing down motion) and inducing a large range of motion. So it's not raising the heel so much as pushing the toe down.

Re: 'Soleus pushup' fuels metabolism for hours while sitting

#143

Post by n-e-w »

I had a quick scan through the actual linked article [1] but couldn't find the actual SPU protocol? It seems like there are two variations but no details of the regimen (reps / sets / duration). Admittedly, it was a quick look through -- but I'd be really interested to know the protocol. From the YT video in OP it looks like an easy enough motion to learn.

[1] https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(22)01141-5...

Re: 'Soleus pushup' fuels metabolism for hours while sitting

#144

Post by blacksmith_tb »

mmastrac wrote: post #131
outworlder wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm curious if this is the same muscle that causes Charlie Horses. Not sure what you mean. We can have charlie horses in any skeletal muscle.

Oh yeah, but at least in myself, they are primarily in the calves.

Gastroc[1] usually, I think, or at least that's how it feels for me.

1: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/21662-calf-muscle

Re: 'Soleus pushup' fuels metabolism for hours while sitting

#145

Post by rizzom5000 »

throw101010 wrote: post #139
tylervigen wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right but the point is that there may be nothing special about this particular exercise. It’s a bit complicated to get the equipment and training to learn how to do this; maybe that effort is better allocated to just encouraging people to get up and go for a walk every once in a while.

> maybe that effort is better allocated to just encouraging people to get up and go for a walk every once in a while. This method has been used for decades and the results on the obesity rates do not seem to be very good so far. Maybe it's time to try other approaches.

Clearly the current culture in the US is not healthy, but the reason for healthy scientific and rational skepticism in this case was succinctly laid out in previous comments. It seems to me a tautology to suggest to that going for a walk is less complex than purchasing a specialized device in order to to a specialized exercise in an attempt to fend off obesity (when we already know that walking alone will probably not do any such thing).

I'm much more optimistic about pharmaceutical approaches to combating the obesity epidemic at this point. The current cultural direction on this may shift at some point however.

Re: 'Soleus pushup' fuels metabolism for hours while sitting

#146

Post by najarvg »

alliao wrote: post #96

wonder if drummers (who may activate it more than others) have statistically significant advantage over others with similar sitting down lifestyle and energy output... big claims, great if true!

In a specific study quantifying energy expenditure during rock/pop drumming, it was found to burn enough energy to qualify as a cardio activity (caveat, small sample size) - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23559410/

So there could definitely be come advantage gained by regular rock/pop drummers in comparison with sedentary folks for sure. This assumes of course, that other factors are kept the same (diet, pre-existing health conditions, stress exposure etc) which are incredibly hard to compare in real life settings.

Re: 'Soleus pushup' fuels metabolism for hours while sitting

#147

Post by robbintt »

cowmoo728 wrote: post #97
debacle wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a biologist, but I would wonder why only this muscle would be capable of this. Metabolizing fats is a complex process.

All muscles are capable of metabolizing fat. In cycling (and other endurance sports), one of the adaptations observed in top athletes is that their muscles become highly efficient at metabolizing fat during medium-intensity exercise. A professional endurance athlete will metabolize about 70% fat, 30% carbs for the majority of a multi-hour event. This preserves their muscle glycogen for the high-intensity bits where t…

Is there a place I can read about exercise metabolism like this?

Re: 'Soleus pushup' fuels metabolism for hours while sitting

#148

Post by Tao3300 »

lostlogin wrote: post #35
cardosof wrote: post #9

So if I activate this tiny muscle in my calf for a while my metabolism will be up for hours? And where all that added energy will go? I don't know a thing in this area but I know that when something looks too good to be true, it probably isn't.

> when something looks too good to be true, it probably isn't. Is that a typo or are you a very lucky individual?

It's definitely one of those phrases that makes more sense spoken aloud.

Re: 'Soleus pushup' fuels metabolism for hours while sitting

#150

Post by 762236 »

throw101010 wrote: post #139
tylervigen wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right but the point is that there may be nothing special about this particular exercise. It’s a bit complicated to get the equipment and training to learn how to do this; maybe that effort is better allocated to just encouraging people to get up and go for a walk every once in a while.

> maybe that effort is better allocated to just encouraging people to get up and go for a walk every once in a while. This method has been used for decades and the results on the obesity rates do not seem to be very good so far. Maybe it's time to try other approaches.

Is it about obesity? The technique is about increasing oxidative capacity, which has wonderful benefits. Although it metabolizes fat, that doesn't mean it needs to lower weight to gain benefits.
Post reply on HN