Whether you work from home or at the office, you probably spend most of your day sitting, hunched over a desk. It’s not your fault! In fact, one out of every four U.S. adults sit for over eight hours each day, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study. Although sitting is unavoidable, there’s something you can do about it. There’s a popular seated exercise people on TikTok swear by to speed up your metabolism—and it’s backed by research.
The good news is you don’t need to move from your desk to perform the “soleus pushup” (SPU). We have everything you need to know about this seated exercise people are raving about and how you can add a bit more physical activity to your desk job.
What is the soleus pushup?
There’s a mighty muscle in your calf called the soleus muscle—and that’s where the exercise name comes from. The human body contains 600 muscles, and the soleus is just one of them. This muscle contributes to 1% of your body weight, but it can have a major impact on boosting your metabolism. All you have to do is put it to work!
We have Marc Hamilton, professor of Health and Human Performance at the University of Houston, to thank for this game-changer of an exercise for individuals who can’t really leave their desks. The soleus pushup will kick up your muscle metabolism for literally hours at a time as you sit and get work done.
Hamilton’s study, which was published in iScience, indicates that the SPU’s ability to maintain a high oxidative metabolism may be more effective than certain types of exercise and intermittent fasting.
How to perform the soleus pushup:
Here’s how you can do the soleus pushup right at your desk or while seated.
- Sit with your feet planted flat on the ground. Your muscles should be relaxed.
- Raise the heels of your feet, keeping the front of your feet on the ground.
- When your heels are lifted to their maximum range of motion, release your feet down easily.
Your goal is to shorten your calf muscles at the same time as the soleus muscle is engaged naturally via motor neurons.
People on TikTok were quick to flex and release their soleus muscles and are ready to share.
One TikToker, Hulst Jepsen Physical Therapy, explains in a video, “A research study showed doing this soleus pushup exercise continually while you sit boosts your metabolism and can regulate your blood glucose. The study had people do this exercise for 4.5 hours straight, which is possible due to the soleus muscle, this deep calf muscle beneath the gastrocnemius, not being very fatigable due to a lower than normal reliance on glycogen … [So do the soleus pushup] while you sit, and you can negate many of the negative effects of being static for long periods of time.”
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Alexa Mellardo
Alexa is the Mind + Body Deputy Editor of Eat This, Not That!, overseeing the M+B channel and delivering compelling fitness, wellness, and self-care topics to readers. Read more about Alexa
