The Soleus Push-Ups: A Simple Way to Lower Your Post Meal Sugar And Insulin Spikes!
Can a simple movement done while sitting at your desk help control the rise in blood sugar after a meal?
If your daily routine involves spending long hours sitting at a computer, working from home, attending online meetings or watching television, there is a simple movement you can perform without leaving your chair.
It is called the Soleus Push-Up (SPU).
The movement repeatedly raises and lowers your heels while you remain seated. Research suggests that this simple movement can substantially increase the metabolic activity of the soleus muscle, one of the major muscles in the calf.
What is the soleus muscle?
The soleus is a broad, deep muscle in the calf, underneath the more familiar gastrocnemius muscle.
Unlike muscles designed mainly for short, powerful movements, the soleus contains a high proportion of slow-twitch, fatigue-resistant fibres. It is naturally adapted for prolonged activity and is involved in standing and walking for much of the day.
Researchers at the University of Houston investigated whether this muscle could be deliberately activated for prolonged periods while a person remained seated. This led to the development of the Soleus Push-Up.
How does the Soleus Push-Up work?
During a Soleus Push-Up, you repeatedly raise and lower your heels while keeping the front of your feet and toes on the floor.
The objective is not to strengthen the calf by lifting a heavy load. Instead, it is to keep the soleus contracting gently and rhythmically for an extended period.
During sustained, low-intensity contractions, the soleus can rely heavily on oxidative metabolism. This increases its use of circulating fuels, including glucose and fatty acids, rather than rapidly using up its stored glycogen.
In simple terms:
More muscle activity → greater demand for fuel → greater utilisation of glucose and fatty acids from the circulation.
This is what makes the Soleus Push-Up particularly interesting during prolonged periods of sitting.
What did the research show?
A 2022 study published in iScience found that performing Soleus Push-Ups while seated substantially reduced the rise in blood glucose and insulin during a glucose tolerance test—by 52% and about 60%, respectively—and also improved the handling of circulating triglyceride-rich lipoproteins such as VLDL.
The study was relatively small and conducted under controlled laboratory conditions, so these figures should not be interpreted as what everyone can expect after every meal. However, the findings suggest that keeping the highly fatigue-resistant soleus active may be a useful way of making prolonged sitting more metabolically active.
Why is it useful after a meal?
After eating, blood glucose normally rises as carbohydrates are digested and absorbed. Muscle activity can increase the use of glucose by skeletal muscle and help reduce the post-meal rise in blood glucose.
The Soleus Push-Up is particularly interesting when getting up and walking is inconvenient.
You can perform it when you can’t get up and walk after a meal and prolonged sitting at a desk is unavoidable.
It therefore turns some otherwise inactive sitting time into an opportunity for muscle activity.
How to perform the Soleus Push-Up
Sit comfortably on a chair with your feet on the floor.
Keep your knees bent at approximately 90 degrees.
Keep the front of your feet and toes in contact with the floor.
Raise your heels as high as is comfortable.
Allow your heels to come back down.
Repeat the movement smoothly and rhythmically.
There is no need to move rapidly or forcefully.
The aim is gentle, sustained muscle activity—not exhaustion.
Do you need weights?
No.
Keep the movement simple and unweighted. Adding heavy objects to your knees is unnecessary for this purpose.
This is not a conventional calf-strengthening exercise. The objective is to maintain gentle, prolonged activity of the soleus.
How long should you do it?
A practical way to begin is with 10–15 minutes after a meal, particularly if you normally remain seated after eating.
You can also perform it intermittently during prolonged periods of sitting.
The research involved longer periods of sustained activity, so 10–15 minutes should be regarded as a practical starting habit, rather than an exact equivalent of the research protocol.
Is it a replacement for walking?
No.
The Soleus Push-Up is best thought of as a way of making prolonged sitting less inactive.
If you can get up and walk after a meal, continue doing so. Post-meal physical activity has been shown to reduce postprandial glucose and insulin spikes.
The Soleus Push-Up is particularly useful for those periods when you have to remain seated.
A simple habit to try
If you spend long periods sitting at a desk, try performing gentle Soleus Push-Ups for 10–15 minutes after a meal.
If you have to keep seated for hours, you can keep doing these Soleus Push-Ups for 10 minutes intermittently.
It requires no equipment, no special clothing and no trip to the gym.
Sometimes the simplest exercise is the one that fits naturally into your everyday life, especially if your job is unavoidably sedentary.
Related articles:
‘Exercise Timing, Insulin, Blood Sugar, Visceral Fat And Metabolic Health!’
