The soleus push up, physical activity and metabolic health
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Introduction
Recently a study was published examining the metabolic effects of a novel prescription of a well known exercise, the soleus raise (1). The focus of the study, was to examine the potential effects of what was coined the ‘soleus push up’ (SPU), during and afterwards, on markers of metabolic health e.g. resting blood glucose and lipid levels. Positively, they found that the SPU was very useful in improving these markers at the measured timepoints. However, on reading the study, I feel it is important to make a couple points before considering if it is useful for you.
The exercise
To utilise the benefits of the SPU, one must do the exercise at a very light intensity for a total of 270 minutes over a 7-8 hour sedentary period; specifically, sets of 7 minutes with rest periods of 5- 6 minutes. Alternatively, one could do the exercise for 180 minutes without rest. This was beneficial across a wide population of metabolic health, ages, activity levels, genders, body mass index and daily step count.
As far as how do you do the movement? The key variable was height, not how fast you do it. The beneficial effects were seen from lifting the heel a moderate height off the ground.
Thoughts and critique
My critique is that while this exercise may be a fantastic entry point for an individual who is sedentary, the activity itself requires active engagement. This will take ones’ attention away from the sedentary behaviour. For example, if you were playing video games, can you also coordinate lifting your heel for 3 hours. Instead, why not look to sustainably change habits around PA, by getting 30 minutes cardiovascular activity in over a day AND play your video games! While I appreciate this wasn’t the goal of the researchers, my concern is the SPU may be interpreted as a solution to sedentarism.
Physical activity (PA) is a key cog in the framework of a both a longer life with greater health and a more physically capable life (2–6). To be straightforward, retaining moderate to high levels of PA, as you age, will literally slow down the aging process and reduce the risk of premature death (2).
There has been discussion around accessibility to services which help one engage with PA (7). Important points have been made around reduced access to ‘prescription’, secondary to cost of access to ‘exclusive clubs’ such as membership gyms, private pay exercise groups or subsidy, via medical insurance. As Davenport et al., (7) goes on to suggest that PA is a public good and that sustainable engagement with PA may need to come from changes in social norms, and expectations, along with cultural and policy change around the environments we inhabit.
Conclusion
I am in agreeance with the idea that exercise, or PA, is a public good. It should be accessible and straightforward in its implementation. My article on PA summarises in clear and actionable steps how to begin engaging with PA. There are clear examples for cardiovascular options, along with instructional videos for bodyweight strengthening exercises. The article can be found here: https://themusculoskeletalclinic.co.nz/articles/exercise-and-physical-activity-how-to-know-when-youre-doing-enough
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Soleus push up study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9404652/
References:
1. Hamilton MT, Hamilton DG, Zderic TW. A potent physiological method to magnify and sustain soleus oxidative metabolism improves glucose and lipid regulation. iScience. 2022 Aug 5;25(9):104869.
2. Booth FW, Zwetsloot KA. Basic concepts about genes, inactivity and aging. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2010 Feb;20(1):1–4.
3. Jayedi A, Gohari A, Shab-Bidar S. Daily Step Count and All-Cause Mortality: A Dose-Response Meta-analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies. Sports Med. 2022 Jan;52(1):89–99.
4. Lopez JPR, Gebel K, Chia D, Stamatakis E. Associations of vigorous physical activity with all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality among 64 913 adults. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. 2019 Aug 1;5(1):e000596.
5. Momma H, Kawakami R, Honda T, Sawada SS. Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with lower risk and mortality in major non-communicable diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. Br J Sports Med [Internet]. 2022 Jan 19 [cited 2022 Mar 30]; Available from: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2022/01/19/bjsports-2021-105061
6. Wang Y, Nie J, Ferrari G, Rey-Lopez JP, Rezende LFM. Association of Physical Activity Intensity With Mortality: A National Cohort Study of 403 681 US Adults. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2021 Feb 1;181(2):203–11.
7. Davenport TE, Griech SF, Deamer KE, Gale LR. Beyond “Exercise as Medicine” in Physical Therapy: Toward the Promotion of Exercise as a Public Good. Physical Therapy. 2022 Sep 1;102(9):pzac087.
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