People who work sat at a desk all day may be glad to learn that there is a quick and easy trick to lose weight and burn fat.
Many of us are stuck at our desks day in, day out, due to office jobs. The most steps some of us get in is going to the kitchen to make a brew.
Lack of movement can lead to whole host of issues, including an increased risk of chronic health problems. But, it turns out doing a low-effort exercise while sitting at your desk could not only improve blood glucose levels, but also speed up metabolism and help you burn fat.
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Research has found that all you need to do to burn fat while sitting at your desk is lifting your heel off the ground repeatedly, reported the Daily Star. Also known as 'soleus push ups', it has been found to speed up the metabolism and also improve blood glucose regulation.
The findings were made by researchers from the University of Houston, who found that by repeatedly lifting the heels up and down, regulated blood sugar levels more efficiently than exercise, weight loss and intermittent fasting. On the podcast Huberman Lab, neuroscientist Dr Andrew Huberman deemed the research "very exciting", especially for those who don't have time to exercise as much as they'd like.
He explained: "This study was focused on how people who sit a lot of the day and don't have the opportunity or a lot of physical movement and maybe don't even exercise at all, can improve their metabolism and glucose utilisation. It had people continuously do soleus push ups and they looked at things like blood glucose utilisation... they looked at metabolism and so on."
All you need to do is sit at your desk with your feet planted on the floor, then raise your heels, keeping your toes on the ground. Lower your heel, and then repeat the process.
The study involved 25 men and women of different ages, fitness levels and BMIs, who all did soleus push ups for 270 minutes per day, including breaks in-between.
It was found that the people who did the soleus push ups saw "dramatic improvements in blood sugar regulation and in metabolism despite the fact that the soleus is just 1% of the total musculature," according to Dr Andrew.
The levels of fat in the blood were reduced, and fat metabolism was doubled. In addition, the participants saw a 52% improvement in blood glucose fluctuations, and a 60% reduced insulin requirement after a meal.
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