How Many Calories Do 100 Situps Burn? Answered! (2023)

Question. How many calories do 100 situps burn? Most people are interested in knowing how many calories they’re burning with their daily chores and exercises.

Is doing situps a good calorie burner?

Exactly how many situps do I have to perform to be able to burn 100 calories? Is only doing situps enough?

In this article, I’ll give you the answer to all these questions and more. I’ll teach you how to perform situps correctly and safely. 

How Many Calories Do 100 Situps Burn?

To calculate how many situps burn 100 calories, we first must understand that situp exercises are calisthenic. These are exercises done using only one’s body strength. Other examples include push-up exercises, chin-up exercises, and squatting exercises.

A heart rate monitor is probably one of the most accurate ways to determine how many calories you burn when performing 100 situps. However, after 30 minutes of calisthenics exercises, a 150-pound adult would burn approximately 150 calories. Now comes the exciting part.

With some simple math, we now know that we burn around five calories per minute when performing bodyweight exercises, including situps. Of course, this also depends on the intensity of the workout. For this article, I tested it personally.

Now we know that to burn 100 calories, we need 20 minutes of doing situps. Remember that the number of situps in 20 minutes will differ for everyone. I weigh almost 200 pounds, and I consider myself having an intermediate-high fitness level. And remember, I’m 51 years old.

I was able to do 400 situps in those 20 minutes. That’s an average of 20 reps per minute. I started with doing a set of 40 reps and ended with sets of 5-10 reps. An interesting detail would be that I performed 80 % of the reps in the first 12 minutes and 20% in the last 8 minutes.

However, the number of situps to burn 100 calories depends on several factors, including weight, fitness level, and technique. We will discuss this a bit later. But hey, at least we have an estimate to work with. 

Now it’s just a matter of adding or removing a couple of reps based on those factors I just mentioned.

3 Factors That Influence Your Calorie Burning During Situps

The number of calories burnt during a single set of situps depends on many factors. These include the person’s metabolism, the exercise intensity, and the duration of the exercise. In addition, certain factors determine how much energy is required to perform one particular set of situps. Here are the main ones.

Metabolism: This refers to the amount of food you consume per day. For example, eating a lot of carbohydrates will burn many calories while performing situps. If you eat fewer carbs, you will use fewer calories to complete the same number of repetitions. Also, if you can up the intensity of the exercise, for example, holding a 10-pound plate during the situps, you will boost your metabolism.

Exercise Intensity: This refers to how hard you work out. Low intensity implies you do not exert yourself enough to make it count. On the other hand, a high level of intensity indicates that you are working very hard.

Duration of exercise: This refers to the time you spend exercising. When you exercise for too long, you will burn fewer calories compared to those who exercise for shorter periods. Of course, this is in correlation with the intensity you perform the exercise.

These main conditions can affect the number of situps you have to perform to burn 100 calories. As I said, add or remove a couple of reps based on the three factors mentioned earlier.

Benefits of Doing Situps

Strengthening exercises such as situps can help prevent injuries and boost overall health. Situps are one of the best ways to build strength and muscle tone in the body’s core region. Situps can help reduce back pain and improve posture and balance. In addition, they can enhance athletic performance.

The core is responsible for maintaining stability throughout the body. If there’s weakness in the core, it could lead to injuries.

Situp exercises target different core areas, but the most common ones involve contracting the abs while lying on your stomach.

This works the rectus abdominis (the six-pack muscle), the transverse abdominis (a deep layer of muscle running horizontally across the abdomen), and the oblique muscles (which run along the sides of the torso).

You’ll find that sitting up straight requires strength in many muscles, including those in the upper back, shoulders, arms, and legs.

To finalize this chapter, I will put all the benefits of doing situps in a list:

• Burns Calories
• Improves Posture
• Improves Athletic Performance
• Prevents Injuries
• Boosts Overall Health
• You Can Show Off Your 6-Pack When You Lose Body Fat
• Makes Daily Chores Lighter and Easier
• Improves Stability, Flexibility, and Balance
• Improves Muscle Strength 
• Strengthens Core

Mistakes People Make Doing Situps

1- Stretching the neck (Forward head)

Pulling your neck too far forward could injure you by straining muscles in your neck. You shouldn’t use your hands to pull yourself up; instead, you could keep your hands behind your neck to support your head.

If that feels uncomfortable, you can rest your arms on your chest. Relaxing your arms, hands, and shoulders helps you focus on activating your abs during the exercise. Your neck should be aligned with your spine. Your core should be used for most of the heavy work while doing situps.

2- Arching your lower back

I see many people arch their backs during their situps. Keep your spine as straight as possible during the exercise to prevent back injuries. 

3- Not grounding your feet

You shouldn’t do situp exercises with straight legs. To avoid putting too much strain on your back, bend your legs. Keep your feet planted firmly on the floor during the exercise. Here’s a pro tip. Tightening your quads during the situp will make it easier to accomplish just that.

4- Overusing the shoulders

Focus on that mind-muscle connection and use just your abs during the situps. Don’t try to gain momentum on the “way up” using your shoulder muscles.

5- Performing fast reps

Okay, you probably recognize this one. You have a target in mind, and you want to achieve that targeted number as quickly as possible. You think that if you go slow, you’ll have a more challenging time reaching that number.

Don’t get too caught up in the numbers too much. It’s not about the quantity but the intensity. Perform your situps in a controlled way to get the maximum out of your workout.

6- Underusing your core muscles

You need to focus mainly on activating your core muscles during the exercise. I already mentioned this, but it’s essential. Focus on the mind-muscle connection.

If you avoid making these six common errors when doing situps, you’re well on performing the perfect situp and showing off those abs in no time.

FAQ’S Corner

Conclusion

Burning calories by only doing situps would not be enough. However, situps are fantastic to add to your overall workout routine. Also, you should add cardio, strength training, and a well-balanced diet to burn more calories daily.

The answer to “How many situps to burn 100 calories” can be a bit tricky because there’s much more to it. For me, the answer would be 400 push-ups; this number might be different for you.

If you’ve read this far into my blog post, you’re probably interested in this subject. Now that you know the numbers, I urge you to try them out. See how many situps you can perform in 20 minutes, and you will have the answer to the question of this post.

Let’s call this THE ULTIMATE 100-CALORY-SITUP-CHALLENGE.

Please let me know how many situps you were able to perform in the comment section below.

Stay Healthy and Strong!