How many calories per push up etc?

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Replies

  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    If you're going for quick and dirty calorie burn, get a jump rope. You can do it anywhere for any length of time and it will be more effective than pushups.

    But she indicated she may, or may not have a knee injury.

    My bad, I missed that. Don't jump rope with a knee injury.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    If you're going for quick and dirty calorie burn, get a jump rope. You can do it anywhere for any length of time and it will be more effective than pushups.

    But she indicated she may, or may not have a knee injury.

    My bad, I missed that. Don't jump rope with a knee injury.
    Ropes don't have knees.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    2.189572629833 per push up

    When you round to only 12 decimal places, you're only cheating yourself.
  • Mslmesq
    Mslmesq Posts: 1,000 Member
    I would log it under pilates cause it's probably about the same. Pilates is under cardio in mfp, even though it's really not. That way you can log by minutes though.

    If the push ups get hard, hold plank and do downward dog. Good luck and sorry about your injury. :-(
  • jaggerhawks
    jaggerhawks Posts: 187 Member
    If you're going for quick and dirty calorie burn, get a jump rope. You can do it anywhere for any length of time and it will be more effective than pushups.

    But she indicated she may, or may not have a knee injury.

    My bad, I missed that. Don't jump rope with a knee injury.
    Ropes don't have knees.

    U wot m8?
  • phjorg1
    phjorg1 Posts: 642 Member
    Seeing as the human body tends to top out at around 16-18cal/min, I would estimate that you would burn about that if you're going constant seeing as pushups are prob going to be at lactic threshold for energy expenditure. so about 18cal/60 pushups.
  • ALLENFLO
    ALLENFLO Posts: 61 Member
    If you cannot run, I recommend walking on a treadmill at a high incline. Maybe 2.5 - 3.0 mph at 9% - 12% incline. Your heart rate will go up into the high cardio zone and it is very low impact on your joints.

    It also burns a good amount of calories!

    Good luck!
  • greyoutside
    greyoutside Posts: 98
    Edit: didn't see the knee injury. Never mind
  • greyoutside
    greyoutside Posts: 98
    2.189572629833 per push up

    Well that depends on the weight of op, and the angle at which she is bending her elbows. Your calorie estimation sounds more like that of a man's pushup.

    Say you are 156 pounds (the average woman in the US), and you do a pushup with elbows down to a 90 degree angle. You would burn approximately 1.14 calories per pushup.

    You're forgetting about the speed at which she performs the pushup. An average paced pushup will guarantee 1.14 calories, but you can maximize the burn to about 1.48 by doing it more forcefully.

    Couldn't she burn more if she did them very slowly?

    The post workout burn would be a lot better with slow pushups, that's for sure.
  • greyoutside
    greyoutside Posts: 98
    2.189572629833 per push up

    Well that depends on the weight of op, and the angle at which she is bending her elbows. Your calorie estimation sounds more like that of a man's pushup.

    Say you are 156 pounds (the average woman in the US), and you do a pushup with elbows down to a 90 degree angle. You would burn approximately 1.14 calories per pushup.

    It's actually the square root of two. For everyone. Always.
  • TheNewDodge
    TheNewDodge Posts: 607 Member
    Hold your breath for 3 minutes and 23.88743738455555555555555598732 seconds
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    2.189572629833 per push up

    Well that depends on the weight of op, and the angle at which she is bending her elbows. Your calorie estimation sounds more like that of a man's pushup.

    Say you are 156 pounds (the average woman in the US), and you do a pushup with elbows down to a 90 degree angle. You would burn approximately 1.14 calories per pushup.

    It's actually the square root of two. For everyone. Always.
    I was afraid it would be an irrational number. That means we have to round. Some of the lazier people will only keep like a few thousand digits. It'll be total chaos.
  • Telpa
    Telpa Posts: 21 Member
    you all must feel great about yourselves making fun of people for asking questions on a fitness website. WTG
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    you all must feel great about yourselves making fun of people for asking questions on a fitness website. WTG

    You're being too sensitive, The question got asked and answered, meeting adjourned. Now it's like after a IRL meeting when people stand around and shoot the shish with each other and make jokes.
  • Mslmesq
    Mslmesq Posts: 1,000 Member
    you all must feel great about yourselves making fun of people for asking questions on a fitness website. WTG

    You're being too sensitive, The question got asked and answered, meeting adjourned. Now it's like after a IRL meeting when people stand around and shoot the shish with each other and make jokes.

    Thankfully I've never been to a meeting like that!

    To the op, sorry you had to deal with that. You are NOT being too sensitive. That is an easy thing for jerks to say when they have bullied or victimized someone. And it is essentially revictimizing the victim instead of offering an apology for bad behavior. It is being a jerk to them, then telling them 'you're too sensitive and shouldn't be upset about it'.

    Actually, people in your thread were jerks. Sorry you had to deal with that! Actually, a lot of people in this forum are jerks I've found out. The easiest thing I've found is to get some supporting friends and/or join into certain supportive groups here. In the main forums some people are looking to argue and/or make fun of other people...which you are right, is inane on a fitness support forum.
  • stratzvyda
    stratzvyda Posts: 1
    Because I was curious and am a nerd, I tried this out and in the process found out that Google handles units surprisingly well.

    Assumptions
    You lift 2/3 your weight(source: push ups on scale)
    Arm length of 1m(source: ruler)
    the movement is at 50% efficiency(source: my *kitten*)

    Long story short, enter

    1/.5*2/3 * 86kg*g *1m in kilocalories into Google

    0.27 kilocalories

    Just replace 86kg with your weight if you want to find out what it is for you.

    Push ups are pretty bad for burning calories.
  • frivolas
    frivolas Posts: 1
    I have to disagree with the argument of "push ups don't burn calories". Of course they burn calories. Isn't your body using energy to keep you in a plank position and push the weight of your body up and down?

    Doing only ONE pushup won't do anything for you. Of course. But try doing 10 min of pushups and I guarantee your heart will be running hard and you'll be sweating your *kitten* off.

    Even if it's just 1 or 2 calories per pushup, if you do 20 PU/min for 10 min thats 100 to 200 cal. Not bad for a stationary exercise. Add the additional calories you'll burn in the following hours and you're done.

    Try performing your push ups in a tabata for increased emotional content.

    Peace
  • Reggiefinleysr
    Reggiefinleysr Posts: 11 Member
    For those saying that pushups don't burn calories: For clarity, this isn't true. You don't burn much per pushup true; but, because it is a strength exercise, your body's metabolism raises, which allows you to continue to burn calories even after you stop. That's why you are so exhausted after doing pushups. That's your body burning calories, a heck of a lot of them. The elevation in your heartrate is the key factor. Strength exercises raise your heart rate. Doing enough pushups to keep your heartrate steady in a "fat burning" zone is the same as calisthenics. It does burn calories. But burning "per pushup" isn't what one should be concerned about.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    For those saying that pushups don't burn calories: For clarity, this isn't true. You don't burn much per pushup true; but, because it is a strength exercise, your body's metabolism raises, which allows you to continue to burn calories even after you stop. That's why you are so exhausted after doing pushups. That's your body burning calories, a heck of a lot of them. The elevation in your heartrate is the key factor. Strength exercises raise your heart rate. Doing enough pushups to keep your heartrate steady in a "fat burning" zone is the same as calisthenics. It does burn calories. But burning "per pushup" isn't what one should be concerned about.

    Heartrate really has nothing to do with caloric burn, especially for anaerobic exercises.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
    OP deactivated.

    The push up just pushed them too far :(
  • Reggiefinleysr
    Reggiefinleysr Posts: 11 Member

    Heartrate really has nothing to do with caloric burn, especially for anaerobic exercises.

    Conducting many pushups in a series, as well as any exercise that requires exertion and elevates heart rate, burns calories. An elevated heart rate is one of the key factors/indicators that you are actually doing an exercise worthwhile. Regardless, doing pushups in a series over time is actually both anaerobic and aerobic. Initially, as it is a strength exercise, it is sufficient enough for the production of lactic acid... however, when done in a series of sets... it's also easily aerobic; thus it's a combination. They don't necessarily have to be mutually exclusive. This is a common myth and misunderstanding.

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