In short, about 44 minutes of sit-ups would burn around 500 calories. While it’s recommended that you burn at least 500 calories daily, you can achieve this in various ways, like dieting rather than entirely depending on sit-ups. But if you have made up your mind about doing sit-ups, you should know that having a workout plan will help push you closer to achieving your goals faster.
Roughly how many sit-ups would burn 500 calories? How many calories should you burn in a day? How big of a role do sit-ups play in this whole process of burning calories?
And are they the best way to burn calories, or are there other exercises that can burn calories faster? Are there tips for making your sit-ups better?
There are various exercises and various other practices that can burn calories in your body. Out of all of them, sit-ups seem to be a somewhat reliable workout.
However, there are many other methods that you can explore along with your daily sit-ups. And many more aspects to consider if burning fat is your primary goal.
How many calories should you burn per day?
This question is very subjective since our body sizes differ in weight and the amount of food we eat.
Whatever kind of diet that you go by, to lose weight, you’ll need to burn more calories than you take in each day. So, it would help if you were mindful of what you eat.
If you’re overweight, the best place to start would be burning around 500 calories per day.
Many exercises are available for you to follow; among them, sit-ups play an essential role.
How many calories do sit-ups burn?
Sit-ups are popular in helping you improve your abdominal strength. And it’s easier to do because no equipment is needed.
The number of calories you will burn depends on your body weight, speed, and intensity when doing the sit-ups.
📌 On average, sit-ups may burn 3 calories in a minute if you’re going at a regular pace. But this can even extend up to 9 calories per minute if you’re going at it somewhat faster and more intense. It may also depend on your sex and age since males usually have less body fat and more muscle.
Sit-ups are known as a “multi-muscle exercise” because it works out your abdominals and other muscle groups like the chest, hip flexors, neck, and lower back.
When compared with fat cells, muscle cells are higher in metabolic activity. So, sit-ups by helping you build muscles will help burn more calories with time.
Not to forget that as a product of strong core muscles, your posture and appearance will also improve.
6 other exercises to help burn calories daily
Although sit-ups are not the only effective method of burning fat, they do provide an excellent workout.
You can also choose various other exercises such as running, swimming, cycling, dancing, etc.
- Kickboxing – This sport burns up to 582-864 calories per hour. It is important to remember to get some rest after a couple of rounds of jabs and kicks.
- Jumping rope – This is one of the simplest forms of exercise and burns up to 667-990 calories per hour. For a more intense workout, try a rope that is a bit heavier so that your shoulders and arms will have more exercise.
- Strength-Training – This burns roughly 341-504 calories per hour. Adding a few compound movements will also aid your muscles.
- Flutter kicks – This could burn 350-450 calories per hour. While doing this, ensure your lower back remains on the ground all the time since there could be a risk of getting a back strain.
- Ab rollouts – This exercise would burn roughly 420 calories per hour. They are also impressive in working out your triceps while building your upper body and core strength.
- Swimming – Harvard Health says that a person weighing 154lbs (70kg) will burn about 233 calories within simply half an hour of swimming.
When comparing sit-ups with various other calorie-burning exercises, the following chart will help you figure out which would be the better choice.
| Exercise | Calories burnt in 15 mins | Calories burnt in 45 mins | Calories burnt in 60 mins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crunches | 107 | 321 | 429 |
| Lunges | 86 | 257 | 343 |
| Pushups | 171 | 514 | 686 |
| Sit-ups | 171 | 514 | 686 |
| Squats | 118 | 354 | 472 |
Tips on getting the best out of your sit-ups
Try out the below steps to improve the results of your sit-ups.
- Better train on your technique – Since sit-ups have an anthropometric advantage in your body’s functioning, you should get the most out of it. Make sure your sit-up form is good. You need to be patient, learn how to keep a neutral spine, and ensure you don’t get a neck strain by crunching too high.
- Figure out your baseline – Figuring out the number of reps to perform in each set will help you push yourself forward and not fall back. For this, you must first do as many sit-ups as possible within 2 minutes and divide this count by 3. This would be your baseline repetition count. So, every workout session that you plan will consist of 3 sets of these repetitions.
- Set a baseline – By setting a baseline, you can retest your progress once every 4 weeks to set a new baseline. This way, you will know that you are moving forwards. It’ll be the best motivation you can get.
- Organize a workout plan – Rather than just doing sit-ups day in and day out, a workout plan will help you be more energetic and excited about your exercise. For example, you can do a 4-minute jog, then move on to 3 sets of sit-ups and end with a prone back extension which will relieve the tension in your core.
- Get enough rest for recovery – We cannot stress how important rest and recovery are for your overall performance. If you overdo it and do sit-ups every day, it can do the opposite of what you are hoping for, ending up in a decrease in strength and endurance. So, ensure that once you tire yourself out, you allow yourself at least one day of recovery.
Other methods of burning 500 calories a day
Below are some exercise-free ways to burn extra calories by watching what you eat to reach your goal of burning 500 calories a day.
- Drink caffeinated black/green tea – Caffeine is a stimulant, and it’s known that stimulants increase the calories you burn. It causes a metabolic change within your body which results in the calorie-burning process. Even a 2017 study shows that your caffeine intake promotes weight and body fat reduction.
- Eat smaller yet frequent meals – How exactly would this burn calories? Well, every time you eat even a small snack, your gastrointestinal tract gets switched on to start the digestion process. This means that it will be using up calories to carry on with digesting. So, the more frequently that you have smaller meals, the more calories you would burn.
- Drink 8 cups of water daily – This might seem insignificant, but it can make a big change. Even absorbing and using water within your body to maintain fluids takes up calories. So drinking around 2 liters of water helps burn almost 100 extra calories per day without any issue, as proven through a 2013 study.
Conclusion
While sit-ups play a vital role in burning calories, you can make your workout more effective by following other possible methods.
You can improve your current workout by mixing it up with a few other exercises.
This will make the workout process more effective and keep you interested in pushing yourself forward and reaching all those body goals you aspire for.
