Pushups are one of the most basic strength exercises you can do. They require no special equipment and train many different muscle groups. They are often used to gauge a person's fitness level. The number of calories you burn doing pushups depends in part on how much you weigh because the more you weigh, the harder it will be to push your body weight off the floor.
The Facts
According to the calculator available at Fatburn.com, a 150-lb. person will burn 10 calories in 1 minute of pushups. If that person can do pushups for 5 minutes straight, he can expect to burn around 50 calories.
Weight Matters
The more you weigh, the more energy you will use to push yourself up. That is why, according to Fatburn.com, a 200-lb. person will burn 13 calories in a minute of pushups. It might not sound like a lot, but a three-calorie increase (over the calorie total for a 150-pound person) is actually a lot for a minute of activity. A 200-lb. person will burn 64 calories in 5 minutes of pushups. Similarly, a lighter person will burn fewer calories doing pushups. A 130-lb. person will burn only eight calories during a minute of pushups, and 41 calories during 5 minutes.
Intensity
You will burn more calories if you increase the intensity of your pushup workouts. The website 1000pushups.com suggests that doing push-ups with a slightly increased heart rate will be more effective in building fitness. The website suggests going to a running track and doing rounds of pushups after every lap you run. It is important to do a workout like this without rest breaks because your fatigue is what makes the workout more intense. A more intense workout will probably be shorter, but it will be more beneficial.
Fitness Indicator
"New York Times" health writer Tara Parker-Pope has called the pushup "the ultimate barometer of fitness." It takes muscles all over the body--including the arms, abdomen, hips, chest and legs--to keep the body straight while lowering your body weight to the floor and pushing up. This is why pushups are often used in military fitness tests and in physical education classes for schoolchildren.
Getting Started
If you've never done a pushup, you might need to start with a modified version. To do this, support your body with your knees instead of your toes. This will leave you with less weight to push. If you are looking for an added challenge in your pushup regimen, try doing pushups with your hands on platforms, in a setup that allows you to lower your body below the plane of your hands. This will work your shoulder and chest muscles even harder, burning more calories. The muscles that you build doing these moves will also increase your resting metabolism, meaning you'll burn more calories all day.
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