Pushups work your arms, shoulders, chest and back, building muscle and burning a small amount of calories. This simple, equipment-free exercise is ideal if you have limited time and space for workouts. While pushups help you develop upper body strength, they're inefficient at burning calories and should be only a small part of your weight-loss program.
Calories Burned Doing Pushups
Performing calisthenics, such as pushups, burns 0.08 calories per kilo of body weight per minute, note experts from the American Council on Exercise. For example, a 70-kg, or 155-lb., person burns 28 calories in five minutes of continuous pushups. For weight loss, your goal should be to burn 300 to 500 calories daily through exercise. To burn 300 calories, a 155-lb. person would need to do pushups for 53 minutes straight.
Weight-Loss Potential
To lose 1 lb., you need to create a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories by reducing calorie intake or burning calories through exercise. If you weigh 155 lbs., you can realistically perform 100 pushups daily and each pushup takes three seconds, your workout will last five minutes, burning 28 calories. At this rate, it would take more than four months to burn 3,500 calories with pushups as your only form of exercise and without lowering your calorie intake. To lose 1 to 2 lbs. weekly, you'll need to reduce your calorie intake to 300 to 500 calories daily below what you need for weight maintenance and burn at least 300 calories daily through exercise in addition to pushups.
Strength Training Safety
Two or three strength-training sessions weekly is sufficient for maintaining muscular fitness. To avoid injury, allow your upper body muscles to rest at least 48 hours between pushup workouts. To burn calories on your days off, try cardiovascular exercise. This is any activity that raises your heart rate for a sustained period, like using an elliptical trainer, cycling, playing basketball or jumping rope.
Pushup Variations
Wearing a weighted vest helps you burn slightly more calories while doing pushups. With a vest carrying 25 lbs., around 11 kg, you'll burn almost one extra calorie per minute of pushups. By varying your pushup form, you can give specific muscle groups more of a workout. Focus on your triceps by placing your hands close together with your fingers and thumbs forming a triangle. To focus on your chest and shoulders, perform pushups with your feet on a bench or exercise ball and your hands on the floor.
References
- American Council on Exercise: Caloric Cost of Physical Activity
- Syracuse University: Healthy Monday: Ask Jess
- University of Michigan Health System: Beginning Strength Training
- Mayo Clinic: Exercise for Weight Loss: Calories Burned in 1 Hour
- "Men's Fitness"; 10-minute Muscle: Push-ups are Like Sex. To Get The Most Out of Them, Try Multiple Positions and Techniques; November 2003
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