Push-ups and sit-ups, are about as convenient as exercise can get, so most people would do well to add them to their daily routine. However, most people casually wanting to start exercising really want to lose weight, or more specifically, fat. So although they will benefit from push-ups and sit-ups, or crunches, they really need to do some cardio.
Push-ups and sit-ups are not cardio. Here’s why:
Push-ups and sit-ups, or crunches, will certainly elevate your heart rate, but are anaerobic, or muscle strengthening in nature. They are not aerobic, or cardiovascular. They are generally performed in sets, not non-stop for 20+ mins as this is impractical because they use your muscles’ cells immediate energy source, ATP, which is used up very quickly and needs a few minutes to refill. So while push-ups and sit-ups will have many benefits, they will not burn as many calories or have the same heart and lung benefits as cardio.
So with anaerobic exercise it typically takes up to 3 mins to recover and be ready for another set. There are ways to make these exercises burn maximum calories and help you lose fat, and push-ups and sit-ups, or crunches, have a ton of benefits, so there’s some things to discuss.
How Are Push-ups And Sit-ups Different From Cardio?
When we say “cardio” we really mean “aerobic.” Aerobic means “with oxygen,” whereas “anaerobic” means “without oxygen.”
Push-ups and sit-ups and other strength exercises are anaerobic, so they use up the oxygen already in the muscles. It requires so much effort that your muscles can’t rely on the low drain aerobic system to supply enough oxygen fast enough to fuel these types of activities. This type of exercise will help you gain strength and muscle.
Aerobic exercise usually involves propelling your body, or simulating that on a machine, and it burns far more calories because you can do it continuously for extended periods of time, instead of the short bursts of anaerobic exercise.
One helpful analogy is that of a pickup truck with a tow winch. The winch is strong and can give short bursts of pulling power to get the truck unstuck, but it runs off the battery, it can’t power the whole truck! The truck’s engine has a gas tank for hours of fuel, and provides more sustainable power, and more endurance. Anaerobic training like push-ups and sit-ups, and the body’s way of providing energy for it, are like the winch. Likewise, the demands of aerobic training, like running and jump rope, are your body’s cardiovascular system are the engine.
So, Although they can be performed in a way that will burn closer to the number of calories that cardio will burn, (more on this in a minute), but these types of resistance exercises cannot be true cardio.
Won’t Push-Ups And Sit-ups Burn Calories?
Absolutely! Push-ups especially will burn probably one calorie for every 2-3 push-ups, depending on your weight (obviously it requires less energy to move a lighter body).
Sit-ups and crunches, you’re not burning anywhere near as many. Doing 100 of these in 3 minutes (no easy feat) will only burn about 20-30 calories for a 180 lb person. So you only burn about 1 calorie for every 5 or 6 crunches.
So even if you did sit-ups or crunches for an hour straight, you would only burn about the same amount as you would if you were walking at a normal pace (3-3.5 mph) for the same amount of time. This doesn’t sound too bad, but which would feel more difficult for the same result? I’d bet that walking is the much easier option, and imagine if you take it up a notch or two… to running?! You’d burn far more calories than you ever could in that time frame with push-ups or sit-ups.
However, if calisthenics is the only option you have, don’t lose hope. The calories burned doing these exercises certainly do add up. With a tight diet they can create, or enlarge a caloric deficit to help you lose fat. But if your goal is simply fat loss, and you have the option of cardio (you always do) there are faster paths to take.
Push-Ups And Sit-ups Are A Good Start.
Of course doing calisthenics like push-ups and sit-ups (crunches are better) is a great start if you’re not getting any regular exercise already. The push-ups will help you gain some upper body muscle and improve your posture, tightening your core. The crunches will also tighten and condition your abdominal and connecting muscles.
The push-ups will work about 60% of the muscles on your body to varying extents. All these muscle groups will be worked:
Directly:
- Pectorals (chest)
- Triceps
- Front Deltoids (Shoulder)
Indirectly:
- Lats and mid-back
- Biceps
- Abdominals and core
- Legs
Particularly the chest, shoulders and arms can gain some pretty significant muscle mass over time. You can grow incredibly strong and muscular from just push-ups if you do enough of them regularly.
Can I Make Push-ups And Sit-ups Like Cardio?
If you want to burn the maximum number of calories and keep your heart rate elevated for an extended period of time, like 20, 30 or even 60 minutes, try the following:
PPM: Push-ups per minute.
- First, make sure you have previously measured your level of ability by doing one set of push-ups to failure.
- Take 25-30% of your one set max number of reps and that will be the number of reps per set. So if you could do 20 push-ups in one set to failure, do sets of 5. If you did 40 non-stop, do sets of 10-15.
- Perform one set per minute (watch the clock)
- Repeat for predetermined number of minutes.
This approach can be used with virtually any resistance exercise. It gets progressively harder over time. This is because as the number of sets climbs, you get more fatigued and it takes you longer to get the set done. For example, your first set of 5-10 push-ups might take 5 seconds, giving you 55 seconds of rest until the next set. However, by the time you get to your 15th set, it might now take you 15-20 seconds to crank out your full 5-10 reps. So now you only get 40 seconds to rest before the next set.
This basically continues until near complete exhaustion, which happens quickly after the push-ups are taking up more of the one minute time segment than there is to rest. Importantly, if you cannot maintain this for at least 20 minutes, then you need to reduce the number of reps per set – not increase the rest time! If you increase the rest time, your heart rate will slow down more between sets and the cardio-like element will be lost.
Super-setting:
Another great way to perform calisthenics in a way that keeps your heart rate elevated is to super-set exercises. This simply means to alternate between 2 or more exercises with little or no rest in between. 20+ minutes should be the goal to burn maximum calories and have the most cardiovascular benefit. You can do them for reps, or time. So you may decide to alternate sets of 10-20, or perform each exercise for 30 seconds or 1 minute before switching to the other.
This is often done with exercises involving opposing muscle groups (e.g. chest/back), or non relational muscle groups (e.g. shoulders/legs). As long as the same muscle isn’t targeted directly in both exercises, it’ll work.
A few examples would be:
- Push-ups and crunches
- Squats and toe touches
- Pull-ups and calf raises
Circuit training:
You can also string more than two exercises together, performing them continuously. This method is what is known as circuit training.
Again doing sets of 10, or 20 reps, or for time like 1 min per exercise. An example might look like this:
- Squats
- Push-ups
- Sit-ups
- Toe Touches
- Calf Raises
- Pull-ups
- Burpees
- Repeat…
But, I digress… just keep doing them for an extended workout – a lot of sets with minimal rest between sets – and calisthenics can have some cardiovascular benefits.
The Difference Is In How The Body Fuels Itself
When you perform an anaerobic feat, like pushups, the demand for oxygen and energy is so intense, that your muscles need to use the ATP that is stored in your cells as fuel. So when you perform a set of push-ups, you do them until you have used up your temporary ATP stores, then you really can’t go on until you’ve had a few minutes to recuperate.
When you do cardio, or aerobic training, like running, the demand is lower and prolonged, so your heart is able to pump oxygen throughout your body to your muscles as they need it. So when you run, your heart and lungs provide a steady stream of oxygen and fuel to the muscles for the ‘slow burn’ of cardio.
If They’re Not Cardio, Why Even Do Push-ups And Sit-ups?
One of the easiest ways to get in better shape is to add some push-ups and sit-ups to your daily routine. Convenient and simple, these calisthenic exercises can give you a great workout and strengthen your muscles. After a few months you will certainly gain a few pounds of lean muscle.
Start off by doing a small number of push-ups each and every day, say 20 or 30. Increase the number at regular intervals until you reach 100-200 per day, most days. By the time you get to 200 per day, you will certainly be in much better shape, with stronger more muscular arms, chest and shoulders.
For a beginner, doing a number like 100, or 200 push-ups sounds impossible, but if you break it up into a few each minute like I outlined earlier, it’s surprising how easily they stack up
Try to do the same with sit-ups, or better yet, crunches. You will certainly harden up your core and feel much tighter. Whether or not you have visible abs will be determined by your body fat percentage. If you have low body fat, your abs will show. It doesn’t matter how many sit-ups or crunches you do, if your body fat percentage is too high, your abs won’t show.
The Takeaway.
So, ideally you’ll be doing some actual aerobic work in addition to your anaerobic push-ups and crunches. That way you will strengthen and tone your muscles, as well as burn maximum fat. If you really don’t think you can squeeze in some actual cardio, there’s always jump rope! The speed bag, and the heavy bag are some other space-saving options available to you.
Even if you are committed to only doing push-ups and sit-ups, do them regularly and keep pushing further, and you will see some great results. Space them out over a longer workout as I described earlier to simulate a cardio workout, and you can certainly lose some weight – if your diet is in check. The point is, get it done and you’ll be happy with the results. Thanks for reading!
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What Is The Best Way To Do 200 Push-ups?
I call it PPM (Push-ups per minute). Place a clock or timer near you. You could watch a movie or TV show and have the timer running. Listen to music, whatever. Every minute, on the minute, do 10 push-ups as fast as you can, then rest and stretch for the rest of the minute. Continue this for 20 minutes. You will notice that at first this is really easy, but once you’ve got a few sets under your belt. To take a little bit longer. As the sets take longer, your rest periods become shorter, providing less recuperation for the following set. Your heart rate will be elevated for the entire 20 minutes, and for a few minutes afterwards. Providing a workout with a steadily increasing difficulty from warm up to final set.
Can You Lose Fat With A Speed Bag?
Training with a speed bag depending on your weight will burn anywhere from 400 calories an hour for a 150 lbs individual up to 700 calories an hour for a larger person of about 220 lbs. Your metabolism will stay revved up for hours after your workout. When you combine it with a sensible diet and smart eating pattern, you can drop fat pretty quickly. In fact, if the trainee is hitting a speed bag for 3 hours a week (that being six 30-minute sessions or three one hour sessions), combined with a daily caloric deficit of about 500 calories, there is no reason that an average person with a starting weight of around 200 lb can’t lose around 3 pounds a week!
