Sit-ups look simple, but they are an excellent exercise for improving your core strength, stability, posture, and abdominal muscles. Have you ever finished a sit-up session and had one question pop into your head, "How many calories does this sit-up session burn?", — That’s why we prepared this sit-up calorie calculator for you.
Our calculator gives you a fast, science-backed calorie burn estimate based on important factors such as your body weight, duration, reps per minute, and intensity level.
Sit-up calories are simply the amount of energy your body uses while performing the sit-up exercise.
Most importantly, sit-ups are mainly considered a strength-building exercise, not a high-calorie burning activity for weight loss or fitness goals. A 70 kg person burns around 4–5 calories per minute during sit-ups. This means 100 sit-ups only burn around 20 to 25 calories.
Calories burned depend on factors such as:
We use a standard and widely used ACSM exercise formula to estimate an accurate calorie burn rate during sit up exercise.
ACSM calories per minute formula:
Calories/min = MET × 3.5 × body weight (kg) ÷ 200Use the following formula to compute total calories:
Total Calories = kcal/min × minutesHere is the table showing sit-up MET values used as preset intensity levels:
| Intensity Level | Description | MET Value |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate Sit-Ups | Normal pace, controlled movement | 3.8 |
| Vigorous Sit-Ups | Fast, powerful, high-effort reps | 8.0 |
Let’s look at a real example that shows how to calculate calories burned during sit-up exercise.
First, determine your body weight e.g., 70 kg, total reps e.g., 100, cadence e.g., 20 reps/min, and finally the intensity e.g., moderate (3.8 MET).
In this step, calculate the duration by dividing reps by cadence:
Duration time = 100 ÷ 20 = 5 minutesNext, use the ACSM calories per minute formula to calculate kcal/min:
kcal/min = (3.8 × 3.5 × 70) ÷ 200kcal/min= (931) ÷ 200Calories per minute = 4.655 kcal/minFinally, multiply the calories per minute (4.655 kcal/min) by the duration (5 minutes):
Total calories = 4.655 kcal/min × 5 minutes = 23.28 kcalSo a 70 kg person burns around 23 calories during a 5-minute sit-up session.
Calories burned per sit-up depends on body weight, cadence, and intensity level, but roughly 0.2 to 0.35 calories per sit-up.
On average, the following ranges show the calorie burn rate per minute of sit-up:
4–5 kcal/min8–11 kcal/min5 sit-ups burn around 1 to 2 calories, depending on factors.
20 sit-ups burn around 4 to 7 calories.
50 sit-ups burn roughly 10 to 18 calories.
It depends heavily on your body weight, speed, and intensity, but on average, 100 sit-ups burn around 20 to 50 calories.