An exercise challenge can motivate you to move more. Find out what results you can expect from doing 100 lunges a day.
The first thing to note is that I will consider 100 lunges a day to be this many pairs of lunges (so 100 per leg).
That aside, if you can barely complete the 100 lunges in 2 sets of 50 repetitions or more sets, a routine like this will likely help you build muscle.
This will mostly apply to your quadriceps (front thighs) but potentially also glutes (butt) and hamstrings (back thighs).
People who are more experienced with resistance training may need to do weight lunges to stay in the ranges above and see the results they want.
Something else to note is that you likely don’t want to do 100 lunges every single day if you want to build bigger muscles. Your body could need more time to repair and grow your muscles.
Doing 100 lunges a day will also burn a few extra calories and will likely cause small improvements in balance, mood, and sleep.
Keep in mind that strengthening your leg muscles is great but that a good workout routine also includes exercises for other muscles and cardiovascular health.
What will doing 100 lunges a day do?
Doing 100 lunges a day is not always the most effective workout routine but it will definitely do a variety of things to your body.
These things include burning calories, potentially building, muscle, potentially improving balance, and more.
100 lunges a day burns extra calories
Your body uses energy throughout the day. This energy is measured in calories and how many you burn can vary depending on the things you do.
By moving more intensely with the 100 lunges a day, you will likely burn more calories than usual.
Additionally, if an exercise routine like this is enough to help you build muscle, this extra mass will help you burn more calories throughout the day.
There are ways to predict how much extra energy the 100 lunges will burn during the workout based on MET values. You do need to keep in mind that these are rough estimations.
The actual number can vary for you due to differences in body composition, hormone levels, intensity, etc.
That being said, assume the average person does around 10 pairs of lunges (so 20 individual repetitions) per minute.
In that case, people with different body weights can burn the following amounts of calories with 100 pairs of lunges:
- 125 Pounds (56 kg): 37 calories
- 155 Pounds (70 kg): 46 calories
- 185 Pounds (83 kg): 55 calories
- 215 Pounds (97 kg): 64 calories
These extra amounts are welcome but at the same time, lunges are not that impressive when it comes to burning a lot of calories during the workout.
A lot of the effects of doing 100 lunges a day in this area come from any extra muscle mass you build.
Additionally, the amounts above are for bodyweight lunges. If you do lunges with weights, you will burn more calories.
Will it help you lose weight?
Something important to note is that while lunges can help weight loss, doing 100 of them every day is no guarantee for fat loss results either.
Body fat is basically stored energy. To start tapping into this source you need to make it so your body needs more energy than is coming in from food.
Lunges help with this by burning more calories during and potentially after the workout.
However, to actually lose weight, your habits in other areas still have to be good enough.
Doing 100 lunges a day could help you build muscle
Lunges are typically done as a resistance training exercise to grow and strengthen muscles.
This sounds and can be great but you still have to do resistance training exercises with enough resistance, repetitions, sets, and rest to see the results above.
Is it challenging enough?
Whether doing 100 (pairs of) bodyweight lunges a day is enough to help you build muscle depends on your current strength level.
If you can barely complete these 100 repetitions a day in 2 sets of 50 lunges or more sets, workouts like these are likely challenging enough to build muscle.
That being said, some of the muscles lunges work include your quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, calves, inner thigh, and outer thighs.
Since these are relatively strong muscles, more advanced lifters may need to add resistance to make the 100 lunges challenging enough to stay in the ranges above.
Something else to note is that 100 repetitions is not a magical number. How many lunges you should do a day for optimal results and different training goals can vary.
Is it OK to do 100 lunges every single day?
Resistance training exercises like lunges actually damage the muscles you work. This is not as bad as it sounds since this starts a variety of internal processes that can repair and strengthen the muscles.
That being said, your body still needs time to complete these processes.
Because of this, it is typically recommended to implement at least one rest day for the muscle groups you targetted. Especially with the bigger muscles that lunges work.
There will be people who recover quickly enough from the 100 lunges to be able to do them every day.
However, most people will want to implement at least one rest day in between workouts like this. You can use this extra time to work other muscles or fitness components.
Daily activities could become easier
Doing 100 lunges a day can grow, strengthen, and improve endurance in a variety of leg muscles.
These muscles play a big role in daily activities like climbing stairs or simply just standing up.
In turn, implementing a challenge like 100 lunges a day could make these daily activities more convenient and feel more comfortable.
100 lunges a day could improve your balance
Lunges are not the hardest exercise in this area but they will likely challenge your balance to at least some extent.
By challenging yourself in this area with 100 lunges a day, you could improve your balance.
This skill is not just helpful during your workouts. Having better balance can also help you avoid accidents throughout the day.
Doing 100 lunges every day can offer more general benefits
Moving your body more intensely can benefit a variety of more general areas of your health.
These are not necessarily unique to doing 100 lunges a day but you could still experience them during this challenge.
Some of the more general benefits of lunges you can expect include:
- Improved mood
- Better bone density
- Improved cognitive function
- Better sleep
Again, you don’t necessarily need to stick to lunges if you are interested in these things. You may prefer doing other exercises or workouts.
Is 100 lunges a day enough?
As mentioned, doing 100 lunges a day could be enough to grow and strengthen your leg muscles.
When it comes to weight loss, your habits in other lifestyle areas like nutrition will influence your results from this challenge a lot.
That being said, there are other reasons to implement a workout routine too. You may be interested in good general health too.
Human knowledge does not know (yet) what the perfect exercise routine is for this. However, there are some general guidelines to get you in the right direction.
The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion recommends the following exercise guidelines to adults (1):
- Moving more and sitting less throughout the day
- Muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity that involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week.
- At least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity a week. Preferably spread throughout the week.
- You can gain additional health benefits by engaging in physical activity beyond the equivalent of 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week.
So doing 100 lunges a day takes care of the muscle-strengthening activities for your legs. You do still need to take care of other muscle groups.
Additionally, it should be clear that you also want to implement cardiovascular workouts if you are interested in optimal general health.
In short, doing 100 lunges a day can offer valuable results but you likely want to consider other exercises and workouts too.
