100 Sit-ups A Day: What Can You Expect?

Exercising more can be good but not all routines offer the same results. Find out what you can expect from doing 100 sit-ups a day.

Sit-ups are mainly an ab and hip flexor resistance training exercise so the main results will be in this area.

If you can barely complete the 100 sit-ups a day in between 2 sets of 50 (weighted) repetitions to 6 sets of (weighted) 17 repetitions, this routine can be great for growing your ab and hip flexor muscles.

Because these muscles are relatively small and recover fast, many people will be able to do a routine like this without overtraining issues.

Additionally, because 100 sit-ups a day will only take around 5 minutes, it can be a helpful routine to get into the habit of exercising more.

Besides these things, you can see some tiny amounts of calorie burning and improvements in mood, sleep, and cognitive function. That being said, you should not expect too much in these areas.

If you have any other fitness goals besides growing your ab and hip flexor muscles, you want to consider more intense workout routines than 100 sit-ups a day.

What results can 100 sit-ups a day offer?

While it will not be the optimal routine for every fitness goal, getting to 100-sit-ups a day and sticking to it can still offer a few results.

100 sit-ups a day could grow your ab muscles

Sit-ups are mainly a resistance training exercise that works muscles like your abs, hip flexors, and obliques. That being said, that does not mean every training routine with sit-ups can help you grow these muscles.

To make muscles bigger and stronger you have to pressure them with enough resistance, repetitions, and sets.

How much is enough depends on your current strength level but there are some general guidelines to figure out whether doing 100 sit-ups a day can help you grow and strengthen your abs.

If you can barely do the 100 sit-ups a day in somewhere between 2 sets of 50 repetitions to 6 sets of 17 repetitions, an exercise routine like this will likely help you build muscle.

It is possible that as you get stronger, bodyweight sit-ups become too easy to stay within these ranges.

At that point, you can start doing sit-ups with weights. This can help you see more results faster.

Something to note is that 100 sit-ups a day is not necessarily a magic amount. You can see results with other sit-up reps and sets too. Potentially in a more time-efficient way.

Is it OK to do sit-ups every day?

During resistance training workouts like doing 100 sit-ups, you damage the main muscles you work.

This may sound bad at first but the damage starts a variety of internal processes that can repair the muscles and make them stronger.

Even so, your body still needs time to complete the processes. Working the muscles again too soon can reduce your results.

For bigger muscles like for example your glutes, this can take a while. Because of this, it is typically recommended to implement at least one rest day in between resistance training workouts that focus on big muscles.

That being said, the hip flexors, abs, and obliques sit-ups work are relatively small muscles. Many people will be able to do 100 sit-ups every day without (too m)any issues.

At the same time, you will likely be able to see great results from doing the sit-ups every other day too.

You could lose a tiny amount of weight with 100 sit-ups a day

Exercise can help you lose weight in the sense that it can help you use up more energy.

If you get to a point where there is more energy going out than coming in from food, your body starts to use energy stores like body fat to get the difference.

In that sense, doing 100 sit-ups a day could help you lose a tiny amount of weight.

That being said, sit-ups are not that good for weight loss. They do not help you burn that many calories and do not help you build that much muscle mass.

As a first example, a 155-pound (70 kg) person will burn around 14 calories while doing 100 sit-ups.

On top of that, even if you would implement a more effective weight loss exercise routine, other lifestyle habits like your diet would still influence your results a lot.

Working out is no guarantee for losing weight.

How many calories do 100 sit-ups burn?

You may wonder just how ineffective doing 100 sit-ups a day is for making your body use up more energy.

With the estimations for how many calories sit-ups burn and that the average person will do around, 24 repetitions per minute, you can make a few predictions.

One important thing to note is that these amounts are rough estimations. The actual number can vary for you due to differences in body composition, hormone levels, intensity, etc.

That being said, people with different body weights will burn more or less the following amounts of calories per 100 sit-ups:

• 125 Pounds (56 kg): 11 calories
• 155 Pounds (70 kg): 14 calories
• 185 Pounds (83 kg): 17 calories
• 215 Pounds (97 kg): 20 calories

Even though they are not perfect, these estimations should help you understand that doing sit-ups is not a great way to burn calories.

Especially if you only do them for the 5 minutes it takes to do 100 repetitions.

It could help you start an exercise habit

Doing 100 sit-ups will only take around 5 minutes of actual exercise. On top of that, this is definitely not the most intense movement out there.

In simpler words, when it comes to exercise routines 100 sit-ups a day is not the most impressive.

That being said, this can be a positive point for certain people and situations.

Hour-long workouts with weights you have never seen gathered in one place and intensity sprinting intervals could be more effective in terms of health benefits.

However, if you are new to working out, these types of workouts can feel too overwhelming. If you schedule them into your routine you may end up doing nothing at all.

On the other hand, implementing 100 sit-ups a day in your routine is something more doable. This can help you start an exercise.

You do want to keep in mind that you likely want to consider more intense routines over time to get more positive results.

Doing 100 sit-ups a day can offer other benefits to a tiny extent

Among the benefits of sit-ups, there are also a few more general positive effects of exercise. You should not expect too much of these, especially not from 5 minutes of sit-ups a day.

At the same time, you can say that you will experience these benefits to a tiny extent by implementing 100 sit-ups a day. Some of them include:

• Better mood
• Improvements in sleep quality and duration
• Better cognitive function

If you want to get these benefits to larger extents it is definitely worth considering other exercises and longer exercise routines.

Is doing 100 sit-ups a day good enough?

Doing 100 sit-ups a day with the right resistance, repetitions, and sets can be good enough to grow and strengthen your ab (and potentially hip flexor) muscles.

That being said, for other fitness goals like losing weight and general health, a routine like this is almost never good enough.

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.

Since doing 100 sit-ups a day will only take around 5 minutes and only work a few small muscles, you will not get even near hitting these exercise guidelines.

As mentioned, working up to 100 sit-ups a day can help you create an exercise habit.

Over time, you can gradually increase the intensity and duration of your workouts as long as your body can deal with it and it aligns with your training goals.

100 sit-ups a day for 30 days challenge examples

The information above is useful but you may also want to see real-life before and after results of people who implement a routine like this. You can find two of these below.

Results of a woman who does 100 sit-ups a day for a month

Jaime from the Youtube channel Jaime Fok did 100 sit-ups a day for 30 days. You can see her results and experience in the video below.

Results of a man who does 100 sit-ups a day for a month

You can also watch the results of Isaiah from the Youtube channel Isaiah Photo after a 100 sit-ups a day for 30 days challenge

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