Dealing With Repetition Exercises

What determines the rate of calorie-burn

Repetition exercises are also known as resistance exercises, and can be anything from sit-ups, to bicep curls, to using a twist disc. With repetition exercises it's difficult to get an exact figure for the amount of calories burned. That's because several different factors determine how effectively you're working during the exercise.

Familiarity with the exercise

If someone is a beginner to exercise or to the specific workout, they could find the workout more demanding and so use up more calories. As you adapt to exercise and gain fitness benefits so the calorie demand will drop as you become more efficient at working out. This means you will have to work harder at over-loading the muscles.

For this reason you should always try to vary your exercise regime - it'll keep your body on its toes and ensure that you give all muscle groups a good going over!

Quality of movement

It is incredible how different people can do the 'same' workout but experience completely different results. This relates to the effort and technique given by the individual. If someone has good technique and can activate the right muscle groups then they will be able to burn up more calories than someone who is cheating themselves on some of the movements / holds.

Whenever you do repetition exercises try to only think about the area you want to feel working while doing them. Don't let anything else enter into your mind that could distract from the quality of the movement. This attention principle can be applied to all body parts within strength training, however demanding the exercises are to that person.

Fitness and weight of the individual

Overweight and unfit individuals are likely to find any type of exercise more demanding than someone who is fit and accustomed to physical activity. This will result in more calories being burned.

The amount of rest between sets

The less rest time you have, the greater the cardiovascular overload and the greater the calorie burning potential.

The number of repetitions in each set

Repetitions need to be high enough so you feel tired, but should not be reaching as much as 30 per set. This is a sign that the exercise is not targeting the muscles adequately, therefore the technique should be checked and/or the exercise changed.