How Many Calories Does 100 Star Jumps Burn?
Weight and Intensity Effects
Two key factors affect calorie burn: body weight and exercise intensity. Heavier people burn more because they have more mass to move; health sources note that, pound-for-pound, a larger person will expend more calories even at rest. Intensity matters because faster or more vigorous jumping jacks raise your metabolic rate. Exercise physiologists use the MET scale (metabolic equivalents) to compare intensities: moderate activity is ~3–6 METs and vigorous is >6 METs. The Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth 2011) classifies vigorous calisthenics (including fast jumping jacks) at about 8.0 METs, whereas moderate calisthenics are ~3.8 METs. (Indeed Healthline notes that jumping jack intensity can range ~8–14 METs depending on speed.)
To turn METs into calories per minute, we use the standard formula:
“cal/min = MET × 3.5 × (body weight in kg) / 200”. For example, a 150-lb (68-kg) person at 3.8 MET burns about (3.8×3.5×68)/200 ≈ 4.5 cal/min, while at 8.0 MET it’s (8.0×3.5×68)/200 ≈ 9.5 cal/min. (We double-check these calculations in our estimates below.) In practice, doing a set of jumping jacks at higher intensity both shortens the time needed and raises the calories burned per minute.
Estimated Calories for 100 Star Jumps
Using the above METs and a typical completion time, we can estimate total calories for 100 jumps. In practice, many people do 100 jumping jacks in roughly 1½–2½ minutes. One fitness report found 100 jacks took “just over two minutes”. At a moderate pace (about 50–60 jacks per minute), 100 jumps takes ≈2 minutes; at a fast pace (80–100 jacks/min), it could take ≈1.5 minutes. Table 1 shows approximate calories burned for 100 jumping jacks at moderate intensity (~3.8 MET, ~2 min) and vigorous intensity (~8.0 MET, ~1.5 min), for various body weights. (These assume continuous jumping jacks without rest, and use the MET formula.)
| Weight (lb / kg) | ≈ Calories burned (100 jumps, moderate pace ~2 min) |
≈ Calories burned (100 jumps, vigorous pace ~1.5 min) |
|---|---|---|
| 120 lb (54 kg) | ~7 cal | ~11 cal |
| 150 lb (68 kg) | ~9 cal | ~14 cal |
| 200 lb (91 kg) | ~12 cal | ~19 cal |
| 250 lb (113 kg) | ~15 cal | ~24 cal |
Table 1: Approximate calories burned by 100 jumping jacks (“star jumps”) for different body weights and effort levels. Moderate pace assumes ~2 minutes total; vigorous assumes ~1.5 minutes. These estimates use ~3.8 MET (moderate) and ~8.0 MET (vigorous) with the standard MET formula. Actual burn varies with exact pace, form, and individual metabolism.
These values are ballpark estimates. For instance, Healthline cites an example of a 150-lb person burning ~47 calories in 5 minutes of moderately vigorous jumping jacks – about 9.4 calories per minute. That matches our ~9.5 cal/min estimate for vigorous effort at 150 lb. In other words, 100 jumps (~1.5–2 minutes) would be on the order of 10–15 calories for that person, consistent with the table. (A lighter person would burn less; a heavier person more.) Note that if you go slower (spreading 100 jacks over more minutes), the per-minute burn drops (closer to 3.8 MET), whereas a faster pace both shortens time and raises calories/min.
Time to Complete 100 Star Jumps
The time to do 100 jacks depends on your pace. Fitness observers report about 2 minutes as typical. For example, one fitness article noted completing 100 jumping jacks in “just over two minutes”. In general:
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Moderate pace (≈50–60 jacks/min): ~2 minutes for 100 jumps. This keeps intensity moderate (around 3–6 MET).
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Fast pace (≈80–100 jacks/min): ~1.5 minutes or less for 100 jumps. This is a vigorous pace (≳8 METs).
Slower execution (e.g. 30–40 jacks/min) might take 3 minutes or more, burning fewer calories per minute. A faster pace shortens the workout but raises heart rate more, increasing calories per minute. Thus, completing 100 star jumps quickly will yield a somewhat higher total burn despite the shorter duration.
Summary
100 jumping jacks burns a modest amount of calories. The total depends on your weight and effort: heavier people and faster jacks burn more. Roughly speaking, a 150-lb person burns on the order of 10–15 calories per 100 jacks (about 9 calories at moderate pace vs ~14 at fast pace). A lighter person (≈120 lb) might burn only ~7–11 calories, while someone very heavy (≈250 lb) could burn ~15–25 calories for 100 jacks. As one source summarized, that’s only about 0.2 calories per jumping jack (around 10 calories per minute).
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Weight matters: Larger body mass raises calorie burn. MyFitnessPal estimates ~8 cal/min at 120 lb vs ~16 cal/min at 250 lb for jumping jacks.
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Intensity matters: Slower (moderate) jumping jacks (~3.8 MET) burn ~3–8 cal/min, whereas fast (vigorous, ~8 MET) jacks burn ~8–16 cal/min.
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Time estimate: 100 star jumps typically takes ~1.5–2.5 minutes. For example, one athlete did 100 jacks in ~2 minutes.
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Calorie range: Overall, expect on the order of tens of calories. For context, 5 minutes of high-intensity jumping jacks burns ~45–50 calories for a 150-lb person, so a 2-minute bout (100 jacks) is proportionally smaller (~15–20 calories).
These figures are approximations—actual burn varies by individual and conditions—but they provide a clear sense of scale. In short, 100 jumping jacks is a quick burst of exercise that might burn around 10–20 calories for most adults. To lose weight or expend more energy, incorporate repeated sets or longer-duration cardio beyond a single set of star jumps.
