Does anyone know how efficient human muscle tissue is as a means of converting stored energy into mechanical work? More precisely, how much stored energy (in terms of ATP, fatty acids or glycogen -- say, expressed in calories) must a muscle burn in order to perform one foot-pound of mechanical work? Of course this will depend on a lot of things (age, conditioning, fatigue level,etc.), but just a range or ballpark estimate would be useful.
(I am trying to estimate the energy expenditure of various activities using this approach.)
I have no idea what you are looking for here, but just a couple of observations.
1) you did not take into consideration the mechanical work involved in lowering the weights during each rep.
2) you did not consider the weight of each part of the arm, there is mechanical work involved in just raising your arms in a bench press motion.
3) the burning of calories in humans is not directly related to mechanical work. To prove this, put 800 pounds on the bench press and push with all of your might for a couple of minutes. No mechanical work has been accomplished with respect to the weight; however I would assume that calories were burned in your physical effort.
So cheer up! Your 30 reps may be worth an apple and a banana!
I have no idea what you are looking for here, but just a couple of observations.
1) you did not take into consideration the mechanical work involved in lowering the weights during each rep.
2) you did not consider the weight of each part of the arm, there is mechanical work involved in just raising your arms in a bench press motion.
3) the burning of calories in humans is not directly related to mechanical work. To prove this, put 800 pounds on the bench press and push with all of your might for a couple of minutes. No mechanical work has been accomplished with respect to the weight; however I would assume that calories were burned in your physical effort.
So cheer up! Your 30 reps may be worth an apple and a banana!
