How to log HIIT classes?

toez79

I take a 45 minute class at the gym that is similar to body pump. But with different instructors, some days are more cardio-heavy and some days are more of a traditional "sculpt" class. If I log 45 minutes of body pump, it estimates 450 calories burned. If I log as "circuit training, general" it is 45 minutes and over 600 calories. Which is more accurate? I want to eat some if not most of my exercise calories back, so a difference of 200 calories is a lot!!

vorgas

600 calories in 45 minutes is a PHENOMENAL pace. You are talking about 13,333 calories per minute. To get that kind of burn with steady state aerobics (no stopping whatsoever), a 200 lb 34 yr old woman would have to keep her heart rate at about 190 beats per minute. The max for that age would only be 184. In other words, you would be dead. Your heart rate would be above age max for 45 straight minutes.

Personally, I think even 450 calories is probably high.

SBerrio

Hello there. I used to have the same problem. I invested in a heart rate monitor ($80-$100) polar watch and it tells you exactly how many calories you are burning. HIIT classes are awesome! really give you a great workout!

SamZ10

^^ What he said.
I would suggest using a heart rate monitor. I over calculated calories burned for a long time and that was a huge problem for me. I estimate about 10 calories a minute when I am running hard. So if the class is constant fast movements then I would say 450 would be the max (it also depends on your body). MFP tends to over calculate exercise calories.. I normally go with half of what it says to be safe!

toez79

Yeah I felt like both numbers were really high! I am heavy right now, so I'm sure that's part of the calculation from MFP.

What's your favorite monitor or tracker to get a good estimate of calories burned?

ljk0615

Just do yourself a favor and try to underestimate. I do a HIIT class twice a week. It's 30 minutes and it can be a crazy awesome workout. But if I overestimate on my burn and eat back those calories I'm only sabotaging myself. You need to do two things- use common sense (are you really burning 600 calories?) and be honest with yourself (did you go at your max potential the ENTIRE time? Are you counting the last five minutes when the last five minutes was actually spent cooling down?). If I get finished and know that my heart rate was up pretty much the whole time and that I was putting forth the max effort I'll log it as circuit training but just 20 minutes. If I was kind of lagging that day I might log 15 or 20 minutes. Then look at that number and like pp did, analyze it and say "does this number even make sense?"

SBerrio

I have the POLAR F4. Ive had it for a couple of years now. I know there are newer ones out there but this one I love. I use it every day.

professionalHobbyist

I don't

I just let it count the steps from my iPhone

Unless you have a great HRM it is tough to determine calories burned. There are some outlandish claims of elevated metabolism for 24 hours.

Maybe with some people? And how elevated?

I do HIIT and love it. But as an advocate I don't buy all the snake oil some proponents are selling.

It has lowered my resting heart rate where steady state cardio did not.

I do ramp up to about 92 or so percent of my max heart rate in HIIT sessions so it is pretty intense by the 6th round

toez79

I would just like someone to invent a fitbit type device that also told me how much I ate and exactly how much I burned and start beeping an alarm at me when I start passing the "lose weight" phase of that formula. How hard is that, scientists?

vorgas

They actually have it.
Unfortunately it isn't very portable. Like you need a car to move it around.

But getting exactly the right amount is a fools errand. Your body isn't a machine. It varies. However, you can real close with an acceptable margin of error with the following:

• Weigh all your food so you are using precise portion control.
• Find your VO2 Max.This page utilizes a decent method: http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/vo2max-calculator.aspx
• With that you can more accurately estimate your calorie burn during steady state aerobics with a heart rate monitor. Here's a decent page to help: http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx
• Weight lifting is difficult to measure because of wide number of factors, but a good estimate is 0.0032 Calories per pound per rep.