Do you burn calories when you lift?

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Natdogg37
Natdogg37 Posts: 31 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
If so why doesn't MFP put the amount of calories you burn?

I sweat just as much when I lift as I do when I am doing cardio.

Replies

  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
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    A few reasons
    1. Actual direct calorie burn from lifting is less than you'd expect, particularly if comparing to aerobic activity effort
    2. Estimating effort is incredibly error prone. Even two people doing the exact same lift for the exact same weight are going to be using different levels of energy.
    3. Even though it applies to cardio too, lifting isn't about burning calories, it is about improving health.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    senecarr wrote: »
    A few reasons
    1. Actual direct calorie burn from lifting is less than you'd expect, particularly if comparing to aerobic activity effort
    2. Estimating effort is incredibly error prone. Even two people doing the exact same lift for the exact same weight are going to be using different levels of energy.
    3. Even though it applies to cardio too, lifting isn't about burning calories, it is about improving health.

    pretty much that^^^

    there are just way too many variables to estimate accurately.
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
    edited July 2015
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    Yes you do, and although even wearing a hrm does not show a very accurate calorie burn for weight training, you can still log it = just do it under cardio....
    But keep in mind sweating is not an indication of calorie burn...
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
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    Resistance training or strength training does not sustain a raised heart rate. it's a different concept from steady state cardio.

    In strength training, you excert force for a short burst of time and rest for a long time. You don't burn calories much this way.


    This is not to say lifting or strength training is bad. You are building muscle. More muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest.

    But it's a different concept then steady state cardio. In steady state cardio you are raising your heart rate for a sustained period of time, and depending on the effort, you can then measure how many calories you can burn in say each minute.

    Make sense?
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
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    astrampe wrote: »
    Yes you do, and although even wearing a hrm does not show a very accurate calorie burn for weight training, you can still log it = just do it under cardio....
    But keep in mind sweating is not an indication of calorie burn...

    Correct. Sweating just means your core temperature was raised and your body is just trying to cool off.

    I would not however log calories burned from lifting. You are taking a big chance of overestimating and may ruin your calorie deficit if you are eating back your calorie burns.

  • ZyheeMoongazer
    ZyheeMoongazer Posts: 343 Member
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    Please read the FAQ.

    http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/11170-why-don-t-you-calculate-calories-burned-for-strength-training-
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    1.) even sitting and breathing doing nothing burns SOME calories.
    2.) Sweating =/= calorie burns
    3.) don't rely on lifting for big calorie burns- won't happen. Lifting is for awesomeness- and looking great nekkid
  • natlierees
    natlierees Posts: 31 Member
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    I log all my lifts and weight but I never count it towards my calories for the day

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