Does anyone enter calories burned when lifting machine weights?

anonmomof3
anonmomof3 Posts: 23 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I go to the gym and they have a series of weights called technogym. I put a key in and it tracks my weights lifted, reps, sets,etc. At the end of my workout, I have to close out my key and it tells me exactly how much I lifted and how many calories I burned. Should I include this in my exercise log? I would have to put it under cardiovascular because there is no option for calories burned under weights. I burn around 400 calories so of course I want it to count! What would you do??

Replies

  • dvs19622013
    dvs19622013 Posts: 21 Member
    I log all my Cals burnt whether it be weights or cardio.
  • rustyquinn
    rustyquinn Posts: 41 Member
    In your case I would. But I don't log my wts because I think mfp over calculates the cardio I enter
  • loulamb7
    loulamb7 Posts: 801 Member
    I include all exercise in my exercise log, however I don't eat all of them back because for anything other then steady-state cardio machine calculation can be way off. 400 calories for weight lifting sounds high. If you plan on eating them back I would suggest eating only 50% and track your weight loss. If you're losing more than expected then adjust accordingly.
  • ChloeJoanneSmith
    ChloeJoanneSmith Posts: 62 Member
    I log both cardio & weight calories burned :)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    I count both cardio and weights and eat them back. Both when losing weight and maintaining.
  • giantrobot_powerlifting
    giantrobot_powerlifting Posts: 2,598 Member
    Technogym? Sounds ravey.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,619 Member
    I enter my calories for weightlifting ... usually 30 or 40 calories for about 30 min of weightlifting because 30 min of weightlifting is not really 30 min of weightlifting what with all the little rest breaks in between exercises.
  • AOdell79
    AOdell79 Posts: 94 Member
    I log weight training. But I had to add it as a cardio exercise.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Nope. But when I was doing cardio I would eat back all the cardio calories MFP gave me even though I knew they were inflated. I figured it would even out. I would never count 400 calories toward weight training though.
  • anonmomof3
    anonmomof3 Posts: 23 Member
    It takes me about 90 minutes to get through all 12 machines. I do 3 sets on each machine, 15 reps per set. It has a little meter to show me how fast (or slow, because slower is better) to go. The weight varies depending on the machine. Idk...the trainer said usually people burn about 200 calories so she was surprised when it said I burned 400, but maybe it's because I'm so overweight? Idk... I've only just started doing the weights a few weeks ago and I just joined here last week. Trying to get this all figured out.
  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
    I never count my strength training, 60 minutes 3X a week. I think 400 calories is vastly overestimated.
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
    no way are you burning 400 calories on weight machines! not even close!
  • sjohnson__1
    sjohnson__1 Posts: 405 Member
    loulamb7 wrote: »
    I include all exercise in my exercise log, however I don't eat all of them back because for anything other then steady-state cardio machine calculation can be way off. 400 calories for weight lifting sounds high. If you plan on eating them back I would suggest eating only 50% and track your weight loss. If you're losing more than expected then adjust accordingly.

    Bingo. Why not try TDEE instead of eating calories back?
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    I log weight lifting as strength training on MFP. It's how I keep track of the weight, sets, reps. By logging it in strength training, I do not add calories back. Nor do I believe I should.

    It sounds like you are using Technogym to track those details of your workout in a similar fashion to how I use MFP (and some use Stronglifts, etc.). I would not suggest adding calorie burn because you may inadvertently eat too much.
  • ovidnine
    ovidnine Posts: 314 Member
    400 seems like a lot for weightlifting, even for a 90 minute workout.

    I don't track my lifting calories but if you really want to, I'd cut the number in half. Better to underestimate calories burned than over IMO.
  • greeneyedswifty
    greeneyedswifty Posts: 2 Member
    I am so happy I saw your question! This answers mine
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    anonmomof3 wrote: »
    I go to the gym and they have a series of weights called technogym. I put a key in and it tracks my weights lifted, reps, sets,etc. At the end of my workout, I have to close out my key and it tells me exactly how much I lifted and how many calories I burned. Should I include this in my exercise log? I would have to put it under cardiovascular because there is no option for calories burned under weights. I burn around 400 calories so of course I want it to count! What would you do??

    Personally I don't as the amount of calories expended in weight training isn't enough for me to worry about, c 200 cals per hour. It does depend on how tight your margin for error is as when I'm running I'll burn somewhere between 600 and 1200 for most sessions so that 200 gets lost in the noise.
  • anonmomof3
    anonmomof3 Posts: 23 Member
    Thanks for all those who gave helpful suggestions. Like I said, I'm new to this, and trying to figure it all out. I don't normally eat the calories back. Twice last week I made bad food choices and went over but some days I kept it around 1200 calories so it all evened out. I lost 7 lbs so I must not be doing that bad. I don't know what TDEE is but I will look into that. I just got a fitbit yesterday so that's another thing to learn. I will probably stop adding the exercise all together and just go by what the fitbit says.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    anonmomof3 wrote: »
    I don't normally eat the calories back.

    If you're not eating back, and your hitting a 1200cal net goal then you're consuming less than 1200 cals, which isn't the wisest move in the world. That's the minimum level of intake recommended by a number of national bodies to maintain good health in the round.

    That's essentially what I was getting at when mentioning whether 200 cals was important or not. For you, it is important as if you don't eat it back your stacking up problems for yourself in the long term.

    That said, I agree with the comment that it's highly unlikely that you're burning 400 calories doing resistance training using machines. Your own weight has little impact as it's more about how heavy the weight is that you're moving, and how far you move it.
    Twice last week I made bad food choices and went over but some days I kept it around 1200 calories so it all evened out. I lost 7 lbs so I must not be doing that bad.

    Two points, don't worry too much about bad choices, learn from your decisions and think about how to modify your behaviour in the future. Take a look at your longer term trends. That said, if you really are eating as little as you seem to be, your bad choices are as likely a symptom of under-eating as anything else. That in itself is something to learn from.

    And 7 lbs in a week is a lot. MFP is only set up to plan for up to 2lbs per week. I'd suggest contemplating a more reasonable loss rate that'll be sustainable long term.

  • mrp56839
    mrp56839 Posts: 159 Member
    so I'm curious... if weight training increases your heart rate, makes you sweat like you've run 5 miles and leaves you exhausted afterward (all very similar to cardio), why does it not earn you any "exercise" calories?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    mrp56839 wrote: »
    so I'm curious... if weight training increases your heart rate, makes you sweat like you've run 5 miles and leaves you exhausted afterward (all very similar to cardio), why does it not earn you any "exercise" calories?

    @mrp56839 - log it under the cadiovascular section of your exercise diary.
    But also - it may feel as tiring as cardio but it's really not that similar to cardio and heart rate when weight training is an irrelevance as regards calories.
  • cnbbnc
    cnbbnc Posts: 1,267 Member
    mrp56839 wrote: »
    so I'm curious... if weight training increases your heart rate, makes you sweat like you've run 5 miles and leaves you exhausted afterward (all very similar to cardio), why does it not earn you any "exercise" calories?

    I sweat and my heart rate goes up a bit when I'm lifting, but it doesn't stay up the whole time like when doing cardio. It quickly goes down when I stop to rest, walk to another area of the gym, change the weights I'm using.... It's just not the same.

  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    I sweat when it is hot where I'm sleeping. My heart rate increases when I drink a lot of coffee. Does that mean I'm exercising?
  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,868 Member
    When I started lifting Dumbbells I got really hungry. For a 40 min. DVD I put in 98 calories under the cardio section. I'm at 1200 calories daily and have lost 3# the past month and it seems that I need to eat those calories as I don't want to lose faster and am almost at maintenance (5# to go). I think you should put in something. I'm not sure how much though.

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