STRENGTH TRAINING AND CALORIE BURN

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  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    Asher_Ethan wrote: »
    I had to Google, "how many calories would a 150 pound, 30-year-old woman burn weight lifting," to get a number. It said 200 calories an hour for weight lifting and the number seemed to be true for me.

    except your BMR calories are roughly 50-100-ish calories an hour.... so...

    In my opinion, because it is damn near impossible to get correct calorie burns while weight lifting (and weight lifting doesn't actually burn that many calories) you shouldn't count it at all.

    Adjust your activity level selection accordingly or find out your TDEE by adjusting calories over time. It's way too easy to overeat because of "exercise calories".

    Methods such as heart rate monitors, activity trackers, etc. cannot calculate calories burned since they are only designed to capture during steady state cardiorespiratory exercise. You also have to factor in the fact that when lifting weights you are taking rest periods in between sets and even though you may have been "lifting for 45 minutes" you may have only been actively working for 15 of them.

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    rainbowbow wrote: »
    Asher_Ethan wrote: »
    I had to Google, "how many calories would a 150 pound, 30-year-old woman burn weight lifting," to get a number. It said 200 calories an hour for weight lifting and the number seemed to be true for me.

    except your BMR calories are roughly 50-100-ish calories an hour.... so...

    In my opinion, because it is damn near impossible to get correct calorie burns while weight lifting (and weight lifting doesn't actually burn that many calories) you shouldn't count it at all.

    Adjust your activity level selection accordingly or find out your TDEE by adjusting calories over time. It's way too easy to overeat because of "exercise calories".

    Methods such as heart rate monitors, activity trackers, etc. cannot calculate calories burned since they are only designed to capture during steady state cardiorespiratory exercise. You also have to factor in the fact that when lifting weights you are taking rest periods in between sets and even though you may have been "lifting for 45 minutes" you may have only been actively working for 15 of them.

    Must disagree with a couple of your points. Not allocating any exercise calories guarantees you are wrong, estimating gives you a chance of being in the ballpark. MFP database category gives me 235cals for an hour which is probably low as I mostly lift in a faster pace / higher total volume of weight style compared to most people.
    I can also adjust on the day if required when I do something out of the ordinary.

    Using TDEE includes an estimate for your strength training but it's even more vague than doing it on the day as it also makes an estimate of the frequency/intensity of your exercise. Fine if your routine is very regular but that doesn't apply to everyone.

    There really isn't any need to be very accurate anyway - the common sense to adjust calorie balance based on results over time is all that's required.
  • Microscopes
    Microscopes Posts: 92 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    @SugarDarlin1959
    The thing is that cardio burns calories while doing that exercise while weight training continues to burn calories afterwards, rebuilding muscle fibers.
    Nope. Both strength and cardio have an EPOC effect - and it's so small it's insignicant.
    My thought is to use a heart rate monitor to see the percentage of increase while lifting.
    It would have to be a very sophisticated unit with specific mode for strength training. The vast majority of HRMs will give a hugely inflated number.

    I thought resistance training has a fairly sizable epoc?

    https://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/epoc.html
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    stop working on your abs every day or it will produce the exact opposite results you want.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    Asher_Ethan wrote: »
    I had to Google, "how many calories would a 150 pound, 30-year-old woman burn weight lifting," to get a number. It said 200 calories an hour for weight lifting and the number seemed to be true for me.

    except your BMR calories are roughly 50-100-ish calories an hour.... so...

    In my opinion, because it is damn near impossible to get correct calorie burns while weight lifting (and weight lifting doesn't actually burn that many calories) you shouldn't count it at all.

    Adjust your activity level selection accordingly or find out your TDEE by adjusting calories over time. It's way too easy to overeat because of "exercise calories".

    Methods such as heart rate monitors, activity trackers, etc. cannot calculate calories burned since they are only designed to capture during steady state cardiorespiratory exercise. You also have to factor in the fact that when lifting weights you are taking rest periods in between sets and even though you may have been "lifting for 45 minutes" you may have only been actively working for 15 of them.

    Must disagree with a couple of your points. Not allocating any exercise calories guarantees you are wrong, estimating gives you a chance of being in the ballpark. MFP database category gives me 235cals for an hour which is probably low as I mostly lift in a faster pace / higher total volume of weight style compared to most people.
    I can also adjust on the day if required when I do something out of the ordinary.

    Using TDEE includes an estimate for your strength training but it's even more vague than doing it on the day as it also makes an estimate of the frequency/intensity of your exercise. Fine if your routine is very regular but that doesn't apply to everyone.

    There really isn't any need to be very accurate anyway - the common sense to adjust calorie balance based on results over time is all that's required.

    This was essentially my point. I personally upped my tdee calculation according to MFP (from 1.2x to 1.35x) and it fits my calorie balance with weight lifting 4x a week almost perfectly. I was trying to offer suggestions on how to do this easily, without weeks of trial and error.

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Microscopes wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    @SugarDarlin1959
    The thing is that cardio burns calories while doing that exercise while weight training continues to burn calories afterwards, rebuilding muscle fibers.
    Nope. Both strength and cardio have an EPOC effect - and it's so small it's insignicant.
    My thought is to use a heart rate monitor to see the percentage of increase while lifting.
    It would have to be a very sophisticated unit with specific mode for strength training. The vast majority of HRMs will give a hugely inflated number.

    I thought resistance training has a fairly sizable epoc?

    https://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/epoc.html

    Define sizeable?
    A small percentage of a small number I would call insignificant not sizeable...

    Your article does make that point repeatedly.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    rainbowbow wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    Asher_Ethan wrote: »
    I had to Google, "how many calories would a 150 pound, 30-year-old woman burn weight lifting," to get a number. It said 200 calories an hour for weight lifting and the number seemed to be true for me.

    except your BMR calories are roughly 50-100-ish calories an hour.... so...

    In my opinion, because it is damn near impossible to get correct calorie burns while weight lifting (and weight lifting doesn't actually burn that many calories) you shouldn't count it at all.

    Adjust your activity level selection accordingly or find out your TDEE by adjusting calories over time. It's way too easy to overeat because of "exercise calories".

    Methods such as heart rate monitors, activity trackers, etc. cannot calculate calories burned since they are only designed to capture during steady state cardiorespiratory exercise. You also have to factor in the fact that when lifting weights you are taking rest periods in between sets and even though you may have been "lifting for 45 minutes" you may have only been actively working for 15 of them.

    Must disagree with a couple of your points. Not allocating any exercise calories guarantees you are wrong, estimating gives you a chance of being in the ballpark. MFP database category gives me 235cals for an hour which is probably low as I mostly lift in a faster pace / higher total volume of weight style compared to most people.
    I can also adjust on the day if required when I do something out of the ordinary.

    Using TDEE includes an estimate for your strength training but it's even more vague than doing it on the day as it also makes an estimate of the frequency/intensity of your exercise. Fine if your routine is very regular but that doesn't apply to everyone.

    There really isn't any need to be very accurate anyway - the common sense to adjust calorie balance based on results over time is all that's required.

    This was essentially my point. I personally upped my tdee calculation according to MFP (from 1.2x to 1.35x) and it fits my calorie balance with weight lifting 4x a week almost perfectly. I was trying to offer suggestions on how to do this easily, without weeks of trial and error.

    Sorry but I read your comment you shouldn't estimate and count them and then go on to advocate TDEE (which includes both a vague estimate and a calorie allowance for the training) as a bit contradictory.
    Do agree there's many ways to be successful at finding your calorie allowance, different techniques suit different people and different routines.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,388 Member
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    I'm actually surprised that with all the apps, and "smart" machines that someone hasn't come up with some type of more accurate calculator for lifting. It might be a little cumbersome for free weights, but far from impossible. I'd imagine some testing time in a lab could nail it down fairly quick really. It would take a bit more effort to set up, but lots of people are already using apps to track their workouts, so just a confirmation could allow the calorie calculation.

    I know some of the weight machines already track reps, sets, and weights per user. With a few more sensors converting to pound feet or watts, and thus calorie burn, wouldn't be all that hard to do.


    There is no reason not to take a stab at an estimate, but just like cardio you have to make an informed guess. I don't bother as the error in my logging and other activities can be adjusted to account for it. I figure that even a smaller error in my cardio based stuff would quickly bury the calorie error from lifting anyway, so I focus more on getting that right.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    Microscopes wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    @SugarDarlin1959
    The thing is that cardio burns calories while doing that exercise while weight training continues to burn calories afterwards, rebuilding muscle fibers.
    Nope. Both strength and cardio have an EPOC effect - and it's so small it's insignicant.
    My thought is to use a heart rate monitor to see the percentage of increase while lifting.
    It would have to be a very sophisticated unit with specific mode for strength training. The vast majority of HRMs will give a hugely inflated number.

    I thought resistance training has a fairly sizable epoc?

    https://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/epoc.html


    The article you referenced cited a total EPOC range of 51-127 calories--that's not per hour or per day, but the total EPOC for the entire time metabolism is elevated.

    You can decide for yourself whether that number is significant to one's overall program (certainly doesn't hurt), but I don't think that can be described as "sizeable".
  • ngolden3320
    ngolden3320 Posts: 360 Member
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    Capt_Apollo wrote: »
    stop working on your abs every day or it will produce the exact opposite results you want.

    Thanks. I don't want that to happen. how often should I work on abs?
  • ngolden3320
    ngolden3320 Posts: 360 Member
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    Thanks to everyone for your responses. I will just not worry about the calories burned and just take them as a bonus.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,388 Member
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    ngolden3320 wrote: »
    Thanks to everyone for your responses. I will just not worry about the calories burned and just take them as a bonus.

    If you record your weights/reps/sets you might be able to come up with a better MET value or something that would get you close in calorie burn. But except for the people killing it lifting, and the larger people (muscle) it's really not all that much.

    I think most people that are well rounded in fitness could easily burn 2-3 times the calories on cardio with the same amount of time. At the extreme ends of a light runner lifting vs heavy lifter doing cardio, I still think the calorie burn would skew much stronger towards the cardio.

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