Accommodating for weight lifting not burning many calories

e_v_v

I'm currently training for a half marathon, but as soon as my race is over, I plan to get back into lifting weights 3-4x/week. However, I really struggle to stay under my calorie goal when lifting is my primary form of exercise because my body burns only 100 calories per 30 minutes (200 calories/hour). I'm used to burning 600 calories of running for an hour. Cardio is just so much easier in terms of burning calories...

How do YOU burn a decent amount of calories lifting weights without staying at the gym for 5 hours or killing yourself both running and lifting?

jemhh

I don't really exercise for the calorie burn so I don't aim to burn a certain level of calories while lifting.

If you're having problems with hunger while lifting, consider changing your meals around a bit. If you lift early in the morning before breakfast, you might want to eat a snack at night before bed. Or if you lift in the afternoon before dinner you might need a snack after lunch before your workout.

RoxieDawn

Lifting weights just does not expend a lot of calories burned. So if you need to burn calories to stay under your calories (which the question is are still trying to loose weight?) then add cardio to your lifting.

I actaully do both. Not practical for most people, but I can run in the early morning and lift mid morning. I also work at home behind a desk all day, this keeps me active. Also I am a runner and will always integrate this into my weekly program.

However, what are your strength training goals after training for the race? You are gonna stop running all together? You want to bulk? Certainly not the case if you want to "stay under your calories" so this would be recomp or loose fat/weight?

hill8570

I think you've got things reversed here -- you eat enough to fuel your workouts, not workout enough to burn your eating.

Are you building muscle (if so, you need the caloric surplus anyway)? Or are you lifting for endurance (in which case you're going to be burning a lot more than 200 calories/hr)? Plus you generally do cardio on the non-lift days.

If you change your workout regimen and goals, you gotta change your caloric intake and macros appropriately.

ShodanPrime

I eat enough to make sure I'm fueled for my workout. 7kg of muscle and only 1kg of fat added in the last year. Not bad for not having really been controlling things.

e_v_v

I don't necessarily want to "bulk," just build some more muscle. I don't have any specific numbers for that. When I train for long-distance races, I tend to neglect lifting out of lack of time and energy, so I suppose I'm looking to rebuild muscle/gain muscle endurance for future races when, most likely, I'll repeat this same process again.

To build ANY amount of muscle, do you NEED to eat at a calorie surplus?

jemhh

ebrass73 wrote: »

I don't necessarily want to "bulk," just build some more muscle. I don't have any specific numbers for that. When I train for long-distance races, I tend to neglect lifting out of lack of time and energy, so I suppose I'm looking to rebuild muscle/gain muscle endurance for future races when, most likely, I'll repeat this same process again.

To build ANY amount of muscle, do you NEED to eat at a calorie surplus?

No. You can eat at maintenance while doing progressive resistance exercise (very important) and build muscle. You can eat at a small to moderate deficit and build muscle. Both scenarios would give you a slower muscle building rate than would eating in a surplus but when you look at the broader picture, many people find that the trade off (i.e., no need to later cut fat added during the bulking process) make it them the preferable choice.

Fernando618G

ebrass73 wrote: »

I don't necessarily want to "bulk," just build some more muscle. I don't have any specific numbers for that. When I train for long-distance races, I tend to neglect lifting out of lack of time and energy, so I suppose I'm looking to rebuild muscle/gain muscle endurance for future races when, most likely, I'll repeat this same process again.

To build ANY amount of muscle, do you NEED to eat at a calorie surplus?

you do need to eat a calorie surplus to add muscle some people eat 400-600+when they bulk on there surplus me personally i just do 150-250 because i want to slowly add the weight on so it does not hit me hard @ once and have a spare tire over night. everyone has there own methods i would play around with these numbers so you figure out what is that you want

KiyaK

I don't enter any of my workouts for calorie burns. But I don't do much cardio aside from the occasional weekend hike. I know when I started lifting I was STARVING and EXHAUSTED for three weeks straight. I upped my protien and calories for a bit. Protien to 100g & I think I added 100-200 Cal. After those first weeks it get way better. No problems now. Calories back down & I don't worry about my protien in particular. Just what worked/works for me.

20yearsyounger

ebrass73 wrote: »

I'm currently training for a half marathon, but as soon as my race is over, I plan to get back into lifting weights 3-4x/week. However, I really struggle to stay under my calorie goal when lifting is my primary form of exercise because my body burns only 100 calories per 30 minutes (200 calories/hour). I'm used to burning 600 calories of running for an hour. Cardio is just so much easier in terms of burning calories...

How do YOU burn a decent amount of calories lifting weights without staying at the gym for 5 hours or killing yourself both running and lifting?

I ran into that problem. The first thing that I realized was that I was using my cardio burns as a crutch for over eating. If I am burning a lot then it doesnt matter what I eat. However, what happens if I twist my ankle or injure myself? Why set myself up for failure? At first it was horrible. However, I learned which macros allowed me to reach a decent, satisfying, calorie goal number without needing the 100-200 calories from strength training. That now becomes beer/treat calories. My goal also isnt to bulk, it is to gain strength and muscle endurance. I make sure to have adequate protein and basically eat the same. I have been maintaining now for over a year.

Edited to add: I like what someone else said. Sometimes I might supplement my lifting with 10-15 minutes of cardio. That adds and extra 100-150 calories right there (in my case).

sunnybeaches105

I don't. I run and do other cardio for calorie burn.

BTW - you don't have to give up your cardio in exchange for weight training. Do youself a favor and do both. You don't have to "kill yourself" but lifting 3-4 days a week and running 3-4 isn't unreasonable at all.

Chieflrg

I don't worry about burn if calories since I'm so active. I pay attention to which way my weight is moving on average and adjust my calories accordingly if I'm trying to gain or lose weight.

Simple and most accurate way without having to get anal on what activity does what.

sijomial

No you don't need a calorie surplus to add muscle - just a body builders myth being projected onto the general population. There is a small metabolic cost to building muscle but given the rate most people can actually gain muscle it's tiny compared to your total calorie needs and even smaller compared to the energy reserves most of us are carrying around.

The way I fit in my training to my calorie allowance (or vice versa) is simply following the MFP eat back exercise calories method - on cardio days I eat more, on lifting day I eat less.

It doesn't have to be weights OR cardio it can be both to a high standard. Alternate days is by far my preferred way to that I focus on the job at hand and have quality training time.