Weight light newbie...Do I count calories burned?

christianteach

I just did my 10 rep max test Tuesday and am going to start the All Pro lifting program today. I wear a HRM when I do cardio to track how many calories I'm burning but I have read on here that's not accurate when lifting. Should I still wear it? If not, how do I figure out how many calories I should add to my diary or do I not add any?

Oops...see I can't correct my topic. It should read "weight lifting newbie"...

deksgrl

The question isn't how accurate the cals burned are but depends on how you have your calories set. If you are going by MFP settings, then you will definitely need to eat more to fuel your workouts. If you are set to TDEE - % then you might not need to add more calories. You might need to increase protein macros though, for best muscle repair.

I have my cals set to TDEE -% goal so I just log my exercise as 1 calorie burned.

ChrisLindsay9

I just did my 10 rep max test Tuesday and am going to start the All Pro lifting program today.

Congrats! Sounds like a great program, and I hope you find it a lot of fun and beneficial for your fitness goals.

HRMs are not that accurate for weight lifting. I did wear one, knowing this fact, but thought I'd still be able to at least draw comparisons from workout to workout. But after a short while, I observed that this was problematic as well.

I've used a lot of various online calculators (and even devised my own), and came to the conclusion that if you've set up a profile and are entering your weight into MFP, then the estimate of calories burned for weight lifting is pretty decent (if you're doing full body type workouts with compound exercises). If you're training calves and shoulders for 45 minutes, it'll not be accurate. But if you're more or less working out the larger muscle groups (legs, chest, back), then you're probably good just using the "strength training, weight lifting/weight training" option in the cardio exercise database. Just my $.02

Again, awesome that you're starting up this program. Good luck!

christianteach

The question isn't how accurate the cals burned are but depends on how you have your calories set. If you are going by MFP settings, then you will definitely need to eat more to fuel your workouts. If you are set to TDEE - % then you might not need to add more calories. You might need to increase protein macros though, for best muscle repair.

I have my cals set to TDEE -% goal so I just log my exercise as 1 calorie burned.

I just put my own numbers in. I was using 1200 for a long time and then a friend of mine (she's a pt and is a fitness model or something like that, she competes and has a rockin body!) convinced me to up them to 1400, which I did. However, since using 1400 I have stopped losing. :frown: Of course, I didn't take all her advice...she wants me eating clean and tons of protein and very low carb. I tried but can't do it. I am only down 2 lbs. since June 7 but I did take a cruise since then and gained a little that week. I also switched from doing all cardio to Power 90 and and now I just started this. My TDEE less 20% is 1736. That's about what I'm doing now once I eat back my exercise calories. I guess I could try setting it for that and not eating back exercise calories...until I hear back from Sara and/SS. I am waiting for intake help from them.

christianteach

[/quote] Congrats! Sounds like a great program, and I hope you find it a lot of fun and beneficial for your fitness goals.

HRMs are not that accurate for weight lifting. I did wear one, knowing this fact, but thought I'd still be able to at least draw comparisons from workout to workout. But after a short while, I observed that this was problematic as well.

I've used a lot of various online calculators (and even devised my own), and came to the conclusion that if you've set up a profile and are entering your weight into MFP, then the estimate of calories burned for weight lifting is pretty decent (if you're doing full body type workouts with compound exercises). If you're training calves and shoulders for 45 minutes, it'll not be accurate. But if you're more or less working out the larger muscle groups (legs, chest, back), then you're probably good just using the "strength training, weight lifting/weight training" option in the cardio exercise database. Just my $.02

Again, awesome that you're starting up this program. Good luck!
[/quote]

I can give it a try. Thanks! And congrats on your success!! (I read your profile) Getting started is a bit intimidating. I was the only female in that part of the gym today. I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb!

cwolfman13

The question isn't how accurate the cals burned are but depends on how you have your calories set. If you are going by MFP settings, then you will definitely need to eat more to fuel your workouts. If you are set to TDEE - % then you might not need to add more calories. You might need to increase protein macros though, for best muscle repair.

I have my cals set to TDEE -% goal so I just log my exercise as 1 calorie burned.

.......................My TDEE less 20% is 1736. That's about what I'm doing now once I eat back my exercise calories. I guess I could try setting it for that and not eating back exercise calories...until I hear back from Sara and/SS. I am waiting for intake help from them.

Exactly. Estimating calories burned from strength training is incredibly difficult. HRMs are only relatively accurate for aerobic events because the formula used to arrive at your estimated calorie burn assumes you're working at some % of your VO2 max with all of your body for sustained periods of time. For a HRM to be accurate, you have to performing an activity that is a primary indicator of what % of VO2 max you are working at...and weight lifting/strength training is a piss poor indicator of VO2 max.

There are other formulas out there, but really it's so hard to determine..different intensity levels, rest periods, etc. When I did MFP, I just through in 150 extra calories and had a protein shake and called it a day. Now I use the TDEE method and it's just so much better to average all of my activity out through an entire week than trying to isolate certain exercise events.

christianteach

I just changed my calorie goal to TDEE-20%. I used light exercise (1-3) days per week because I don't burn a ton of calories when I do exercise, although I usually workout 5-6 days a week. Is that okay since I will be doing weight training 3 day/week and cardio 2-3 days/week? This summer all I'm doing is sitting all day, except while working out, since I'm in summer school. Once school starts back I will be on my feet a lot more since I'm a teacher.