How many calories do we burn on average from lifting?

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filbo132
filbo132 Posts: 956 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I would like to add it in mfp,but unless I purchase fitbit, there seems no answer that question that I know of. I usually lift weights for 45 minutes up to a maximum of 1hour.
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  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    Not many. If you want an estimate you can put "strength training" into the cardio section and it will spit out a number.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
    edited July 2016
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    It's hard to estimate with lifting because there's no simple algorithm like there is with steady state cardio...with cardio it's basically mass moved over distance and intensity...no such thing with lifting really...tons of variables like how you're lifting...low reps with heavy weight with recovery time between sets is going to burn far less than a high rep low weight program with little rest or circuit type training.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    Hard to say. I've maintained, lost, and gained weight without counting any calories from lifting. My sessions can be up to two hours and they are strength based, so long rests. It just fits into my "lightly active" activity level.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    filbo132 wrote: »
    I still prefer having some ballpark number over nothing.

    The vast majority of people I know who lift use the TDEE method and include some estimate of that activity in their activity level and account for it that way. If I had to estimate mine given I've been at this for over four years I'd say I burn somewhere between 250 and 300 calories for a 60 minute session in the weight room.
  • williammuney
    williammuney Posts: 2,895 Member
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    Hornsby wrote: »
    Not many. If you want an estimate you can put "strength training" into the cardio section and it will spit out a number.
    Excellent post that's why I don't log those calories. Imo people are way over estimating calories burned during strength training.
  • singletrackmtbr
    singletrackmtbr Posts: 644 Member
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    Completely impossible to measure without knowing intensity levels and rest times. I know HRMs aren't accurate for strength training but I use mine anyway. It helps me compare one day to the next and has served me well. I'd much rather do that than get some arbitrary number from MFP that accounts for nothing except your age and weight.
  • piperdown44
    piperdown44 Posts: 958 Member
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    singletrackmtbr wrote: »
    Completely impossible to measure without knowing intensity levels and rest times. I know HRMs aren't accurate for strength training but I use mine anyway. It helps me compare one day to the next and has served me well. I'd much rather do that than get some arbitrary number from MFP that accounts for nothing except your age and weight.


    True, plus it's going to be completely different between upper and lower days.
    Guarantee I burn more on deadlifting days than bench days. Overall that's why I prefer TDEE than the standard MFP calculation.
  • dlm7507
    dlm7507 Posts: 237 Member
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    You can calculate how many kcal with weight and distance moved but the number is always too low for people's liking. Lifting isn't about burning calories so you can eat more anyway. I don't weigh my food and just estimate. MFP just keeps me honest. If my weight doesn't track the loss it is supposed to it means I'm estimating either how much I eat or how much I exercise wrong. That is your final guide, your results. Pick a number and see if it tracks results.
  • danplatt
    danplatt Posts: 3 Member
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    I never count calories during weight training, only from cardio. I simply use weight training to build lean muscle mass which in turn, revs the metabolism to use more fat for fuel. Best of luck to you.
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
    edited July 2016
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    dlm7507 wrote: »
    You can calculate how many kcal with weight and distance moved but the number is always too low for people's liking. Lifting isn't about burning calories so you can eat more anyway. I don't weigh my food and just estimate. MFP just keeps me honest. If my weight doesn't track the loss it is supposed to it means I'm estimating either how much I eat or how much I exercise wrong. That is your final guide, your results. Pick a number and see if it tracks results.

    The number is way too low because it is wrong. If you do the physics calculation of weight * distance you are calculating the work done in a perfect world with 100% efficiency. Even if you factor in inefficiency you still miss out on cyclical work. If you hold a weight in your hands straight out in front of you your muscles are doing a lot of work to keep it there and your shoulders will start to feel the burn, but if you calculate out the work done (weight * distance), it was 0kcal of energy since there was no movement. This is obviously wrong.

    Studies done on weight lifting show that it is in the 200-300 calorie/hr range. Give or take a bit for the amount of weight moved and the tempo of the lifting. Compared to cardio, lifting doesn't burn many calories/hr, but it doens't burn near 0 either.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,990 Member
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    I just use 250 cals for a 1hr weight lighting session or a fraction thereof doing Starting Strength w/2 1x5 warmups and 3x5 at max weight for each of the 3 scheduled lifts w/3-5 min rest bet sets andd 5-10 min rest bet lifts which is a pretty relaxed non- intensive (except during the max sets) wt lifting wkout.

    By comparison, a typical 30 min workout using a HR monitor on my spin bike at a constant 22 mph or on my rower at a constant 5000m pace is also usually around 250 cals +/- 25 cals. So, wt lifting seems to burn cals at about 1/2 the rate of those activities for me.
  • dlm7507
    dlm7507 Posts: 237 Member
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    Angle and moment arm are part of the equations. You can do metabolic workouts with weights but that's a different workout from most strength workouts. The benefits of strength training are more important to me than worrying about putting calories in an app so I can eat more and stay in a deficit.
  • dlm7507
    dlm7507 Posts: 237 Member
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    As an aside, I never went so far as to say near zero. I created a spread sheet to calculate it. I just said that people looking for an excuse to eat more will be disappointed ;0)
  • cgvet37
    cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
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    I found a study done by Harvard. Don't remember the exact numbers, but for a male weighing 180 lbs. plus, they stated around 250 calories per hour. Of course you have to account for intensity, rest time, etc.
  • bclarke1990
    bclarke1990 Posts: 287 Member
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    If you're building muscle, keep in mind that more muscle = more mitochondria = higher metabolic capacity, so you're sort of indirectly increasing your calorie burn over the long term by adding size :)
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,390 Member
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    nordlead2005 wrote: »
    dlm7507 wrote: »
    You can calculate how many kcal with weight and distance moved but the number is always too low for people's liking. Lifting isn't about burning calories so you can eat more anyway. I don't weigh my food and just estimate. MFP just keeps me honest. If my weight doesn't track the loss it is supposed to it means I'm estimating either how much I eat or how much I exercise wrong. That is your final guide, your results. Pick a number and see if it tracks results.

    The number is way too low because it is wrong. If you do the physics calculation of weight * distance you are calculating the work done in a perfect world with 100% efficiency. Even if you factor in inefficiency you still miss out on cyclical work. If you hold a weight in your hands straight out in front of you your muscles are doing a lot of work to keep it there and your shoulders will start to feel the burn, but if you calculate out the work done (weight * distance), it was 0kcal of energy since there was no movement. This is obviously wrong.

    Studies done on weight lifting show that it is in the 200-300 calorie/hr range. Give or take a bit for the amount of weight moved and the tempo of the lifting. Compared to cardio, lifting doesn't burn many calories/hr, but it doens't burn near 0 either.

    Actually, even in the example you gave you could factor for energy use.

    It actually surprises me that with the high tech machines they have these days nobody is making a weight machine that calculates energy use for lifting. It really wouldn't be all that difficult to to, but I have to guess that nobody thinks it would pay off in sales.


    But no matter how you look at it, the calorie burn for lifting is low, because you don't really use all that much power. In a way it's similar to a higher intensity HIIT or something of that nature, with the work time being low in comparison to recovery time. And no matter how much torque is generated, when it's done for a very short period of time it still doesn't amount to much in terms of power.
  • dlm7507
    dlm7507 Posts: 237 Member
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    Tonight I did a short (15 min) workout. Ten Turkish get-ups followed by ladders of kettlebell cleans with active rest front squats. My heart rate for the cleans/squats stayed above my theoretical calculated max throughout. I had to wander around for five minutes to recover enough to get a drink of water when I was done (might not be the greatest idea for a man my age). How do you calculate calories burned for that?

    It was an effort not sustainable for more than a short time. All of the methods for calculating calories burned would tell you that you burn more calories on a treadmill watching Oprah (30 min walking very brisk pace = 260) but that is clearly BS. The workout was intended to be a metabolic smoker, rather than my "strength" routines but calling it "15 min circuit training, general" MFP gives 208 calories. It was harder than typical circuit training.

    MFP and calorie calculators just don't know what to do with weights, probably more because density is so variable. I think that the people who said pick a reasonable number are as right as we'll get. Temper it with what was the work:rest ratio? Long rests = reduced calorie count.

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