Do you lose calories while weight training?

Options
dniania
dniania Posts: 251 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
When I log strength exercises it never shows how many calories I've burned
«1

Replies

  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
    Options
    You have to log it as cardiovascular. It doesn't burn much calories though. I dont log my lifting.
  • dniania
    dniania Posts: 251 Member
    Options
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    You have to log it as cardiovascular. It doesn't burn much calories though. I dont log my lifting.


    How do I log that ? I just searched cardiovascular in strength and cardio and I didn't see anything
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,613 Member
    Options
    Yes. Add exercise, cardiovascular, search strength training. I log it at least twice per week. It's there, but it won't give you a high calorie burn like running.
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
    Options
    dniania wrote: »
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    You have to log it as cardiovascular. It doesn't burn much calories though. I dont log my lifting.


    How do I log that ? I just searched cardiovascular in strength and cardio and I didn't see anything

    Under cardio search strength training.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    Options
    Search for the word "train" in Cardiovascular and log the time as "Strength training (weight lifting, weight training)" to get an estimate for Calories.

    I don't think of it as losing Calories when I exercise, I like to think of it as earning Calories that get added to my daily goal - and on the mobile app extra Calories from exercise are added to your goal in the equation on the Home page. Before I had a Fitbit, I would only eat back about 50 to 75% of the earned Calories to account for the overestimation of Calories from the MFP exercise database. With the Fitbit, I eat back all of my earned Fitbit adjustments and have been maintaining for a while now.
  • BlueHorse8
    BlueHorse8 Posts: 29 Member
    Options
    How accurate is the Fitbit when doing strength training? This week I lifted for 51 minutes and my fitbit showed I burned 465 calories in 53 minutes. Seems high. I did do 6 sets of each muscle group; chest, shoulders, back, biceps and triceps.
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
    Options
    BlueHorse8 wrote: »
    How accurate is the Fitbit when doing strength training? This week I lifted for 51 minutes and my fitbit showed I burned 465 calories in 53 minutes. Seems high. I did do 6 sets of each muscle group; chest, shoulders, back, biceps and triceps.

    Not at all accurate as it uses an accelorometer.


  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    Options
    BlueHorse8 wrote: »
    How accurate is the Fitbit when doing strength training? This week I lifted for 51 minutes and my fitbit showed I burned 465 calories in 53 minutes. Seems high. I did do 6 sets of each muscle group; chest, shoulders, back, biceps and triceps.

    The Fitbit provides how many Calories you burned total during that 53 minutes, which includes your BMR and any pacing or other movement. At your size and weight, your BMR is about 1.45 Cals/minute. So for 53 minutes, you would subtract 77 Cals. 400 Cals for just strength training seems high. Did you do a lot of walking between sets?
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
    Options
    My Fitbit is wildly inaccurate when it comes to strength training. I frequently get burns of 1000+ and half of my workouts are rest periods. On average I'm eating 500+ calories less to maintain my weight than Fitbit suggests when I track lifting several times a week.
  • dniania
    dniania Posts: 251 Member
    Options
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    dniania wrote: »
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    You have to log it as cardiovascular. It doesn't burn much calories though. I dont log my lifting.


    How do I log that ? I just searched cardiovascular in strength and cardio and I didn't see anything

    Under cardio search strength training.

    Thanks!
  • Commander_Keen
    Commander_Keen Posts: 1,181 Member
    Options
    dniania wrote: »
    When I log strength exercises it never shows how many calories I've burned

    i would use a heart rate monitor to see how much kcal i was burning while lifting.
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
    Options
    Commander_Keen wrote: »
    dniania wrote: »
    When I log strength exercises it never shows how many calories I've burned

    i would use a heart rate monitor to see how much kcal i was burning while lifting.

    A heart rate monitor doesn't work that way.
  • kuroshii
    kuroshii Posts: 168 Member
    Options
    Strength training builds muscle, which increases your "base" metabolism. It's not intended to burn lots of calories right then and there.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    Options
    BlueHorse8 wrote: »
    How accurate is the Fitbit when doing strength training?.

    Not even remotely accurate
  • SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish
    SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish Posts: 831 Member
    edited January 2017
    Options
    It is very hard to accurately determine how many calories you burn during weight training, so in general, a low burn rate is calculated under Cardio, not strength training "Strength training". Just remember its extremely hard to accurately calculate caloric burn for weight training without a large amount of data, there are big differences between people. For example I benched sets with 265lbs, a friend benched 175lbs for same sets, and we are approximately the same weight so the burn is recorded as the same...of course its not the same. Or even for the same person between workouts its hard to calculate: one day I worked arms with 90lb weights, another strength training day I moved 875lbs on the leg press for sets...but it still logs the same burn rate...nowhere near the same burn in reality.
    BlueHorse8 wrote: »
    How accurate is the Fitbit when doing strength training? This week I lifted for 51 minutes and my fitbit showed I burned 465 calories in 53 minutes. Seems high. I did do 6 sets of each muscle group; chest, shoulders, back, biceps and triceps.

    Fitbit isn't really very accurate and is extremely inaccurate for strength training, it can move, be bumped, only really notes HR anyways... For me, I get 297 for 53 minutes of strength training by MFP, nowhere near 465 you got. You need to consider your size, what weight you are pushing, and what frequency of sets and exercises matters a ton. For example I generally I did maintenance workouts with 800-900lb leg press, 300-400lb deads/back machine, 275lbs bench press, but recently since I am coming back I have increased the time between exercises and reduced reps and in a few cases some weight. So while it was once a tad low, I am probably burning less calories now, and MFP calc is more on target. If you are doing more weight and weigh more than me, and have short rests between sets, maybe it is close to correct. If you are doing less weight or have long rests between sets, it is even more extremely off...
  • queencoombs
    queencoombs Posts: 21 Member
    Options
    Lifting is amazing for burning calories for hours after you've finished! And it gives you shape like no other exercise!!
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Options
    queencoombs wrote: »
    Lifting is amazing for burning calories for hours after you've finished! And it gives you shape like no other exercise!!

    #1: Not really--"afterburn" is often wildly overstated
    #2: Correct

  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Options
    kuroshii wrote: »
    Strength training builds muscle, which increases your "base" metabolism. It's not intended to burn lots of calories right then and there.

    It takes more muscle than people think to significantly increase "metabolism", since muscle only burns about 6 more calories per day than fat. Strength training burns a modest amount of calories during the exercise and a modest amount in the hours afterward. Combined, the total calorie burn--while not spectacular--is adequate to support a weight loss program and likely equal to that burned during a medium cardio workout.

  • KatzeDerNacht22
    KatzeDerNacht22 Posts: 200 Member
    Options
    Weight training is mostly to preserve muscle and shape things around, I don't even try and log it anymore.
  • for_ever_young66
    for_ever_young66 Posts: 2,881 Member
    Options
    Unless your focus is on doing a whole lot of reps with lesser weight, strength training is more about building and maintaining muscle.

Categories