Calories burned during strength training...

Everyonelies

Hello all,

I currently use a Fitbit Flex 2, to count steps, track sleep etc. I recently came back on MFP and wanted to accurately track my calories burned vs calories consumed. The Flex 2 does not have a HR monitor, which I thought could help me figure out how many calories I am burning when strength training. After reading another post regarding HR monitors, I am more lost than before!

I feel like the calories "burned", according to my FB, are very high, but I have no other way of tracking them. I walk, strength train and swim, but it doesn't feel right to have so many calories earned from working out.

What are the suggestions when it comes to tracking calories burned? Are there any other activity trackers that would be recommended...a HR chest strap, nothing at all?

What do you guys use to track calories burned during a workout? Or what tricks do you recommend?

thanks!

aeloine

Biggest thing is to not eat all of your exercise calories back. My FitBit was giving me estimates that were too high so I disconnected it, tbh. Now I used MFP entries and eat about half back.

The other thing to do is to log your strength training as strength AND cardio. You'll get a nominal amount of calories back, I think. My Fitbit was giving me over 1,000 calories burned from lifting.

yirara

Strength training does not burn many calories but is good for you for a good, not skinny fit look once you get to that weight. HR monitors only kind of work for steady state cardio, thus running, swimming or cycling at the same speed. Why? Image you lift a weight. Then you take a break, yet your heartrate is still elevated. You're just standing around and your fitbit or whatever you use thinks you're working hard.

malibu927

Measuring heart rate isn't good for anything outside of steady-state cardio. Your best bet is to log it in the Fitbit app, as the calorie estimation seems a bit more conservative than MFP's.