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Why does strength training not get counted in your daily calorie needs?
mkbader
Posts: 1 Member
Yesterday I logged a super tough leg day with 23 sets of high rep, high weight exercises. MyFitnessPal does not budge the calories for the day like having a cardio entry does. I find this to be a big issue for this program. Weight training burns a lot of calories and the resulting lean muscle tissue raises your resting metabolic rate as well. I think your programmers needs to add in this functionality asap in order to keep your app relevant and accurate.
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Replies
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Firstly, weight training doesn't actually burn that many calories.
Secondly, there is a strength training entry under cardio, which will give you a reasonable calorie estimate.18 -
Yesterday I logged a super tough leg day with 23 sets of high rep, high weight exercises. MyFitnessPal does not budge the calories for the day like having a cardio entry does. I find this to be a big issue for this program. Weight training burns a lot of calories and the resulting lean muscle tissue raises your resting metabolic rate as well. I think your programmers needs to add in this functionality asap in order to keep your app relevant and accurate.
Log it under cardio as strength training...it is a reasonable estimate...but strength training doesn't burn a whole lot of calories despite it feeling like pretty hard work. The strength training section is just to keep a log of your lifts, which I just do with pen and a notebook.7 -
Yesterday I logged a super tough leg day with 23 sets of high rep, high weight exercises. MyFitnessPal does not budge the calories for the day like having a cardio entry does. I find this to be a big issue for this program. Weight training burns a lot of calories and the resulting lean muscle tissue raises your resting metabolic rate as well. I think your programmers needs to add in this functionality asap in order to keep your app relevant and accurate.
Sadly it doesn't - it just feels like it should.
Still a great thing to do for health and physique though.
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And if your heart rate monitor or fitness tracker is the thing telling you that the strength training burned a lot of calories . . . this is a scenario where it's a lying liar that lies. ☹️
How? Why?
https://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view?id=hrms-cannot-count-calories-during-strength-training-176986 -
Firstly, weight training doesn't actually burn that many calories.
Secondly, there is a strength training entry under cardio, which will give you a reasonable calorie estimate.
I have a hard time believing that the estimate that MFP gives is reasonable though? I had a ~1.5 hr lifting session today at ~11,000 lbs. total volume but the ~400 cal estimate MFP is giving seems way too high. Especially when you say strength training doesn't burn a lot of calories 🤔0 -
Firstly, weight training doesn't actually burn that many calories.
Secondly, there is a strength training entry under cardio, which will give you a reasonable calorie estimate.
I have a hard time believing that the estimate that MFP gives is reasonable though? I had a ~1.5 hr lifting session today at ~11,000 lbs. total volume but the ~400 cal estimate MFP is giving seems way too high. Especially when you say strength training doesn't burn a lot of calories 🤔
400 calories for 1.5 hours may not be huge calories, actually. Lightweight li'l ol' ladies can hit that number of calories in around 45 minutes of well power-metered steady-state cardio at under 70% heart rate reserve, i.e., only moderately high intensity. 😉 (I get 163 calories per the MFP estimate for a full hour of strength training. Doesn't seem like much . . . ?)
Maybe our definitions of "a lot of calories" differs?4 -
@ajlmfp22Firstly, weight training doesn't actually burn that many calories.
Secondly, there is a strength training entry under cardio, which will give you a reasonable calorie estimate.
I have a hard time believing that the estimate that MFP gives is reasonable though? I had a ~1.5 hr lifting session today at ~11,000 lbs. total volume but the ~400 cal estimate MFP is giving seems way too high. Especially when you say strength training doesn't burn a lot of calories 🤔
400cals in 90mins of exercise seems a modest burn rate to me - compared to the accurate 900cals from brisk cycling I do it's not a lot. What are you comparing it to to think it's way too high?3 -
I think that might be my issue then. That I don't really have anything to use as baseline for comparison.400cals in 90mins of exercise seems a modest burn rate to me - compared to the accurate 900cals from brisk cycling I do it's not a lot. What are you comparing it to to think it's way too high?
I can see that. If someone asked me to put a numerical estimate on "a lot of calories", I honestly wouldn't be able to give an answer.400 calories for 1.5 hours may not be huge calories, actually. Lightweight li'l ol' ladies can hit that number of calories in around 45 minutes of well power-metered steady-state cardio at under 70% heart rate reserve, i.e., only moderately high intensity. 😉 (I get 163 calories per the MFP estimate for a full hour of strength training. Doesn't seem like much . . . ?)
Maybe our definitions of "a lot of calories" differs?2 -
Mfp exercise Calories are stated as gross, not net
Mfp estimates a base level of BMR*1 25*time for sedentary (1.4/ 1.6/ 1.8 for higher pre set activity levels)
This would have to be subtracted from gross calories to give you actual net.
it is a primary reason why exercise estimates are often considered to be off
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Yesterday I logged a super tough leg day with 23 sets of high rep, high weight exercises. MyFitnessPal does not budge the calories for the day like having a cardio entry does. I find this to be a big issue for this program. Weight training burns a lot of calories and the resulting lean muscle tissue raises your resting metabolic rate as well. I think your programmers needs to add in this functionality asap in order to keep your app relevant and accurate.
Sadly it doesn't - it just feels like it should.
Still a great thing to do for health and physique though.
Well, yes and no. My high volume workouts burn maybe 200 calories on 60 mins, but the decrease in skeletal muscle efficacy can.0 -
Firstly, weight training doesn't actually burn that many calories.
Secondly, there is a strength training entry under cardio, which will give you a reasonable calorie estimate.
I have a hard time believing that the estimate that MFP gives is reasonable though? I had a ~1.5 hr lifting session today at ~11,000 lbs. total volume but the ~400 cal estimate MFP is giving seems way too high. Especially when you say strength training doesn't burn a lot of calories 🤔
That sounds about right...if I log strength training for 60 minutes on MFP it'll give me around 267...which would be right around 400 calories for 90 minutes. Relative to what I would burn in 60 or 90 minutes of cycling, it's pretty modest.1 -
Yesterday I logged a super tough leg day with 23 sets of high rep, high weight exercises. MyFitnessPal does not budge the calories for the day like having a cardio entry does. I find this to be a big issue for this program. Weight training burns a lot of calories and the resulting lean muscle tissue raises your resting metabolic rate as well. I think your programmers needs to add in this functionality asap in order to keep your app relevant and accurate.
then just use TDEE method and not the MFP method...problem solved...1 -
Yesterday I logged a super tough leg day with 23 sets of high rep, high weight exercises. MyFitnessPal does not budge the calories for the day like having a cardio entry does. I find this to be a big issue for this program. Weight training burns a lot of calories and the resulting lean muscle tissue raises your resting metabolic rate as well. I think your programmers needs to add in this functionality asap in order to keep your app relevant and accurate.
BTW, apart from the "lot of calories" point (which I agree with others about), the increase in resting metabolic rate may be underwhelming, besides. Estimates I've seen suggest that the difference in resting calorie expenditure between a pound of fat (which is also metabolically active, i.e., burns calories) and a pound of muscle is something in the range of 4 calories per pound per day.
If there's a payoff from muscle in calorie needs, I suspect there's a bigger payoff from being stronger making it easier and more fun to be active in both daily life and exercise, so strong people maybe tend to burn more calories that way, through daily life activity and increased exercise intensity. 🤷♀️5 -
Yesterday I logged a super tough leg day with 23 sets of high rep, high weight exercises. MyFitnessPal does not budge the calories for the day like having a cardio entry does. I find this to be a big issue for this program. Weight training burns a lot of calories and the resulting lean muscle tissue raises your resting metabolic rate as well. I think your programmers needs to add in this functionality asap in order to keep your app relevant and accurate.
All of the above answer your point anyway but, for future reference, in case you have any issues that do need to be addressed, it's rare for anyone from MFP to be reading any posts on these Forums. You'd need to go the Help section and log a ticket with the Support team. Sometimes you see an MFP Moderator pop up but you won't find Support on here.3 -
If you want a sense of calorie differences in your base burn that's reflective of muscle vs fat, check out tdeecalculator.net. It includes a field that will take into account body fat percentage when calculating appropriate calorie levels.0
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And if your heart rate monitor or fitness tracker is the thing telling you that the strength training burned a lot of calories . . . this is a scenario where it's a lying liar that lies. ☹️
How? Why?
https://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view?id=hrms-cannot-count-calories-during-strength-training-17698
I wonder if this is a flaw in the Orange Theory Fitness model? I am curious how many “calories burned” I log during the 20 minutes on the floor. It has a HIIT component but not much. Mostly strength.0 -
And if your heart rate monitor or fitness tracker is the thing telling you that the strength training burned a lot of calories . . . this is a scenario where it's a lying liar that lies. ☹️
How? Why?
https://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view?id=hrms-cannot-count-calories-during-strength-training-17698
I wonder if this is a flaw in the Orange Theory Fitness model? I am curious how many “calories burned” I log during the 20 minutes on the floor. It has a HIIT component but not much. Mostly strength.
Compare it to the MFP database estimate for 20 minutes of strength training. That may give you a rough idea.0
This discussion has been closed.
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