Do you use weight lifting as "exercise" when doing TDEE?

norcaligirl72

Hello all... Do you use weight lifting as an "exercise" when determining TDEE? I am only using my cardio days as "exercise 3 times a week." Just wondering thoughts on this...

Mr_Knight

No, I don't, it doesn't burn much. You can always make an adjustment afterwards, once you see what your actual TDEE is (assuming you track diligently).

norcaligirl72

How you track calories for weight lifting on here?

Achrya

I do. If I didn't I wouldn't have anything to count

pavrg

You shouldn't. It's a very negligible amount. Each set probably takes you 10-20 seconds to complete. So 12 sets would equate to a whopping 2 minutes of work spread out among 45 min to an hour, during which you never elevate your heartrate to its max nor keep it there for a prolonged period of time.

pavrg

deleted - double post.

Achrya

You shouldn't. It's a very negligible amount. Each set probably takes you 10-20 seconds to complete. So 12 sets would equate to a whopping 2 minutes of work spread out among 45 min to an hour, during which you never elevate your heartrate to its max nor keep it there for a prolonged period of time.

And yet plenty of people count it and continue to lose weight at the rate as suggested by whatever TDEE calculator they use. (Me, for example) Why use a method based on exercise totals and not count all of your exercise?

Anywho, OP, check out this post and the spreadsheet there. It has a section specifically for your lifting time (and that section has the second highest multiplier, but I digress).

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/961054-spreadsheet-for-bodyfat-bmr-tdee-progress-tracker

Live4theLift

Going HARD with HEAVY weight and 60 sec rests between sets i think burns about 200 cals and hour

glreim21

Absolutely! When I am lifting, I am sweating, red faced, out of breath and higher heart rate than cardio. It counts for me:)

astrampe

Absolutely! When I am lifting, I am sweating, red faced, out of breath and higher heart rate than cardio. It counts for me:)

This....If you don't have an elevated HR or get tired, you are playing, not lifting heavy enough!

pavrg

And yet plenty of people count it and continue to lose weight at the rate as suggested by whatever TDEE calculator they use. (Me, for example) Why use a method based on exercise totals and not count all of your exercise?

Because weight lifting is oftentimes over-estimated, and the 100 calories doing it really doesn't make a difference in the long run. Besides, if weight loss is the goal this gives a 100-200 calorie buffer against under-estimating food intake calories.

Mind you, when I say weight lifting I am talking about traditional strength training of 12-18 sets of 3-5, 6-8, or 8-12 reps with 2 min rest inbetween sets, not crossfit, circuit training or any other routine that uses weights to make cardio more interesting.

I'm glad that you've had success by counting your weight lifting, but it's very easy for many people to overcompensate for that calorie burn or have less accurate calorie measurements than you. Just read all the "but I swear I eat 1200 calories/day and I'm not losing weight!" threads.

This....If you don't have an elevated HR or get tired, you are playing, not lifting heavy enough!

I lift as heavy as I can handle. My heartrate gets elevated, but nowhere near the point to when I do cardio (130-150 ish vs.180-190 ish when running). If you are getting a higher heartrate out of weight lifting than cardio, you're not pushing yourself when you do cardio, you have poor overall fitness, or you're doing some funky routine with weights using them for cardio rather than strength training.

Going HARD with HEAVY weight and 60 sec rests between sets i think burns about 200 cals and hour

Possibly, but that depends on how long it takes to do a set in that calculation. It's also easy to under-estimate their rest periods. I clock myself 60 sec rest between sets, but by the time I get into position and I'm actually pushing (or pulling) weight again it's closer to 90 sec, and that's still under what many strength training gurus recommend for optimal rest between sets (2-3 min).

In fact, I have yet to see anyone who knows what they're doing with weights only take 60 sec rests and workout HARD for a full hour (defined as working sets at least 85% of 1RM). Frankly, you'd have to be in outstanding shape to maintain that pace for even 30 min.

Mind you, running at my speed burns over 1300 calories/hour. So in lieu of running, weight lifting is still peanuts when it comes to calorie burn, which is why I don't count it.

willdob3

Of course I count weight training. I lift as heavy as I can & whip my own butt every time. At the end of my workout I am drenched & more tired than after any cardio workout.

Achrya

And yet plenty of people count it and continue to lose weight at the rate as suggested by whatever TDEE calculator they use. (Me, for example) Why use a method based on exercise totals and not count all of your exercise?

Because weight lifting is oftentimes over-estimated, and the 100 calories doing it really doesn't make a difference in the long run. Besides, if weight loss is the goal this gives a 100-200 calorie buffer against under-estimating food intake calories.

Mind you, when I say weight lifting I am talking about traditional strength training of 12-18 sets of 3-5, 6-8, or 8-12 reps with 2 min rest inbetween sets, not crossfit, circuit training or any other routine that uses weights to make cardio more interesting.

I'm glad that you've had success by counting your weight lifting, but it's very easy for many people to overcompensate for that calorie burn or have less accurate calorie measurements than you. Just read all the "but I swear I eat 1200 calories/day and I'm not losing weight!" threads.

This....If you don't have an elevated HR or get tired, you are playing, not lifting heavy enough!

I lift as heavy as I can handle. My heartrate gets elevated, but nowhere near the point to when I do cardio (130-150 ish vs.180-190 ish when running). If you are getting a higher heartrate out of weight lifting than cardio, you're not pushing yourself when you do cardio, you have poor overall fitness, or you're doing some funky routine with weights using them for cardio rather than strength training.

Going HARD with HEAVY weight and 60 sec rests between sets i think burns about 200 cals and hour

Possibly, but that depends on how long it takes to do a set in that calculation. It's also easy to under-estimate their rest periods. I clock myself 60 sec rest between sets, but by the time I get into position and I'm actually pushing (or pulling) weight again it's closer to 90 sec, and that's still under what many strength training gurus recommend for optimal rest between sets (2-3 min).

Mind you, running at my speed burns over 1300 calories/hour. So in lieu of running, weight lifting is still peanuts when it comes to calorie burn, which is why I don't count it.

Using the TDEE method the OP wouldn't be eating back her calories, so it hardly matters what it may actually come out to, the question is should it be counted towards their TDEE and the answer is yes. That's about all there is to it.

And, for the record, I am also talking about actual weight lifting, going as heavy as I can. I don't do any manner of cardio on a consistent basis (I don't think I've done any this month at all, actually) and yet I still count myself at a moderately active level and lose weight as the spreadsheet I linked above suggests. When using that method weight lifting is supposed to be counted.

randomtai

Damn right I count it in my TDEE. It's exercise.

Vini9

Bump for spread sheet link

pavrg

Using the TDEE method the OP wouldn't be eating back her calories, so it hardly matters what it may actually come out to, the question is should it be counted towards their TDEE and the answer is yes. That's about all there is to it.

Perhaps you're using a different calculator. The lowest setting above sedentary is working out 3x/week, which adds 300 cal/day for an exercise regimen that is burning 100 calories. And if I put in 6x/week (which is what I actually do), then it jumps the TDEE up to 500 cal/day above sedentary, which is even more of a mismatch. If I did that with no cardio, I would actually gain weight thinking that I was on a deficit. Then I could make another thread on MFP about how I have hypothryroidism or something.

Like I said, I'm glad that you've had success with counting weight lifting, but I'd wager you're in the minority.

EDIT: You're using a very detailed spreadsheet that a lot of people don't use. If you do what I was talking about -- going onto the web and inputting 'exercise Y times per week' into a calculator, you're going to get an over-estimate that weight lifting won't compensate for. Quite frankly, that's a lot of work to spit out a number 50-200 calories higher than it is now, and being a little extra under when trying to lose weight is a good thing.

init2fitit

Are you taking into account EAT?

Ely82010

I do. If I didn't I wouldn't have anything to count

Agree!

Ely82010

How you track calories for weight lifting on here?

It is under cardio.

ItsCasey

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure. If you count sleeping, why the hell would you NOT count heavy lifting? Who cares if it's an estimate? Even with cardio, it's an estimate. Intelligently choose a number and a deficit from that number, try it out for a while, evaluate your results, and adjust as necessary, based on your goals.

Achrya

Using the TDEE method the OP wouldn't be eating back her calories, so it hardly matters what it may actually come out to, the question is should it be counted towards their TDEE and the answer is yes. That's about all there is to it.

Perhaps you're using a different calculator. The lowest setting above sedentary is working out 3x/week, which adds 300 cal/day for an exercise regimen that is burning 100 calories. And if I put in 6x/week (which is what I actually do), then it jumps the TDEE up to 500 cal/day above sedentary, which is even more of a mismatch. If I did that with no cardio, I would actually gain weight thinking that I was on a deficit. Then I could make another thread on MFP about how I have hypothryroidism or something.

Like I said, I'm glad that you've had success with counting weight lifting, but I'd wager you're in the minority.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Is set by time, not days for one. The spreadsheet I linked also goes by time spent working out.

And minority, aside from the people saying they do count it, a large number of the people on my FL, people using the spreadsheet I linked from the 'Eat more to weight less" (Which again, has a section to enter the time spent strength lifting) which is far from a small group.