Heart Rate Monitor and Weight Lifting

Brunette122

Would you wear it while lifting? Opinions/thoughts? I found a couple of strength videos on fitnessblender that I'd like to try and I will be using dumbbells. Is an HRM just meant for cardio activities?

chezjuan

I wear mine when I lift, but not to track calories, just to watch my heart rate and see where it is at throughout my routine. HTM calorie counts are really only accurate fern steady state cardio.

skadoosh33

Doesn't work for calories burned but good to monitor HR.

Brunette122

That's what I thought but thought I'd ask. So do you log your weight lifting in MFP though or do you ignore any calories burned during weight lifting?

vorgas

As mentioned, HRMs aren't useful for calculating calories burned during weight lifting. It's because HRMs are designed to measure the Volume Load on your heart during Aerobic exercise (combining oxygen with fat). Lifting weights causes a Pressure Load on your heart during Anaerobic exercise (using glycogen in your muscles). Two different reasons for your HR to go up and two different sources of energy. It just won't be accurate.

The energy required to lift a weight is approximately .00032 calories per pound per foot per second (one pound moved through one foot in one second). Of course, your body is terribly inefficient and will expend quite a bit more energy to apply that amount of force. The exact amount depends on the nature of the lift. A barbell squat demands more than a smith machine squat for example. Lowering a free weight in a controlled manner demands much more energy than letting a machine quickly glide back to the rest spot.

But as you can see, if you move 10,000 foot pound seconds during a workout, you've applied 3.2 calories. Even at ten times inefficiency, you've burned a whopping 30 calories.

Of course, this is just the energy burned during the workout. The glycogen will need to be replaced (free carbohydrate calories). And now that you've torn up your muscles, your body is going to need to gobble up lots of protein to repair those. So the calorie requirement goes up even more. But it's kinda hard to measure.

Hope that helps.

Brunette122

Wow, it does, thanks! Lifting is very new to me.

jacksonpt

As others have said... it's not good for estimating calorie burns. You can use it for watching HR and timing rests/breaks though.

And on a side note, I don't think of lifting as a good way to burn cals. It's a good way to change body composition/appearance, get stronger, etc. If you want to burn calories, go for a run or something.

Brunette122

yea i have been doing cardio everyday for weight loss but heard alot from ppl saying to incorporate to get the biggest bang for my buck.

jacksonpt

yea i have been doing cardio everyday for weight loss but heard alot from ppl saying to incorporate to get the biggest bang for my buck.

Weight loss: diet
Cardiovascular health, endurance, speed, etc: cardio
Strength, aesthetics, etc: lifting

johnnifast

I wear mine everytime I workout (lifting or cardio). I use it not for the HRM, but for it to track how many calories I burn for each workout session. I use those calories burned numbers and coordinate that with my daily macros. People lose weight when they are in a calorific deficit.

Brunette122

If I shouldn't log my weight lifting in MFP because I can't go by my calories burned from my HRM then how do I know what I can eat any given day to stay within my diet macros?

BusyRaeNOTBusty

I just use MFP's entry under cardio for "strength training". 40 min ~ 140 calories.

Brunette122

got it, i'll do that. thanks!!

jacksonpt

If I shouldn't log my weight lifting in MFP because I can't go by my calories burned from my HRM then how do I know what I can eat any given day to stay within my diet macros?

Chances are you aren't burning enough while lifting to really impact your daily caloric need.

MaryDreamer

I always log my ST calorie burn under Cardio.

Yodifer

I dont log my weight lifting as calories burned - just my cardio. so for my weight lifting days I'll try to stay around 1400 calories, cardio days closer to 1500. Seems to be working. I'm 5'2 150lbs

Brunette122

Ugh. weight lifting sucks a bit in that sense. My diet macros are set at 1200. I guess if I lift I'll eat 1400. Is that ok? I'm used to burning close to 400 calories from my cardio activities and I love it because I can eat more !

Brunette122

I dont log my weight lifting as calories burned - just my cardio. so for my weight lifting days I'll try to stay around 1400 calories, cardio days closer to 1500. Seems to be working. I'm 5'2 150lbs

Are you set at 1200 too?

jacksonpt

No way to know for sure. Do it for a month or so and see what happens. If your expected results line up well with your actual results, then keep going. If not, you'll have to tweak something.

BajaDreamin333

I wear mine while I lift because I do circuit training. I do a series of 2 or 3 exercises with a cardio boost. So I might do 15 reps each of bicep curls, chest press, skull crushers followed by 30 mountain climbers. Then the next set is 3 more different weight exercises with a bump of 15 jumping jacks or running up stairs 3x. My goal is to keep my HR up the entire time I lift to maximize calorie burn and get the benefits of lifting.

jacksonpt

I wear mine while I lift because I do circuit training. I do a series of 2 or 3 exercises with a cardio boost. So I might do 15 reps each of bicep curls, chest press, skull crushers followed by 30 mountain climbers. Then the next set is 3 more different weight exercises with a bump of 15 jumping jacks or running up stairs 3x. My goal is to keep my HR up the entire time I lift to maximize calorie burn and get the benefits of lifting.

You'll likely see more benefit (at least from the lifting) if you stop the cardio stuff and simply focus on lifting the most weight you can regardless of HR.

cwolfman13

As mentioned, HRMs aren't useful for calculating calories burned during weight lifting. It's because HRMs are designed to measure the Volume Load on your heart during Aerobic exercise (combining oxygen with fat). Lifting weights causes a Pressure Load on your heart during Anaerobic exercise (using glycogen in your muscles). Two different reasons for your HR to go up and two different sources of energy. It just won't be accurate.

The energy required to lift a weight is approximately .00032 calories per pound per foot per second (one pound moved through one foot in one second). Of course, your body is terribly inefficient and will expend quite a bit more energy to apply that amount of force. The exact amount depends on the nature of the lift. A barbell squat demands more than a smith machine squat for example. Lowering a free weight in a controlled manner demands much more energy than letting a machine quickly glide back to the rest spot.

But as you can see, if you move 10,000 foot pound seconds during a workout, you've applied 3.2 calories. Even at ten times inefficiency, you've burned a whopping 30 calories.

Of course, this is just the energy burned during the workout. The glycogen will need to be replaced (free carbohydrate calories). And now that you've torn up your muscles, your body is going to need to gobble up lots of protein to repair those. So the calorie requirement goes up even more. But it's kinda hard to measure.

Hope that helps.