weight lifting true calorie count

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  • beaches222
    beaches222 Posts: 437 Member
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    bump
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    I worked it out for my 'heavy lifting' routine - it can take an hour if I have long breaks.
    Worked it out, as an idea, doing squats at 137.5kg, military press at 57.5kg and weighted pullups at 95.5kg totat weight.
    Now, the body isn't 100% efficient, so I bumped the numbers up a good bit.
    About 50-100 calories in total.

    Half the weight? Half the base calories + inefficiencies.

    Not what you are wanting to hear probably.

    BUT, that's ignoring the 'after burn' you get, where you body actually burns a lot of calories recovering.
    There is no sensible way to measure this.
    Get a knife. Turn the lights out. Stab.
    There you go, you burnt that much :).
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    When I started my weight training program with a trainer, he wanted me to do weights because he said they were more efficient for fat loss and you continue to burn calories for two days after the session.

    Except that the "extra" calorie burn in that case is only about 2 cal/hour. But it makes the trainer sound impressive and that's what is important (to the trainer).
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    The way HRMs calculate calories is that there is a known relationship between oxygen exchange and calories burned during cardiovascular, aerobic exercise. There is also a known relationship between HR and oxygen used based on an individual's VO2max. The HRM uses an equation to relate HR and calories based on VO2max. In reality, there is no direct relationship between HR and calories.

    Lifting weights is anaerobic. The elevated HR as a result of anaerobic exercise is different than from aerobic and doesn't have the same oxygen-exchange relationship so the relationship doesn't hold true. It would be like trying to measure 1 cup of flour on a scale. You can't. (unless you know what it's supposed to weigh)

    And yet, lifting weights must use energy...at least more energy than sitting on the couch watching TV, so how do they measure how much? I have a bodymedia device, which tells me I burn about 6 calories a minute doing it, if I keep moving...such as doing a circuit. If I lift something heavy 5 times and then take a 2 minute break, it's much less than that...very close to the amount it tells me I burn watching TV. To be honest, the estimation of all of it is pure magic to me, which is part of the reason I never eat back all of my exercise calories.

    There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
    Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

    - Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio

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