Don't mean to complain, but...

cdsledge09

I have been losing weight consistently, and I am truly happy with my progress. When I started out I was burning mad calories with just a little exercise. I understand that as your body gets used to activity you burn fewer calories, but it seems that even with the crazy workouts that I do with the CrossFit folks that I am killing myself to burn a sad 250-300 calories. I am truly thankful for the losses so far, but it is hard to stay enthusiastic about it when I'm sweating to death and burning so few calories per workout.

I look at the calories burned by some other MFP'ers and I would probably kill myself trying to get the same calorie expenditures. My bodybugg seems to be very accurate with regard to the calories burned for my workouts, but I'm just wondering if there's something I'm doing wrong, or that I can do to increase the burn..

smuehlbauer

Have you tried changing up your work outs? Doing something different?

StarryEyedGirl

I understand your pain! I am going through the same thing. Why does it have to be this way. hopefully someone will have a good answer for us!

maurierose

Have you tried extending your workouts? It seems like with my Polar HRM that I burn more calories per equal period of time when I work out for a longer period at the same high level of intensity than I did at the beginning of the workout..... re-reading that, it sounds confusing... hope it makes some sense to the reader. :laugh:

cdsledge09

Have you tried changing up your work outs? Doing something different?

My workouts change all of the time, thats a part of the CrossFit theory. I also run on my off days from Crossfit (usually 3 days per week). I think that I'm probably going to have to figure out a way to extend the time I work out at each session. I just don't know if I have the stamina. LOL!!

YogaRunner

Your body is becoming more efficient and that is a good thing. I don't know how much weight training you do, but adding muscle is a big part of burning more calories. Hope you see a shift soon.
Risa

supermom1114

You'll need to extend your time and/or add resistance to the activities. As your body adjusts to your workouts it becomes more efficient at burning fuel and getting oxygen to your muscles. So right now your body is telling you "Hey, I'm getting good at these workouts, challenge me more! Make them harder, longer, faster! I can take it!" You may wonder if you have the stamina or not but just try adding 5 minutes to every workout during the week, then add 5 more the next week, then 5 more, then maybe stay at the extra 15 min per workout for 2 -3 weeks depending how your body is feeling, then add more time. Or you could add more resistance. I'm not familiar with Crossfit but can you add weights to the routine? If you can't physically hold weights can you add ankle weights and wrist weights? You could definitely add those for one run a week to start, and don't push it you don't want to push to hard and injure yourself. You not only need varied workouts but you need workouts that intensify over time. Just because someone does 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week and each day its a different exercise doesn't mean they'll always be losing weight. The workouts need to get harder and longer overtime or your body will learn to maximize its efforts and you'll be in a plateau or not see as much of a calorie burn as before.

aquavitae30

Well, you are actually using a heart rate monitor, so your calorie count is probably a lot more accurate then most people who use the generic exercises in the database. For instance, I am sure I don't really burn around 1000 calories doing my turbo kickboxing class, especially on the days when I'm not pushing as hard, but that is the generic calories burned I get for it. I really want to get a good heart rate monitor to know what I'm really burning.

CakeFit21

I know you are killing yourself to get those calories, I've seen those workouts! That started to happen to me a while ago when I was doing a couple of Jillian M. DVD's for like 5 weeks straight. My calorie burn started to drop off. So, I decided to add 20 min. on the ellip. to every workout. It got me back up to the calorie burn I wanted. OR, you could stop xfit for a while and do something else, then go back, just for variety?

Azdak

I have been losing weight consistently, and I am truly happy with my progress. When I started out I was burning mad calories with just a little exercise. I understand that as your body gets used to activity you burn fewer calories, but it seems that even with the crazy workouts that I do with the CrossFit folks that I am killing myself to burn a sad 250-300 calories. I am truly thankful for the losses so far, but it is hard to stay enthusiastic about it when I'm sweating to death and burning so few calories per workout.

I look at the calories burned by some other MFP'ers and I would probably kill myself trying to get the same calorie expenditures. My bodybugg seems to be very accurate with regard to the calories burned for my workouts, but I'm just wondering if there's something I'm doing wrong, or that I can do to increase the burn..

I am not sold that the bodybugg is that great a tool for estimating exercise calories. Last year I spoke to bodybugg reps at a fitness expo (from the actual company, not some local dealer) and they were somewhat noncommittal as well.

In this case, an HRM might not be any better.

The problem is that these devices estimate calorie expenditure indirectly. I don't know how a body bugg senses changes in your fitness level over time, but I know how an HRM works.

They assume you have "X" for HRmax and "Y" for VO2max. When they monitor your heart rate during exercise, they assume that you are at a particular percentage of your HRmax and they associate that with a certain percentage of your VO2max. From those assumptions, and your weight, they estimate your caloric expenditure. (The HRMs use different algorithms, but they are based on the same principles).

The energy cost of exercise activities is relatively fixed. It does NOT go down, just because your fitness level improves. In other words, if running 6 mph has an energy cost of 10 METs, it's 10 METs today, tomorrow, next week, when your fitness level goes up, when it goes down, etc.

What changes is that your OVERALL fitness level improves, and the activity is a LOWER percentage of your maximum than it was before. So it feels easier, and your heart rate will be lower, but, unless your weight has decreased, you are still burning the same number of calories as before. Unless you update the settings on the HRM, it will give you a lower calorie reading because it assumes that your VO2max hasn't changed and that you are now working at a lower intensity.

Most people don't realize this, because they don't clearly understand how the body generates energy and there is a tendency to think that HRMs are omniscient. Everyone sees the lower number and assumes they are burning fewer calories, when, in fact, they just have outdated settings on their devices.

Now, when body weight decreases, caloric burn will decrease for any given level of intensity. That should be offset somewhat by the fact that you are now able to work harder (which increases caloric expenditure), but it may not make up for all of it.

You still seem to be losing weight steadily, so that indicates that your exercise calorie burn has not decreased as dramatically as you think. If you are doing the same workouts all the time, you might want to consider varying your training stimulus, but that's more to keep making continued fitness progress, not because it will burn more calories.

NeuroticVirgo

I think sometimes the tools online are being a bit generous. I remember a while back it said I burned 2000 calories from swimming leisurely. I must have googled that for a few hours because it just didn't seem right. I mean I was actually swimming (not just sitting on the steps, floating etc)., just playing with kids & hanging out, but not doing laps. I still don't trust that they give me the right count. So I bet having something like the bodybugg is giving you a more accurate count on what your burning.

Azdak

Have you tried extending your workouts? It seems like with my Polar HRM that I burn more calories per equal period of time when I work out for a longer period at the same high level of intensity than I did at the beginning of the workout..... re-reading that, it sounds confusing... hope it makes some sense to the reader. :laugh:

That's one of the shortcomings of HRMs and why they are not as accurate as most people think. What happens during an extended workout is that your heart rate increases even with no increase in exercise intensity. It is called "cardiovascular drift" and it is due to a combination of increased body temperature, decreased plasma volume and perhaps even a change in neural stimulation. The bottom line is that you aren't working any harder and you aren't burning any more calories, but heart rate increases. Since the HRM is just a heart rate counter, it has no idea what is going on and it just assumes you are working harder--so it is overestimating your calorie burn at this point.

Now, especially if you are a male, it is probably underestimating your calories during the first part of the exercise, so maybe it all works out in the end. I know that when I do a 45 stairmaster workout, for example, my Polar F11 reads at least 25% more calories burned during the second half of the workout compared to the first half, even when I have not changed the workload at all.

Again, HRMs are great workout tools, and can give you reasonable calorie estimates in many cases, but they are not precise--assume at least a 15% -20% discrepancy one way or the other.

Azdak

I think sometimes the tools online are being a bit generous. I remember a while back it said I burned 2000 calories from swimming leisurely. I must have googled that for a few hours because it just didn't seem right. I mean I was actually swimming (not just sitting on the steps, floating etc)., just playing with kids & hanging out, but not doing laps. I still don't trust that they give me the right count. So I bet having something like the bodybugg is giving you a more accurate count on what your burning.

You probably burned more calories googling......

XFitMojoMom

As a Crossfitter, I understand... I've been killing myself at the WOD's, but been getting a decreasing burn each time... Am I getting fitter - not sure... when I see a cardio activity where people are beating me by a second or two I'm f'n livid! Why isn't my cardio improving? I asked my PT, who couldn't give me an answer (as usual)... gonna hit up my CF trainer tomorrow. But then, today during my workout with my PT I got a better burn.. So, it leads me to believe two things...
1) either my HRM needs new batteries :grumble:
2) I'm spending too much time "recovering" in CF.
3) I'm really increasing my V02 max! :huh:

Personally I think it's the #2. I find there's too much chattering going on in between sets and conditioning at CF. It's still a hellava workout, but the socializing needs to be kept to a minimum.:indifferent:

Anyway - check out what values you are getting from doing other types of similar activities, and adjust accordingly. I know one fellow CF'er who after her WOD's will go for a 400 m sprint, just to achieve the burn she wants...

maurierose

Have you tried extending your workouts? It seems like with my Polar HRM that I burn more calories per equal period of time when I work out for a longer period at the same high level of intensity than I did at the beginning of the workout..... re-reading that, it sounds confusing... hope it makes some sense to the reader. :laugh:

That's one of the shortcomings of HRMs and why they are not as accurate as most people think. What happens during an extended workout is that your heart rate increases even with no increase in exercise intensity. It is called "cardiovascular drift" and it is due to a combination of increased body temperature, decreased plasma volume and perhaps even a change in neural stimulation. The bottom line is that you aren't working any harder and you aren't burning any more calories, but heart rate increases. Since the HRM is just a heart rate counter, it has no idea what is going on and it just assumes you are working harder--so it is overestimating your calorie burn at this point.

Now, especially if you are a male, it is probably underestimating your calories during the first part of the exercise, so maybe it all works out in the end. I know that when I do a 45 stairmaster workout, for example, my Polar F11 reads at least 25% more calories burned during the second half of the workout compared to the first half, even when I have not changed the workload at all.

Again, HRMs are great workout tools, and can give you reasonable calorie estimates in many cases, but they are not precise--assume at least a 15% -20% discrepancy one way or the other.

Thanks Adzak - good to know! )