HIIT(?) Weight lifting and how to log calories

janemcd67

Hi, I am getting the hang of my fitbit now, and I think I can get the calories right for most activities. However weight lifting seems totally off. When you lift to failure you (or at least I) get wiped out for a couple of days and get some serious DOMS. I feel like this should be worth more than 100 calories or so. Fitbit has no idea because it just counts my steps walking from one machine to the next. Is there any accurate way to log this?

heybales

You are very correct, Fitbit per their own admission is only for step-based activities, you'd never expect it to be right for swimming, right?

Manually log anything not step based. Rowing, swimming, lifting, elliptical, x-country skiing, spin/bike, ect.

Lifting is on MFP as Strength Training. It will still seem low compared to cardio of equal time - but that is correct during the workout. And it's more than nothing, which is about what Fitbit gives you over normal non-moving time.
Yours is vigorous level then since it is needing repair with DOMS.

HIIT, or if done after the lifting more correctly intervals (because you couldn't accomplish HIIT after a good lifting workout if you wanted to anyway), depends on how you do it.
That fad name has been applied to many activity types, calisthenics, intervals, even lifting.

Running intervals Fitbit will get right, elliptical not since not step based. If you entered weight on machine, it's estimate is close for short time used. If a long session, then HRM would be better.

janemcd67

Thanks for the response. Seems like I need to just log the exercise and count on it generally doing something to my TDEE that is hard to track (since the recovery must take energy and raise TDEE?)

I would like to get a HRM and have a 15 year old one by polartec. Do I need a new wireless one or something?

heybales

Yep, it will raise your TDEE.

And no, actually you don't get credit for the extra energy used during recovery for 24-36 hrs. That's just extra deficit you might say, and that indeed is hard to do.

The Strength training calorie burn is based on studies where they had 1-3 min rests between sets, depending on what was being worked, bigger leg muscles with bigger load need more recovery to recharge the ATP for your next heavy lift, but upper body, 1-2 min is usually enough.
If you make it more like circuit training, trying to keep the HR up between lifts with no sets, and keep rests under 1 min to cause a bigger burn, then that's cardio with strength focus, and is listed under Circuit training.

Just confirm you aren't putting a new intense load on the same muscles trying to repair. Nothing like wasting your lifting workout by basically doing it again and killing the repair process.
Circuit training doesn't need as much repair though, it's not overloading the muscles with weight, but rather endurance.

The Polar would probably work, if you can replace the battery, which the old units did not allow.
If you can just get avgHR during a cardio session, then use the spreadsheet on my profile page, on the HRM tab, with your stats, and your personalized calorie burn based on a Polar funded study will be used in table near bottom.

janemcd67

Thanks I will dig out my polar tec and see if it still alive. Very versatile spreadsheet that!
For the weights, I generally do not repeat an exercise for 2 weeks as I have read that the faster fibres can need a lot more time to revover, maybe 10 days, but then I lift once/week not once/10 days.
Except for dips and chinups that I usually try each week.

janemcd67

The dips and chinups are more for fun. But it is not fun to see how progress goes backwards when you weigh 20 lb plus more.