frustrated with calories burned

tamazinglee

I am getting frustrated. I am not sure if my HR monitor is not working? Or if it's normal?
I just ran for 10 minutes at 6mph. My HR monitor says I only burned 68 calories. That seem so low to me. I am 165 pounds.....I figured I'd be burning more calories.

tamazinglee

I am getting frustrated. I am not sure if my HR monitor is not working? Or if it's normal?
I just ran for 10 minutes at 6mph. My HR monitor says I only burned 68 calories. That seem so low to me. I am 165 pounds.....I figured I'd be burning more calories.

BrandNewLaura

I am by no means an expert, but I think your calories burned is so low because of the duration of the exercise. I think I read on one of these posts that you have to work out for at least 20 minutes to really kick in the calorie burning...maybe tomorrow try 15 minutes and the next day try 20...or do 2 minute intervals of power walking alternating with running and do it for a longer duration...that might make your calorie burn higher.

tamazinglee

Sure, that makes sense. When I jog outside with my mom...we take it a little slower...I'd estimate that we are going between 4 and 4.5 mph. We go for 30 minutes straight and the HR monitor says I burn 122 calories.

songbyrdsweet

Unfortunately, we just aren't made to be calorie-busters. Exercise doesn't really burn a ton of calories, which is why it's so ineffective in treating obesity. Compared to what we burn just being alive, only about 10-15% of our total daily output comes from exercise, even if we exercise hard. You'll keep burning about 7 cal/min at that intensity no matter how long it lasts. So if you run for 30 min, you'll burn 210 calories, which is a little better, but still not in the 1000's. That's why we have to focus on our caloric deficit. Without the deficit, you could run marathons and still maintain your weight.

tamazinglee

Thank you for the input. I guess I just get frustrated when I see other people burning seven, eight, nine hundred calories at a whack.....I suppose I need to consider that they are probably working out for long periods of time.

mlillie

ha- I was thinking that just this morning after I worked my butt off doing intervals- totally sweaty for 45 min and burned 383.

I just knew I was way over 400. But I am so glad I wear a HRM- I love to use it for cal burn and for intensity. It is an awesome device and I dont trust the machines or estimates at all now.

cassangelidy

Hey Tammi,

The less you weigh the less you will burn. I did stairclimber for 20 mins and then walked on the treadmill for 25 mins at 4.0 mph and I burned 546 calories.....I out weigh you by almost 30 pounds, so it makes sense that I would burn more.

Also sister, you have to take into account the higher intensity you workout, you might not be burning AS MANY calories at the time....however you will be burning calories LONGER after you are done because it raises your metabolism for longer. I recommend doing HIIT cardio. I'm going to start incorporating this next week.

Read this...

The HIIT Revolution
High Intensity Interval Training, HIIT, Power Cardio- whatever you want to call it, it has become one of the top picks for fitness trainers and is opening doors to fat loss for people everywhere. Why? Because of the following HIIT is right for EVERYONE! Everyone from the experienced bodybuilder to the post baby woman can reap the benefits of HIIT.


The four major benefits of HIIT are:

Burn more calories by elevating your metabolism so you lose fat faster
Increase your power
Increase your speed
Increase your endurance

I know at this point I am probably sounding a like little Richard Simmons trying to get you to jump on the fitness bandwagon- but if there was ever a bang wagon to jump, this would be the one. We all seek better workouts and we all seeks ways to get the most out of our workout (especially in the shortest amount of time) and HIIT can really provide those answers.


High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

What is HIIT And Why does it Work so Well?
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is the concept of training in intervals, each interval at a different intensity. Different HIIT programs work best for different people, but everyone can benefit form working out are varying levels of intensity (see example programs below). When you complete a cardiovascular session at an unvarying intensity for the duration of a workout your body enters a 'steady state'. This is a state at which your body has adapted itself to the speed you are going and conserves energy. When you complete HIIT you do not allow your body to enter this state and thus allow yourself to burn more total calories in less time. Also, HIIT training is performed at a high intensity which raises your heart rate faster and raises your metabolism longer after the workout. The overall length of your workout are much briefer in duration than your typical aerobic sessions. Some studies, such as one by Laval University, state that HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) cardio helps subjects lose/burn nine times more fat than those who trained the traditional way. It makes you wonder why anyone told you to train at a slow pace for a long period of time!

Example workout:

Pick any type of cardiovascular method (running, swimming, recumbent bike, treadmill, elliptical machine, etc).
Make sure you take some time to warm up to get your body temperature raised before you begin.
Now begin your cardiovascular training at 75% of your maximum ability, stay at this pace for MHR intensity for 30 seconds
Now bring your intensity down to 30% for 90 seconds.
Now raise your intensity to 80% for 30 seconds.
Now bring your intensity down to 30% for 90 seconds.
Now raise your intensity to 85% for 30 seconds.
Now bring your intensity down to 30% for 90 seconds.
Continue to repeat these steps, each time bringing your intensity level up.

The key step to HIIT is not allowing your body to adopt, adapting to a certain level of intensity will allow your body to fall into steady state and it will begin conserving rather than burning fat. Keep changing your pace, and pushing yourself through each interval. No matter what your fitness goals, HIIT is one of the best ways of helping you achieve them. And the variations are endless. You can vary the training parameters (exercise to rest ratio, number of intervals) to make the workouts harder or easier, depending on what you are trying to accomplish. You can also use any number of exrecises for your training, such as cycling, sprinting, treadmill, elliptical trainers, jump rope, rope climbing, hill sprints, and more.



The Scientific Research
A study performed by Jeffery W King, of East Tennessee State University, published May 2001 provided the proof HIIT. The study showed that HIIT increases resting metabolic rate for the following 24 hours. This means that not only do HIIT workout increase metaoblism and help burn fat during the workout, but they continue to do so for 24 hours continuing the workout. For the full study follow the link provided below.

http://etd-submit.etsu.edu/etd/theses/available/etd-0412101-214442/unrestricted/king0417.pdf
The Future of HIIT
Many think that "Fartlek Interval Training" (FIT) is the future of HIIT. While both HIIT and FIT use changes in intensity, tha major difference is that Fartlek training uses a RANDOM changes in both time and intensity. You won't know what is coming, machines will be programed to create random workouts (some aerobic machines are designed to do this already) The Fartlek doesn't give you body (or your mind) any time to adopt, you don't know whether a faster interval or a slower interval is coming, so your metabolism and enegery stay on high!

carvan

Sounds just about right to me. I weight 140 and run. My hrm shows approx 1 cal for every minute. Therefore when I have run for 30 minutes I burn about 320 cals.

PrincessLaundry

How did your HRM go today? Did you take another run?

tamazinglee

Yesterday my workout went like this...6 minute brisk walk, 30 minute jog at 4 to 4.5 mph, brisk walk for 10 minutes. My calories burned was 227 calories.

jacmiley

I knew there had to be an advantage to being bigger -
I burn more calories

Then again ... my goal is to get to your sizes :happy:

Sexythighz

I was also concerned about the calories I was burning as per my HRM! I figured my body had just gotten use to the routines. I also dont take rest days and not sure if that was why my body was slowing down with the cals burned. I decided to use today as a full rest day and see what happens tomorrow with my workout!!! My HR does go up to the required level for me but and the amount of time I spend working out is usually 45 - 60 minutes long in duration. I want to work out smarter not harder!!!! I think HIIT is a great way to get the cals burned in the least amount of time. I will try it this week and see what happens.

Steph