Chosing an Activity Level

Options
gp79
gp79 Posts: 1,799 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
What should I be setting my activity level too?

Workout Routine consists of

3x per week Starting Strength Practical Programing
5x per week Army PRT which is pretty weak if you ask me. Here's an example of a typical workout, in sequence.

Warm Up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6HlWmhyHy4
Conditioning Drill 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znURygmJ3eQ
Conditioning Drill 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHMcNbZ5eRU&feature=related
Four for the Core: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Td3JecGhIg&feature=related
Cool Down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm9-lRXBxGY&feature=related

Replies

  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
    Options
    How long (in minutes) is your SS 3x per week?

    How long (in minutes) is your PRT 5x per week?

    What do you do for a living?

    What do you do outside the exercise?
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,248 Member
    Options
    Don't include your exercise in your activity level. The calories you burn exercising get added to your daily goal after you log it. Your activity level is just about what you do the rest of the day, ie sedentary if you have a desk job, lightly active or active if you're on your feet all day, etc.
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
    Options
    Don't include your exercise in your activity level. The calories you burn exercising get added to your daily goal after you log it. Your activity level is just about what you do the rest of the day, ie sedentary if you have a desk job, lightly active or active if you're on your feet all day, etc.

    OP, please ignore this advice.
  • gp79
    gp79 Posts: 1,799 Member
    Options
    SS is about 60-70 minutes including 20 min cardio.

    PRT is 60 minutes,although not very intense as you can tell by the videos if you watched any of them.

    I'm in the Army - Pretty Sedentary during the duty day.

    Outside of exercise, it varys. Nothing substantial though.
  • gp79
    gp79 Posts: 1,799 Member
    Options
    /Ignored. However this is what I was doing for the past year. Sedentary activity level + HRM tracking. I'm getting away from that.
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
    Options
    SS is about 60-70 minutes including 20 min cardio.

    PRT is 60 minutes,although not very intense as you can tell by the videos if you watched any of them.

    I'm in the Army - Pretty Sedentary during the duty day.

    Outside of exercise, it varys. Nothing substantial though.

    You'd be surprised at the calories you burn.

    You should be at a 1.8 activity multiplier which is between Very and Extremely Active regardless of the "intensity". Your BMR is roughly 1800, then you gotta take other factors into consideration besides just your exercise which is more than regular. 60-70 minutes 3x a week, plus 60 mins PRT (even at low intensity) at 5x a week is a good amount of exercise.

    I would go as so far to say your TDEE is 3200 calories per day over an average of a 7 day period. Some days might be 3000, some days might jump as high as 3400-3500.
  • gp79
    gp79 Posts: 1,799 Member
    Options
    I've been calculating my BMR using the Katch method, estimating BF to be around 20%?

    Photo I took last night, and posted over at Lyles Body Comp thread: http://forums.lylemcdonald.com/showthread.php?t=3738&page=382

    When I get taped for the military I come in at 17% and when I do the Accu-Measure 1pt caliper test It comes in at 22% assuming I'm taking the skin fold in exactly the right spot.

    I've been calculating my BMR as 2192 k/cal.

    Using the multiplier of 1.55 for moderately active, that gives me 3398 k/cal as maintenance.

    10-20% over/under for bulk/cut correct?


    How do you manage your intake on rest days vs. workout days?
  • JennC831
    JennC831 Posts: 631 Member
    Options
    Don't include your exercise in your activity level. The calories you burn exercising get added to your daily goal after you log it. Your activity level is just about what you do the rest of the day, ie sedentary if you have a desk job, lightly active or active if you're on your feet all day, etc.

    OP, please ignore this advice.

    I'm courious to know why you said to ignore that comment? Just wondering...
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
    Options
    Don't include your exercise in your activity level. The calories you burn exercising get added to your daily goal after you log it. Your activity level is just about what you do the rest of the day, ie sedentary if you have a desk job, lightly active or active if you're on your feet all day, etc.

    OP, please ignore this advice.

    I'm courious to know why you said to ignore that comment? Just wondering...

    Because you include exercise in your activity level. Hence why activity level calculators have in them (exercise 1-3 times a week + light activity at job) etc.
  • violon
    violon Posts: 74 Member
    Options
    Don't include your exercise in your activity level. The calories you burn exercising get added to your daily goal after you log it. Your activity level is just about what you do the rest of the day, ie sedentary if you have a desk job, lightly active or active if you're on your feet all day, etc.

    OP, please ignore this advice.

    I'm courious to know why you said to ignore that comment? Just wondering...

    Because you include exercise in your activity level. Hence why activity level calculators have in them (exercise 1-3 times a week + light activity at job) etc.

    then why is there a place on MFP to add calories burned during exercise? i'm confused
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,248 Member
    Options
    *sigh*

    You don't include the exercise where it says, "How would you describe your normal daily activities?"

    You should input the amount of exercise you plan to do each week where it says, "How many times a week do you plan on exercising?" but that will not affect the amount of calories you're supposed to eat. Not until you DO the exercise. That's why it's important to use the calories burned from exercise.

    HOWEVER, if you're someone who doesn't believe in eating the exercise calories, you should include your exercise in your daily activities.

    If you include the amount of exercise you do in your daily activity *and* you log your exercise, it's double dipping. You're getting credit for the exercise twice. And that just doesn't make sense.
  • gp79
    gp79 Posts: 1,799 Member
    Options
    There's a couple ways this can be done, just to clarify for those who are confused.

    1) You're a nurse...you're on your feet all day walking around for a 12 hour shift. You're going to select lightly active or whatever is appropriate for your level of "incidental" activity. On top of that, you wear a HRM or have some way to track the amount of calories. When you complete a workout, you enter in the calories burned and then eat them back or whatever.

    2) You're me, and live a sedentary lifestyle, however I workout 3 - 5x per week and I DONT track the calories I burn after each workout. I enter in moderately active and it's done. No entering in calories from workouts because they are already accounted for in my daily total. The alternative would be to select sedentary, and then enter in calories to account for my time working out.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,835 Member
    Options
    http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

    rest/workout day calculator
  • gp79
    gp79 Posts: 1,799 Member
    Options
    Just after I build a nice excel spreadsheet calculator...someone outdoes me! Best calculator I've found so far.
  • fromaquasar
    fromaquasar Posts: 811 Member
    Options
    http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

    rest/workout day calculator

    Holy crap this awesome!

    I am addicted to this haha

    My question (as always) is how the heck do you define "hard" exercise. It is so relative! Is there a scientific way to do this?
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,835 Member
    Options
    http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

    rest/workout day calculator

    Holy crap this awesome!

    I am addicted to this haha

    My question (as always) is how the heck do you define "hard" exercise. It is so relative! Is there a scientific way to do this?

    Found it. :)

    In the case of this calc, it is setup for lean gains/IF so hard workout days would be weight training days and "off" days you can do any cardio you wish. Just remember that if you do additional harder cardio then you would have to eat a bit more to make up for it. (not a bad thing :tongue:)
  • fromaquasar
    fromaquasar Posts: 811 Member
    Options
    Haha execellent detective work !

    Ok am still slightly confused - am referring to when adding my activity level in the first "basic info" section it refers to:
    Moderately Active: moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week, x1.55
    Very Active: hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week, x1.725

    There needs to be a list somewhere of what constitutes hard sports and what are moderate ones!
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,835 Member
    Options
    aah yeah. I don't think there can be one because it is a bit subjective IMO. So many variables. For me, after using my body media fit for a while I know what my maintenance is so I just set it to the one that is closest to this figure. (2700 for me at 79kg) I would probably go on the conservative side if losing fat is the goal.
  • violon
    violon Posts: 74 Member
    Options
    Haha execellent detective work !

    Ok am still slightly confused - am referring to when adding my activity level in the first "basic info" section it refers to:
    Moderately Active: moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week, x1.55
    Very Active: hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week, x1.725

    There needs to be a list somewhere of what constitutes hard sports and what are moderate ones!

    I agree! And for those of us who do hard exercise 3-5 days a week... I guess our multiplier would be in between those two? :P

Categories