so what's up with 850-900 cals burned in less than an hour

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Felidae_1981
Felidae_1981 Posts: 200 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
A lot of people here seem to burn ^^ that many calories in one session of exercise, sometimes the title does not even seem to be vigorous exercise. How is this possible?

At my total max I burn 600cals in an hour of cycling class. I realize that if people weigh more they'll burn more, but I don't know if everyone that does this weighs more.

An hour at the gym with running, elliptical, stairclimber and so on brings me 300-400 cals MAX. I can't push myself any harder or I'd pass out.

What gives? what am I doing wrong?
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Replies

  • Psyb3r
    Psyb3r Posts: 176 Member
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    I wear a HRM, and do Zumba for 1 hour and burn approx 800 calories. It's intense. I guess it just depends on how far from your goal you are, and how hard you work at it. Some people don't put their all into a workout and some people give 110%
  • sirihermine
    sirihermine Posts: 123 Member
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    i'm usually at 700 -800 cals. for an hour of spin class, elliptical or arc trainer.
    But then again, I weigh more than you, and I hit my max. heart rate several times during that hour.
  • Felidae_1981
    Felidae_1981 Posts: 200 Member
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    That sort of impies I don't give 110%, which I do. I seriously can't be in any more pain. I only need to lose about 15-20 lbs and an hour of Zumba (with HRM) also only burns 400-500 cals for me.
  • StarvingDiva
    StarvingDiva Posts: 1,107 Member
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    I too wear a HRM and my calorie burn varies on any given day, but boxing and kickboxing for an hour will usually yield me around an 800 calorie burn, I can always tell when I'm going to burn more, if I spent more time running during warm up, if I do more squats in between punching the bag, if I do punch out for 1 or 2 minutes. Some days you just don't have gas in the tank, so even though you do the same workout, you may not be putting in the same effort.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    I'm with you - 600 cals an hour is a huge workout for me!
  • j3nn14er
    j3nn14er Posts: 53
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    If you weigh more, you burn more. Don't worry you are doing fine--I can only burn like 600/hr running my hardest (5'8 130lbs)
  • btdublin
    btdublin Posts: 250 Member
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    I agree and the MFP numbers are usually way over the top. I typically take 25-50% off what it recommends if I am not tracking with HRM myself.

    Also, soooo many people keep saying they are using the elliptical machines. I find this the most useless workout for HR and therefore cal burn. Not much better than a recline bike! I don't know how you can burn 800 on the thing, I have only even burnt about 200-300 cals on one.

    Go for a run or a spin class people - probably the only two things that will burn 600-800. Zumba too I do every now and then and that is definitely 800 cals if you put everything into it.
  • Zoe2901
    Zoe2901 Posts: 73 Member
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    No ine is saying you dont give 110% but you have 15-20lbs to lose and alot of people on here including myself have up to a 100lbs and even more to lose so people weighing more sre going to burn more
  • andrejjorje
    andrejjorje Posts: 497 Member
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    Here is the very simple fact. Any physical activity that bumps up your HR in Zone 5 which is 90-100% from your max HR can burn up to 20 cals/min. You do the math now.
    Here is some details.

    Zone 5a: Threshold Endurance
    Also known as: Superthreshold
    % Lactate Threshold: 100%-102%
    % VO2 Max: 91%-93%
    % Max Heart Rate: 91%-93%
    RPE Scale: 17

    Used for: Intervals, hill work, and tempo work; typically used after some Zone 4 time has already been done. Zone 5 workouts are very short because it is difficult to maintain this level for any length of time.
    Zone 5b: Anaerobic Endurance
    Also known as: Speed Endurance
    % Lactate Threshold: 103%-105%
    % VO2 Max: 94%-98%
    % Max Heart Rate: 94%-98%
    RPE Scale: 18-19

    Used for: Intervals and hill work to improve anaerobic endurance. Intervals in this zone generally have work-to-rest ratio of 1:1, for example, a 20 second sprint followed by 20 seconds of easy recovery (Zone 1).
    Zone 5c: Anaerobic Capacity
    Also known as: Power
    % Lactate Threshold: 106%+
    % VO2 Max: 98%-100%
    % Max Heart Rate: 98%-100%
    RPE Scale: 20

    Used for: Short-term Sprinting. Intervals in this zone have a work to rest ratio of 1:2 or more.
  • stephabef
    stephabef Posts: 936 Member
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    I can burn 600 cals on the elliptical in an hour (but when I subtract the number of cals I would be spending just by being alive, it comes out to more like 550). I've never hit over that in an hour, and I'm not sure it's possible for someone at my weight/size.

    However, I could totally see someone double my size hitting 800-900... quite easily, actually.
  • MrsCheddies
    MrsCheddies Posts: 12
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    I used to burn close to 800 an hour on the cross trainer (this was measured through my heart rate monitor. My heart rate monitor in Zumba suggested I would burn around 500 calories an hour.

    I think MFP grossly overestimates calories burned.

    But I suppose weight does come into it i.e. the heavier you are the more you burn.
  • peterson_jessica
    peterson_jessica Posts: 119
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    I'm 10 lbs. from my goal weight and went on a 30 minute run with my HRM last night and burned 343 calories. I guess it just depends. I would say that I am in pretty darn good shape but I still burned that much...
  • stephabef
    stephabef Posts: 936 Member
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    I agree and the MFP numbers are usually way over the top. I typically take 25-50% off what it recommends if I am not tracking with HRM myself.

    Also, soooo many people keep saying they are using the elliptical machines. I find this the most useless workout for HR and therefore cal burn. Not much better than a recline bike! I don't know how you can burn 800 on the thing, I have only even burnt about 200-300 cals on one.

    Go for a run or a spin class people - probably the only two things that will burn 600-800. Zumba too I do every now and then and that is definitely 800 cals if you put everything into it.

    I burn the same amount on a run as I do on the elliptical. If you're pushing yourself to the max, you can easily burn big. How can you even compare it to a reclining bike? A cross ramp elliptical works arms/quads/hamstrings/calves and you aren't sitting down. It can be a fantastic workout for someone with poor joints and is a cross training option for those of us who run on a regular basis.
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
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    I think what’s throwing you off is you look at peoples profiles and they are a healthy weight, they aren’t double your weight so you don't understand why they are burning so much. The truth is all the photos on their profile are old, they are 20-40+ lbs heavier, admit it people! Mine are 2+ years old and 10-12lbs lighter but that's b/c I started on MFP 2+ years ago right before gaining 8lbs on my honeymoon. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it, LOL!

    I can't imagine burning 800 cals in an hour of Zumba, I've done it 2x, it was fast paced dancing but by no means as intense or nearly as fast paced compared to Turbo Fire or even spinning.

    Just take it with a grain of salt and focus on you. All the "good work!" comments on your news feed mean nothing, do it for you.
  • thankyou4thevenom
    thankyou4thevenom Posts: 1,581 Member
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    That sort of impies I don't give 110%, which I do. I seriously can't be in any more pain. I only need to lose about 15-20 lbs and an hour of Zumba (with HRM) also only burns 400-500 cals for me.

    There are several factors as to why you burn less than the other people in this thread.
    1) You're lighter than them. The less mass you have to move, the less calories it takes shake that booty.
    2) You're fitter than them. The fitter you are the less hard your body has to work to shake your booty, the less calories you burn.

    Unfortunately you're fitter than the people in this thread so to work off the same amount of calories means you have to work even longer and even harder than someone who is morbidly obese/obese or in general less fit than you.
  • mikethom
    mikethom Posts: 183 Member
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    For what it's worth:

    I'm 51, weigh 281, when I exercise I wear a HRM and I use this site to calculate my calories: http://www.triathlontrainingblog.com/calculators/calories-burned-calculator-based-on-average-heart-rate/

    I've guestimated my VO2 max at 26, and my average HR over an hour on the treadmill is 147 - the calculator estimates that I burn 1032 cals - I usually knock off ~ 100 for BMR so I'd probably enter 925 for the workout.

    So looking at your profile I substitued your weight (guessed at from your ticker), age, and gender into the calculation (everything else is the same) and the calculator says that you would burn 447 cals - your BMR would be quite a bit lower than mine...

    Mike

    P.S. My HRM would tell me that I burned almost 1600 cals which I've never believed :laugh: MFP would tell me I burn ~800 cals for walking uphill over the same time period which seems to be close to what the calculator give me...
  • liroez29
    liroez29 Posts: 221
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    That sort of impies I don't give 110%, which I do. I seriously can't be in any more pain. I only need to lose about 15-20 lbs and an hour of Zumba (with HRM) also only burns 400-500 cals for me.


    I think it is probably just because you are not very over weight, I burn a lot of calories in an hour because I still have 30+lbs to loose. Your doing good for your body, that is what counts. I don't think that comment was meant negatively (although I can see why you thought so). There is no way anyone on here can really know how hard anyone else is working. Good luck to you!
  • debilyn574
    debilyn574 Posts: 92 Member
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    No way I can burn that much either (I'm 5'8", 136). I believe men are able to burn more than women, not sure if it's just cause they typically weigh more or what, but I've learned to get over the fact that my gym partner's HRM says 1,000 calories when I'm hoping for 500!
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
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    1) You're female. You naturally burn less.

    2) You don't have much to lose. You naturally burn less.



    That's pretty much it really. Dont judge yourself by the burn of others, unless they are the same sex and weight as you. This always drives Vonnie mad, that i always get higher numbers than her. :P
  • andrejjorje
    andrejjorje Posts: 497 Member
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    Yes you're right. This one together with my answer should explain the facts. The more fitter you are the harder to go up in those crazy HR rates hence less calories burned.
    The lighter you are the HRs needed to do things are lower than somebody much heavier.
    Everything is related to HR.
    That sort of impies I don't give 110%, which I do. I seriously can't be in any more pain. I only need to lose about 15-20 lbs and an hour of Zumba (with HRM) also only burns 400-500 cals for me.

    There are several factors as to why you burn less than the other people in this thread.
    1) You're lighter than them. The less mass you have to move, the less calories it takes shake that booty.
    2) You're fitter than them. The fitter you are the less hard your body has to work to shake your booty, the less calories you burn.

    Unfortunately you're fitter than the people in this thread so to work off the same amount of calories means you have to work even longer and even harder than someone who is morbidly obese/obese or in general less fit than you.

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