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

Helloitsdan

I've been wondering the same thing. The most I've been able to burn in an hour doing anything is about 350. I have 40-50 lbs to lose and am putting everything I have into my workouts. I guess though, it's really not necessary to burn that many calories because then you have to eat to make up those calories. idk either....

youll do wonders just working out 3 days a week for under an hour and resting.

Perfect bodies are built in the kitchen and while you sleep!
Everything else is secondary!

This is a good article that can be applied to just about anything!

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=122509811&page=1

AllanMisner

I weigh 227lbs, but can go very hard on the elliptical for over an hour. I keep my heartrate around the 85% mark during that time. I take the calories burned from the machine, which range from 800 - 900. I know this can be off, so I don't eat all of my exercise calories.

I think a lot of people forget there is a distance component to calorie burn. It isn't just heartrate. Otherwise, I'd just sit on a coutch and watch exciting movies. It takes energy to move a certain weight a certain distance. Our bodies get more efficent with exercise, so that is where heartrate comes in.

samantha196

I can do 40 minutes of Body Combat and burn 500-600 calories. I'm 50 pounds overweight and I have heard that the more you have to lose the more you burn at first. My friend who is 130 pounds does the same thing and only burns about 300 calories.

Azdak

Your calorie burn depends on two things:

Intensity of the effort (i.e. amount of oxygen consumed per minute)

Body weight

That's it.

Heavier people doing the exact same exercise at the exact same intensity will burn more calories than lighter people, and vice versa.

I use running at 6 mph as a good example, because it makes the arithmetic more simple. Running at this speed has an intensity of about 10 METs (MET stands for metabolic equivalent and is equal to the amount of oxygen the avg person consumes at rest, or 3.5 mlO2/kg/min).

A 132lb (60kg) person running 6 mph will burn 600 calories per hour

A 154lb (70kg) person running 6 mph will burn 700 calories per hour

A 176lb (80kg) person running 6 mph will burn 800 calories per hour

A 198lb (90kg) person running 6 mph will burn 900 calories per hour

A 220lb (100kg) person running 6 mph will burn 1000 calories per hour

So that's what it takes to burn 1000 calories in an hour. If you are a lighter person or you can't run 6 mph for an hour, then you are most likely not burning 1000 cals in an hour, regardless of where you are getting that number.

Many people get overestimated readings from HRMs because they either have cheapo models, or they don't have the devices set up properly.

The biggest mistake is an incorrect HR max. HRMs default to an age-predicted value (usually 220-age) if your actual max HR is higher than that (not uncommon, esp for women) than the HRM assumes you are working at a much higher intensity than you actually are.

Other conditions that will inflate HRM calorie numbers:

Strength training
Upper-body work
Thermal stress

Azdak

Maybe I should clarify for some.. I (ME) do NOT burn 850 cals an hour. I do use an HRM and it generally has me burning between 350-400 in an hour workout, sometimes less if I do more weights (duh, not as much of an elevted heartrate there).

But on my news feed people who (as far as I know) are about my weight and same sex - burn close to 1000 cals in a single workout. And it's often not even running, but rather a "walk off the pounds" type of exercise. That being said they say they use an HRM as well.

I am just confused. I know I should be happy with what I'm burning. Sometimes wish I had more to lose, it may come off easier :P - at least at first.

Most of the time, those higher numbers are bogus. HRMs are not magic devices. If they are cheap, or not set up properly, they can be wildly inaccurate.

ArroganceInStep

Strength training
Upper-body work
Thermal stress

Question for you Azdak, are you familiar with how much thermal stress may skew the results? Is it a minor discrepancy or can it be a major one?

Azdak

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'll show you how to burn more calories on an elliptical.

Nicola0000

Its when people post theyve burnt 2000 cals doing food prep. WTF????

lauraemthomson

i do not use MFP recomended cals for time as i think they are way out! i use HRM and it works well for me.

JollyJane13

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.

All my photos are less than a year old and show me at my heaviest. Also I am 3x your size and I can easily burn 900-1000 calories in an hour. I wear a heart rate monitor and I have caught myself at 92% my max heart rate, so I slow down, take a rest and then jump back into it. I think for anyone your size to burn 500 cals in a hour should be plenty.

ErinRaeHW

Like the other said, it totally depends on YOU! Lots of factors go into it.

Im over 200lbs, and can easily burn 800 calories doing an hour of cycle/spin class. But if I am on the elliptical, I usually burn 300-350 in 30 minutes. Not quite as much but I probably dont push as hard either~

Everyone is different, best thing to do is to work on you and not worry about anyone else!

jwallace84

I burn 800-1000 calories per workout session and it's very intense...I also wear a HRM....

philOHIO

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?

It's because maybe you have that elliptical set on ONE instead of 20, you're a smaller girl... I can burn 800-900 calories in an hour on the elliptical or running, but I am a 240 lb. male. That is why.

slayerdan

In a solid hour I can burn over 2000 based on bodyweight......dont worry about it, youve got it down pat.

loseweightjames

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?

I've burned more than 800 calories in a hour by running for an hour and being well over 200 lbs.

They must be rather heavy to burn over 800 calories in a hour and running or something similar.... or they're putting in more calories than they're actually burning.

here's a list:
http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist.htm

most calories burned:
--boxing
--rowing
--Cross country skiing, racing
--Cycling, >20mph, racing

CouleeRunner

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 we weigh around the same?? I am 5'5" and 137 pounds. I burn around 400 for an hour of Zumba and around 600 for an hour of running. I run at about 85% of my max heart rate unless I am sprinting. I wondered the same about these huge calorie burns I see.

mrsweigl

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?

I wear a bodybugg and i agree with you 300-400 calories is the max i burn in an hour session (which is running on the treadmill at 6.0 and weight lifting)
oh and i took a cardio kickboxing class and only burned barely over 400 and that was intense (i weigh about 145lbs)

bayertablets

I'm 340ish and I worked out yesterday and burned the following (according to the machines):

Elliptical at levels 10-13 for 27 minutes: 381 calories burned

Arc Trainer at varying inclines between 5-10 and varying resitances between 60-100 for 30 minutes: 739 calories burned

I take into account that the machines are overestimating my calories burned, so I only log 85%. That still gives me 323 for the elliptical and 628 for the arc trainer, so that means for 57 minutes of cardio I burned an estimated 951 calories.

I am obese and I keep my heart rate between 180 and 190.

sheffyce27

it all depends on the type of activity and the level of intensity i can easly burn up to 800 cal in an hour, more if i really push myself. cardio activites like jogging over 6 mph and even using the elliptical with high resistance and a decent speed will get you burning more than walking or moderate cycling. duration isn't the key, exertion is. I am NOT saying that you have to go hard or go home just answering your question.

honeysprinkles

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?

It really does depend a lot on your size and how hard you're working. I can burn 700 calories in an hour on the elliptical if I have the resistance way up and my heart rate stays up the whole time. But I'm 5'6" and 180lbs, you might be significantly smaller and therefore burn a good bit less! And guys usually burn a lot more than women do because they have more muscle mass.