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

tinamina78

Here's an interesting article on the difference in calories burned in people who weigh differently. Not only is there a weight difference factor but there's a difference factor for if you're good at the activity you're doing. If you've had a lot of practice, your body doesn't exert the same amount of effort as if you're still learning... maybe mix up the activities and try something new to add a boost of calorie burning? Just a thought. Every body is different; do what works best for you.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/516870-do-heavier-people-burn-more-calories-while-exercising/

rebeccap13

Use an HRM to calculate your cals burned and mind your own business. Why does it matter what other people are burning in less than an hour?

PS During a typical Crossfit workout I burn over 300cals in 15 minutes. BUT THAT CAN'T BE RIGHT!

My1985Freckles

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.

Try doing HIIT on the elliptical! It's incredible. If I am looking for a high-calorie burn day, I go to the elliptical for some HIIT everytime! I can usually get 575-650 cals burned in 45 minutes. My HR is through the roof! Usually averaging in the upper 160's/lower 170's. It's about how much you put in.

amyy902

im quite light, and i burn around 800 ish in an hour and 10mins at the gym.

i run for 30mins at m slowest running an 8min mile i increase my speed during the 30mins and set my treadmill at a minimum of 1.5gradient ..... increasing and decreasing but never drop below..... this burns about 320cals

i walk up hill on a max gradient thats 15% i tend to walk for 30mins at 7.2kmph, this burns about 350 cals.

i then do 400 situps with added weight (i use 15kgs) this burns around 200cals, obvs if you increase the load it will burn more.

if i was heavier i imagine this would burn a lot more cals, but im not trying to loose weight, but i hope this gives an idea........

Hoswife

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 will agree that MFP numbers can seem over the top on some things.

But I 100% disagree with you on the elliptical and bike comments. And to tell people to "go for a run or a spin class" is just cutting. At least to me. I have a fused ankle and those things are not even an option for me. I work my HR to the max on both of these machines, sometimes to the point of over the top and can and have burned anywhere from 400-800 calories. It may not work for you, but it might for someone else.

Azdak

I hope that AZDAK sees my posts and comments on what I have done....



I recently adjusted my HRM because of this. I am 6 ft tall and am down from 230 to 172. I have a Polar ft7 and when I run, my average Heart rate is 176-180 and a peak of up to 194 depending on the day, this is for 45 minutes to an hour of running. I often burn over 1,000 calories according to my HRM. Anyways back to the point. Under user settings, it takes your personal stats and gives an estimated "max HR" ( for me it says 192) and then from what I gather, it takes this "max hr setting" and compares it with your actual HR to determine % of max capacity you are working to compute calories burned.

My issue is if I can hit 194 and not be dead or in fibrillation, then obviously my max HR is higher than the 192 that polar estimates for me so the other day I moved the setting up to 196. And since then I have hit 194 a few times so I might bump it up to 200.


I do not recommend everybody do this, and I would hope that as my fitness improves that my max hr will drop for steady state cardio such as long runs.

But I attribute this to why my calories burned are 30-40% higher than some of my friends when doing running at the same speed.

I'll go back to a previous post.

At 172 lbs, running at 6 mph will put you at 750-800 calories an hour. If you are running at about this speed and still getting rates of over 1000 cals in an hour, then you HRM is overestimating (assuming you are not running up a lot of hills). To burn 1000 calories per hour at your weight, you would have to run 7:30 to 7:45 miles.

That's a rough scale you can apply to your workouts.

morgansmom02

I think a lot of people believe what this website says for calories burned. I have learned that it is WAYYYYY off. I mean, it said I was burning 600 calories on the elliptical, when really according to my HRM, I was only burning 300.

mohawk1971

Body weight, your body, exercise intensity, and the kind of exercise play a part in calorie burn.

For me 45 minutes on elliptical normally burns 620 to 700 depending on settings.
45 minutes on an arc trainer typically burns 720.
45 minutes of basketball burns - 620 to 700.
The best burn for me comes from the dual action bikes with HIIT cardio easier can top 750 calories in 45 minutes.
Also Insanity Asylum workouts are great burns for me.

And yes I use a HRM to accurately track calorie burns, I dont trust the exercise machine calorie burn read out as much.

stephy_simonik

I was wondering the same thing because as tired as I am after an hour workout - I cannot burn more then 600 Cals and see friends doing 1000. I really think it is how fit you already are. Since I am relatively fit and don't have a lot to lose I require less energy to perform the exercise resulting in not burning as many calories : D Don't be discouraged.

almost350

It's because peopl at different weight have different calorie burns. If someone that weighs 300 lbs does the exact same session as someone that weighs 200lbs, they will burn much more calories because it takes more effort

MinnesotaManimal

I'll go back to a previous post.

At 172 lbs, running at 6 mph will put you at 750-800 calories an hour. If you are running at about this speed and still getting rates of over 1000 cals in an hour, then you HRM is overestimating (assuming you are not running up a lot of hills). To burn 1000 calories per hour at your weight, you would have to run 7:30 to 7:45 miles.

That's a rough scale you can apply to your workouts.

there are some substantial grade changes in my runs, but I still feel that it is an over estimate. when I am on a hill and hitting 194, I do not feel that I can continue at that level for more than 30-40 seconds and its usually near the top of the grade that it peaks. so doing rough math, if this is "95%" of max, then I could set my max at 203?

andrejjorje

Good info. Thanks Azdak.

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?

It can be substantial.

Example: a yoga class might burn 300-400 calories. During hot yoga, people will get HRM counts double and triple that number. The extra number is due to the thermal stress (no extra calories are actually being burned).

That's probably an extreme example, but I would say that, for someone 170-200 pounds, thermal stress could make a difference of 2-5 calories a minute.

There is also something known as cardiovascular drift. During a longer workout, heart rate will steadily increase with no change in workload. When I do a 45 stairmaster workout, even a fairly easy one, my HRM calorie count for the 2nd half of the workout is easily 30% higher than the first half (sometimes 100+ calories difference in 22.5 min), even though neither my workload nor my breathing has changed.

It's one of the many reasons why I caution people about HRM calorie readings -- not to see them as precise measurements. The average HRM is set up to estimate calories only during steady-state aerobic exercise. If set up properly, it might reach about 85%-90% accuracy under those strict conditions.Every variation away from that "ideal" set of conditions diminishes the accuracy.

lukybug

I know a lot is based off how much people weigh. I think the higher someones BMI, the more cals they burn. As their weight comes down, so do the calorie burns. Personally, when I did Zumba, I usually only burned 500 or less cals in that hour. I am now a Turbo Kick instructor and do Turbo Fire at home and I burn upwards of 850 in an hour. I only have around 20 pounds left to lose too. I burn around 450 on a 3 mile run. I'm 5'2" and weigh 143. I do use an HRM to track my cals too. Hope this helps.

dp1228

I would seriously recommend not worrying about it. Your burn is working for you- focus on what you can burn. You aren't messing anything up or missing out on anything, people are all just different.

Chillax and focus on doing what makes you feel best. Competing with others will get you nowhere fast.

THIS

perpetuallyfit

OP, thank YOU for starting this thread.

I too use the elliptical and there is no way I can burn 600 cals in an hour! According to the machine, I burn only max 300 in 60 mins. But MFP states that I should burn 571 cals and I'm left wondering where I'm going wrong.

The posts here has given some insights to this. I'm 130lbs and already at the lower end of my healthy weight range according to BMI. Like you, I thought I was doing something wrong.

What are your settings on the elliptical? at what incline and level do you normally work out? I burn about 600 cals in 30 minutes. I set the level at 8 and the incline at 15 degrees. I weigh 220 lbs!! :P

Embell0830

A HRM is probably the best thing to get if you don't have one, I know I need one. My exercise of choice is dancing and since I've noticed that MFP calories burned seems to be way off, if I take an hour dance class I'll only enter in 45 minutes, because it takes time for my HR to build up and we always do a cool down.

As for people talking about Zumba and the variation of calories they are burning, in addition tofactors like intensity and weight it also depends on the teacher. Every teacher who is Zumba certified puts a personal twist on it. The dance studio I go to has four different Zumba instructors. One teacher is super intense and you might as well be doing aerobic bootcamp with no break between songs, another teacher is oldest of the four and while her routines cause you to break a sweat and you can up the level, hers is the easiest of the four. The third teacher is very hip-hop inspired with her moves and involves a lot of big movements and the fourth is latino and uses the latin dances as her inspiration, but she also has a ballet background which she incorporates in stretching to warm up and cool down. Also if you're really focusing on your core you're going to reap a little more benefit from it then someone who is just looking for cardio and to have a little fun at the same time

andrejjorje

Here you go guys for those of you that really want to know how it works.
http://www.braydenwm.com/cal_vs_hr_ref_paper.pdf

Pkiddy

keep in mind, sometimes you will see that their exercise says "including" something. when i log my exercise, whichever one i log first is the one it list. so say i walked 5 minutes on treadmill to warm up, did 30 on eliptical, 15 on stairs and the balance of the 60 at some hysterically high burn calorie exercise, my log for the day would post as "burned XXX calories doing 60 minutes of exercise including treadmill, slow pace." plus, different weighted bodies burn different amounts of calories doing the same thing.

mfkfoster

OK I must be doing something wrong. I have a Polar F4 and I do Zumba for an hour and I can barely breath at the end of it, sweat pouring down myself I feel like Niagra falls! But my HRM says about 430 cal burned. What gives! And I weigh 229.2 as of this morning so don't tell me it's because I'm close to my goal.

thepetiterunner

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 was JUST thinking of this earlier this morning. I don't think it's lack of effort. I feel similarly - I push myself pretty hard at the gym and I can only burn maybe 400-450 cal/hour on the treadmill running on an incline with intervals and maybe a couple hundred cals doing weight lifting.

I also think just as your body grows more and more efficient, changing your routine, upping the weights, etc, becomes more important to calorie burn.

Best of luck to you!