Weighttraining.com vs HRM calories for accuracy?

surferfreak07
surferfreak07 Posts: 221 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Well today I started the Megan Fox workout from weight training.com and first of all wow! I'm so red, hot and sweaty right now and I definitely think it gives 30 DS a run for its money. Anyway I just logged my workout on the site using the weights I lifted etc and according to the site I burny 792 cals yet my HRM tells me 430....I know strength training is anaerobic and a HRM isn't really accurate but 362 calorie difference is quite a lot. Should I listen to my HRM or the website? The workout consisted of 2 supersets and then 15 minutes cardio, it was around 40 minutes long and I forgot to add my 50 calorie burn on the stepper for my warmup so if I'd added this on it would have been 842!!! Is this too much of an unrealistic number?

Replies

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,024 Member
    If I worked out 40 minutes at full cardio alone, I may burn about 500 calories, so I would say the burn it very exaggerated. Though HRM's aren't accurate at calorie burns for lifting, yours is much closer to what I think the burn is.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
    Always be conservative. Go with the lower number.
  • surferfreak07
    surferfreak07 Posts: 221 Member
    Thanks guy's I logged it as the HRM result just to be safe. I will still be eating my 2000 calories regardless of which number it is so I will still be on a deficit!
  • jtspraul10
    jtspraul10 Posts: 2
    Glad you liked the workout!! We've been working a lot at improving our Calorie counting system and made some recent adjustments to the algorithm.

    One question for you - Did you fill out a Fitness Report Card on the site before you logged your workout? If not, doing so will increase the accuracy of your calories burned stats, since our formula only can include your specific body stats if you include them. If you don't, we kind of just have to guess (based on overall averages).

    Also, there's always some uncertainty involved in any calorie calculation because the exact rest time and effort put in can vary from person to person. That's where the HRM comes in handy, and I would be interested to see more comparisons of the WeightTraining calorie count vs what your HRM says (especially after you fill out a Fitness Report Card).

    Please let me know if you have any questions!

    -TylerS @ WeightTraining
  • surferfreak07
    surferfreak07 Posts: 221 Member
    Thanks for your response. I didn't fill out all of the fitness card because I wasn't sure of most of the information.

    I love the workout and I have taken before pictures and measurements which I will then take again at the end of the 4 weeks! So far I have been quite unlucky and I gained 1 lb after week 1 but I am assuming this is water weight since the workout is different to what I usually do so my body will need time to adjust and I have not over-eaten on any of my calories.

    I will try and complete the fitness card and then see how my results differ to the HRM calorie counter.
  • jtspraul10
    jtspraul10 Posts: 2
    Awesome! Best of luck with the workout - I'm looking forward to hearing about your results!! :)

    Some of the stats can be hard to determine if you don't have a gym membership, but not all of them are required for the report card. The more you can include, the better!

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