Did strength training but no place to post calorie burn. Wh

butifulmom

I did strength training today, but could not find a place to post my calorie burn. Why is that?

Julie

chrissyh

you can post in under cardio if you want to count it...that's what I do.

loriguegel

I'm curious about this question also...I just been going along with it not really knowing why...:ohwell:

BrendaLee

Under Cardio, search "Strength Training", and enter your time.

butifulmom

thanks guys! I will just add it in the cardio part.:bigsmile:

delam

You will get a false calorie count. Strength training doesn't really consume calories because it doesn't increase your heart rate enough. That is why they are separate. Strength training is good because it builds muscle: once the muscle is built the muscles consume calories three times faster than fat (pound for pound) so your body is always consuming calories even at rest. That is good.

But cardio is the only way to burn meaningful calories AT THE TIME OF EXERCISE. Even there you need to get your heart beat up a little bit for it to work. Cardio burns calories, strength training does not. (Technically it does burn a bit, but very little.)

So if you are putting your strength training under cardio, the program will be giving you credit for consuming calories that your body actually is NOT consuming. You will be working against your goals.

BrendaLee

Strength training certainly does burn calories- you're expending energy, how could it not?

shaunahorne

How do you keep track of how many calories you burn when you lift weights? Do you have a Body Bug or something? I have tried that with my Heart Rate Monitor but it doesn't work very well.

loriguegel

You will get a false calorie count. Strength training doesn't really consume calories because it doesn't increase your heart rate enough. That is why they are separate. Strength training is good because it builds muscle: once the muscle is built the muscles consume calories three times faster than fat (pound for pound) so your body is always consuming calories even at rest. That is good.

But cardio is the only way to burn meaningful calories AT THE TIME OF EXERCISE. Even there you need to get your heart beat up a little bit for it to work. Cardio burns calories, strength training does not. (Technically it does burn a bit, but very little.)

So if you are putting your strength training under cardio, the program will be giving you credit for consuming calories that your body actually is NOT consuming. You will be working against your goals.

Interesting. I figured myself that if MFP did not put any earned calories under strength training to begin with, then it must be for a good reason. Thanks for the post. I myself will continue to keep strength training and cardio seperate.

I say "Better safe than sorry"

shaunahorne

You are right. To accurately measure what you do burn when strength training, you would have to wear a body bug and compare that to your normal everyday activities for the same amount of time with the body bug.

BrendaLee

Edit. Blah.

This guy says it burns calories. He looks trustworthy :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSPzOXJ1hIM

loriguegel

Edit. Blah.

No offense taken, but it makes perfect sense to me, no offense.

delam

I know it seems counter-intuitive at one level, but that is really the case. Unless your heart beat goes up (a cardio activity), your body doesn't really consume any more calories then it does at rest. Here is a comparison chart by way of example:

http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist3.htm

You have to do weightlifting fast enough to get your heart beat up to consume even a moderate amount of calories. Most strength training involves a few short exercises, a brief rest in between reps or changing equipment, and then another round of reps. Your heart beat just doesn't get going enough in a sustained way to consume calories.

For all practical purposes, strength/weigh training does not consume calories at the time of the exercise, but it does build muscle which increases your caloric burn rate all the time. So it is good, but it isn't an offset to your calorie tracking in MyFitnessPal.

iplayoutside19

I know it seems counter-intuitive at one level, but that is really the case. Unless your heart beat goes up (a cardio activity), your body doesn't really consume any more calories then it does at rest. Here is a comparison chart by way of example:

http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist3.htm

You have to do weightlifting fast enough to get your heart beat up to consume even a moderate amount of calories. Most strength training involves a few short exercises, a brief rest in between reps or changing equipment, and then another round of reps. Your heart beat just doesn't get going enough in a sustained way to consume calories.

For all practical purposes, strength/weigh training does not consume calories at the time of the exercise, but it does build muscle which increases your caloric burn rate all the time. So it is good, but it isn't an offset to your calorie tracking in MyFitnessPal.

But it does burn calories. In fact the way I do strength training my HR is elevated, not running elevated, but higher than what it would be if I went for a walk, and that's condsidered cardio in most books.

Right, I get it. The major benefit from strength training certainly isn't the calories burned. But I burn enough that I count it.

cassandra1220

You will get a false calorie count. Strength training doesn't really consume calories because it doesn't increase your heart rate enough. That is why they are separate. Strength training is good because it builds muscle: once the muscle is built the muscles consume calories three times faster than fat (pound for pound) so your body is always consuming calories even at rest. That is good.

But cardio is the only way to burn meaningful calories AT THE TIME OF EXERCISE. Even there you need to get your heart beat up a little bit for it to work. Cardio burns calories, strength training does not. (Technically it does burn a bit, but very little.)

So if you are putting your strength training under cardio, the program will be giving you credit for consuming calories that your body actually is NOT consuming. You will be working against your goals.

This is true, which is why I put log only half of the time that I actually spend on the workout. I circuit train with little to no rest between sets so I know I am getting a cardio boost as well, just not as much as MFP tells me.