Calories burned doing Curves 30 Minutes

kittyraj

http://www.acefitness.org/getfit/studies/CurvesStudy2005.pdf

According to this study, the average is 163 to 184calories.

I used a HRM and clocked 202calories (I jog on all recovery boards to keep heart rate up)

So why do I often see 500calories and higher on people's diaries?

Am I doing something wrong? :frown:

MissMormie

No, I doubt you're doing something wrong. Do you use the Curves Smart tag? If so, you'll want to check what number it gives on there. But personally I think Curves themselves always give a way too high number.

Another thing to keep in mind is whether or not your HRM includes your BMR or not, and whether or not the curves number includes it. That's a difference of 30-40 calories easily.

kittyraj

No. I don't use Curves smart tag. I seem to but twice the amount of calories on there and it seems off as I don't 'feel that burn'.

Yes, the HRM (polar ft7) includes BMR and also works out if I'm in or over the 'fat burning zone'.

J_A_H_B

I've used the CurvesSmart key tag, and always averaged around the 400 mark. I'm at a club now without CurvesSmart, but I've still been noting 400 calories on MFP bc the machines feel harder bc I think I'm compensating for not having the CurvesSmart screen.

MrsSpace

My curves smart tag was also telling me that I had burned anywhere from 278 (my lowest) to 520 (my highest). I normally averaged around 350. I got a HRM (polar F4) for Christmas and I burn no where around that much. I'm somwhere around 199-229. That's waaaaaay off from 350.
My Curves' club computer broke over the holidays and it's still not repaired, so I haven't been able to use my smart key since I've started with my HRM. I'm curious to see what the smart key tells me when I am wearing my HRM.

LJCannon

:ohwell: I worked those machines HARD, and in 3 years I hit 500 Calories Burned (per Their Kiosk) only 3 or 4 times. I think most of the time, the 500 Calories in 30 Minutes is the Exception, Not The Rule, for most of us.

valeriebelle2

Maybe they have an m2 biggest loser (mytrak device) I use to have one and had similar results

FoxyLifter

I am having the same concern. According to my Curves smart tag, I burned 520 calories... but I don't think I worked out THAT hard. I work harder than the average Curves memeber there (or so I'm told), but I still think that that number is too high. I'll run on the treadmill for the same amount of time (dripping with sweat, out of breath, etc) and according to the treadmill, I burned about 375 calories. As a compromise, for my curves workout, I just enter Calisthenics, vigorous effort for 26 minutes. Is Curves bumping up their numbers? Should I use the 520 since it's diffucult to really measure calories burned during strength training (as opposed to cardio) and there's a chance that they're right? I can't help but to be skeptical of this number and I feel guilty using it. Any thoughts?

MrsSpace

My Curves smart tag has been workign at my center tha past month and I'm still no where near what my Polar HRM says. Last night I was 229 burned by my FT4 and 478 accoring to my curves tag.

That being said, I did lose 52 lbs in 9 months basing my calorie intake solely on what my Curves tag told me I had burned. Correct or not, I still lost.
So who knows?

J_A_H_B

I found an interesting article on Women's Health that shows the difference in calorie burn from cardio and strength training. Curves is both...

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/cardio-vs-strength-training-workouts
Cardio's edge Calorie for calorie, cardio has a slight advantage. You'll burn 8 to 10 calories a minute hoisting weights, compared with 10 to 12 calories a minute running or cycling, says Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., director of research at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts.

Strength's edge Lifting weights gives you a metabolic spike for an hour after a workout because your body is trying hard to help your muscles recover. That means you'll fry an additional 25 percent of the calories you just scorched during your strength session, Westcott says. "So if you burned 200 calories lifting weights, it's really closer to 250 overall." And if you lift heavier weights or rest no more than 30 seconds between sets, you can annihilate even more.

And there's more good news when it comes to iron's fat-socking power. "For every 3 pounds of muscle you build, you'll burn an extra 120 calories a day -- just vegging -- because muscle takes more energy to sustain," Westcott says. Over the course of a year, that's about 10 pounds of fat -- without even changing your diet. Yes, please.

Winner: Strength

LJCannon

:drinker: Very Well said!! I knew all of this Info, but I have never seen it spelled out this well before.

Moxie42

My Smart Tag tells me I burn about 380-410 cals each time, though when I just select "Curves Circuit" on MFP, it tells me only 220 cals. Overall, a lot of people say HRMs are the most accurate way of determining cals burned but I don't have one, so I use what the Smart Tag tells me. I don't eat back my cals though so overestimating a burn doesn't have as much of an effect as it would if I did eat them back.

Nikkie82mom

I find this SO confusing!! I'm relatively new to Curves, I joined at the end of January. I feel like I am working off more than the 191 calories that MFP gives me. I dont' have a smart tag (yet) but I hear some of the ladies saying they've burned over 500 that just seems like a big discrepency!! Are the tags not that accurate?

newlife6745

I wear a Polar F4 HRM and even at other gyms the calories burned was much less than what a treadmill or elliptical would give me. By default I take the lower number from the HRM so that I don't get over confident with the calories that I can eat.

LJCannon

I agree it is Confusing. But I think taking the Lower Estimate is a Good Idea. I just always used the same one -- i.e. if you choose to use your HRM, use it every time and just ignore the other number. The most important thing is that you are Exercising Consistently, and working as hard as you can with each Workout.