Lifting- How many calories burned?
Replies
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Has anybody that says strength training doesn't burn many calories....
Actually tried and been successful at bulking whilst controlling calorie intake (thus would need to know how many calories strengthttraining burns)?
You will find very few people that have been successful at bulking that believe that strength training doesn't burn a lot of calories.0 -
If someone startles you, your heart rate goes up too, even though you don't move. It might go as high as when you are sprinting.
Therefore, being startled burns the same calories as sprinting.
I'm going to go watch two scary movies at once and burn a thousand calories.
I just heard that on the radio the other day. Someone did a study and said you burn more calories when watching a scary movie, because it elevates you're heart rate. :laugh:0 -
Most calorie burn in weight training comes from recovery, which cannot be estimated by a HRM. I have seen estimates ranging from 4-9 calories per calorie your HRM will show over 72 hours in terms of recovery costs for high-intensity workouts (i.e. training to total failure). Simply put, there is no solid science around this yet, so take that as you will. You DEFINITELY burn WAY more calories/hour doing weights than steady-state cardio (unless maybe you are maintaining a 90+% HR max level during your cardio workouts). Theoretically you could probably burn about the same doing HIIT, as anaerobic expenditures have large recovery costs, and the cardio burn would be a lot higher, which should make up for the reduced cost of muscle repair.
Overall, weight training is more efficient in terms of preservation of LBM, while huge cardio calorie burns result in loss of LBM (which is why marathon runners/endurance athletes calibrate their caloric intake over the course of an event to maintain body weight and/or eat huge pre-post training meals... some of my friends do 10k+ cals in a day, which is just nuts).0 -
Is there any surefire way to count the calories that you burn while lifting?
Every day, I try to do 30 minutes of cardio and then I move onto the weights, working a different muscle group each day. I started doing this about two months ago but I never know how to track the exercises on myfitnesspal.
Anyone else have any advice or are you wondering the same thing?
Please and thank you!
I'm doing NROL4W. I've worn my HRM a few times, even though I know they aren't as accurate on strength training. Anyway, my HRM reads almost exactly what MFP says for strength training (under cardio exercises). For me it's about 100 calories for a half hour.0 -
Is there any surefire way to count the calories that you burn while lifting?
Every day, I try to do 30 minutes of cardio and then I move onto the weights, working a different muscle group each day. I started doing this about two months ago but I never know how to track the exercises on myfitnesspal.
Anyone else have any advice or are you wondering the same thing?
Please and thank you!
I'm doing NROL4W. I've worn my HRM a few times, even though I know they aren't as accurate on strength training. Anyway, my HRM reads almost exactly what MFP says for strength training (under cardio exercises). For me it's about 100 calories for a half hour.
interesting. MFP puts me at about 350/hr I think.
My HRM put me at something crazy like 1400... (polar ft7) for a little more than an hour.0 -
Is there any surefire way to count the calories that you burn while lifting?
Every day, I try to do 30 minutes of cardio and then I move onto the weights, working a different muscle group each day. I started doing this about two months ago but I never know how to track the exercises on myfitnesspal.
Anyone else have any advice or are you wondering the same thing?
Please and thank you!
I'm doing NROL4W. I've worn my HRM a few times, even though I know they aren't as accurate on strength training. Anyway, my HRM reads almost exactly what MFP says for strength training (under cardio exercises). For me it's about 100 calories for a half hour.
interesting. MFP puts me at about 350/hr I think.
My HRM put me at something crazy like 1400... (polar ft7) for a little more than an hour.
I have been wearing mine for strength training too. It tells me about 350-400 depending on the warm up I do.0 -
Is there any surefire way to count the calories that you burn while lifting?
Every day, I try to do 30 minutes of cardio and then I move onto the weights, working a different muscle group each day. I started doing this about two months ago but I never know how to track the exercises on myfitnesspal.
Anyone else have any advice or are you wondering the same thing?
Please and thank you!
I'm doing NROL4W. I've worn my HRM a few times, even though I know they aren't as accurate on strength training. Anyway, my HRM reads almost exactly what MFP says for strength training (under cardio exercises). For me it's about 100 calories for a half hour.
interesting. MFP puts me at about 350/hr I think.
My HRM put me at something crazy like 1400... (polar ft7) for a little more than an hour.
I have been wearing mine for strength training too. It tells me about 350-400 depending on the warm up I do.
I'm pretty sure my heavy use of the valsalva maneuver has a lot to do with the reading being so high.0 -
As others have said, it's very difficult to measure calories burned during weightlifting for a number of reasons.
1. you are stopping and starting frequently
2. We have no idea of your current body composition, the exercises you are doing, weight involved, etc.
I might also suggest that instead of doing a split routine switch to a full body routine three days a week. These tend to include more multi-joint exercises (deadlift, squats, rows, presses) and burn much more energy than doing only barbell curls, etc.
I do the routine linked below and have had good success with it. Each workout really incorporates your whole body and surprisingly my abs and trunk are usually my sorest regions the next day.
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/forget-steroids-5-fullbody-workouts-for-serious-gains.html#20 -
And in response to a comment that was made (but then edited/deleted), the typical definition of "work" doesn't, well, work for determining calories burned. We're interested in energy expended, not work. Think of someone pushing against an immovable wall. If the wall doesn't move, then no work was accomplished, but that doesn't mean energy wasn't expended. In other words, plyometrics still burn calories.0
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What if you do 2 mins of cardio (like jumping jacks) in between each set? Would that be considered circuit training in the mfp exercise database? I know I'm jumping into a *kitten* show thread here, I'm trying to learn about strength training and legitimately curious.0
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bump0
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What if you do 2 mins of cardio (like jumping jacks) in between each set? Would that be considered circuit training in the mfp exercise database? I know I'm jumping into a *kitten* show thread here, I'm trying to learn about strength training and legitimately curious.
I think you're missing the overall big picture and confusing the goal (which happens a lot here). Don't change what you're doing to fit the measurement. Just understand that an "accurate" measure of calories burned from strength training is not possible (or at least not practical). The important thing is to choose some estimated amount of burn per minute, use it consistently over time (while also consistently logging food), and then weeks/months from now, make adjustments as necessary to your calories in/calories burned depending on how quickly you are/are not progressing towards your goal. Ultimately, it isn't the number on a website that dictates your success or lack thereof...it's the actual results. Don't fall into the trap of manipulating the measurement at the expense of actual results.0 -
I don't know how intense everyone's weight lifting sessions are, or how heavy they're lifting...but the general consensus seems to be that you don't burn many calories weight lifting. In my personal experience, my heart rate gets as high if not higher during a lifting session than a cardio session...and I typically have a sopping wet shirt to prove it. I don't use an HRM or even log weight lifting in MFP but I feel like lifting can potentially burn a lot more calories than people think, depending on the intensity of the lifting session.
Heart rate and sweat are not a indication of number of calories burned
True, good point.0 -
Is there any surefire way to count the calories that you burn while lifting?
Every day, I try to do 30 minutes of cardio and then I move onto the weights, working a different muscle group each day. I started doing this about two months ago but I never know how to track the exercises on myfitnesspal.
Anyone else have any advice or are you wondering the same thing?
Please and thank you!
I'm doing NROL4W. I've worn my HRM a few times, even though I know they aren't as accurate on strength training. Anyway, my HRM reads almost exactly what MFP says for strength training (under cardio exercises). For me it's about 100 calories for a half hour.
interesting. MFP puts me at about 350/hr I think.
My HRM put me at something crazy like 1400... (polar ft7) for a little more than an hour.
I have been wearing mine for strength training too. It tells me about 350-400 depending on the warm up I do.
I'm pretty sure my heavy use of the valsalva maneuver has a lot to do with the reading being so high.
Hmmm, interesting. I use TDEE for the calories I eat everyday instead of MFP + exercise calories. I just keep track of calorie burn, because I'm a hopeless number cruncher. I have spreadsheets for everything lol. The interesting thing is, as I've increased weight, the calorie burn has stayed pretty much the same.0 -
Bahahahahahaha! Amazing!If someone startles you, your heart rate goes up too, even though you don't move. It might go as high as when you are sprinting.
Therefore, being startled burns the same calories as sprinting.
I'm going to go watch two scary movies at once and burn a thousand calories.
You can increase your heart rate simply by breathing faster sitting at a desk too... what drmerc is saying is that HR ALONE is not enough to indicate how many calories you are burning. *not trying to put words in your mouth. Even with a HR monitor you are still estimating how many calories you are burning by entering your numbers in an equation that is an estimate based on your age hight and CW. Its not 100%.
"Not trying to put words into your mouth"...if he meant it, he should state it rather than assume as most do.
And going back to the ORIGINAL Question.... Combining Cardio WITH weights burns more than either Cardio OR Weights Alone.
Way to lose topic people.
I bolded the part I'm addressing, I lift heavy and I lift for endurance and I do circut training. To me each of those things has different meaning, different pros and cons, and different expected calories burns.
If you are lifting to increase your max strength your calorie burn is difficult to establish without a monitor specific for that, you rest between sets and your hr spikes and lowers. You can not equate this to hiit training, it's like apples and oranges, hitt training your hr never gets to a resting rate.
If you are lifting for endurance you are doing a crap ton of reps, getting your hr up over a long period of time. Think of a group fitness body sculpting class where you're doing the same movement or group of movements at lower weights for 3.5 to 6 minutes straight (200 squats in a row).
Circuit training you don't rest, you move from exercise to exercise lifting and then go back through them and possibly mix some cardio (jumping rope, etc) along the way, your hr don't come down and while you can lift heavy you'll never lift as heavy as you could by lifting and fully resting between sets (my decrease for the same number of reps is anywhere from 10 - 15 pounds in squats).
This discussion is a bit of apples and oranges, so I think it's important to know what kind of "lifting" we're talking about.0 -
Actually they are. They're just not very good ones.I don't know how intense everyone's weight lifting sessions are, or how heavy they're lifting...but the general consensus seems to be that you don't burn many calories weight lifting. In my personal experience, my heart rate gets as high if not higher during a lifting session than a cardio session...and I typically have a sopping wet shirt to prove it. I don't use an HRM or even log weight lifting in MFP but I feel like lifting can potentially burn a lot more calories than people think, depending on the intensity of the lifting session.
Heart rate and sweat are not a indication of number of calories burned0 -
Thanks, you're spot on there. I could easily fall into that trap, I do like seeing all those numbers, lol.What if you do 2 mins of cardio (like jumping jacks) in between each set? Would that be considered circuit training in the mfp exercise database? I know I'm jumping into a *kitten* show thread here, I'm trying to learn about strength training and legitimately curious.
I think you're missing the overall big picture and confusing the goal (which happens a lot here). Don't change what you're doing to fit the measurement. Just understand that an "accurate" measure of calories burned from strength training is not possible (or at least not practical). The important thing is to choose some estimated amount of burn per minute, use it consistently over time (while also consistently logging food), and then weeks/months from now, make adjustments as necessary to your calories in/calories burned depending on how quickly you are/are not progressing towards your goal. Ultimately, it isn't the number on a website that dictates your success or lack thereof...it's the actual results. Don't fall into the trap of manipulating the measurement at the expense of actual results.0 -
You said ORIGINAL question...Original meaning belonging or pertaining to the origin or beginning of something. so the original post was "Is there any surefire way to count the calories that you burn while lifting?"
Please, Continue your brilliance..."Every day, I try to do 30 minutes of cardio and then I move onto the weights, working a different muscle group each day."
Do you see the Cardio AND lifting....If not, I'll buy you some glasses, because I care.0 -
You said ORIGINAL question...Original meaning belonging or pertaining to the origin or beginning of something. so the original post was "Is there any surefire way to count the calories that you burn while lifting?"
Please, Continue your brilliance..."Every day, I try to do 30 minutes of cardio and then I move onto the weights, working a different muscle group each day."
Do you see the Cardio AND lifting....If not, I'll buy you some glasses, because I care.
I see cardio AND lifting, but I fail to see cardio WHILE lifting.0 -
Interesting....and how many calories can I burn doing this?
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Interesting....and how many calories can I burn doing this?
No idea...but good luck getting the HRM to stay on.0 -
Calorie burns for strength training are all over the map. However, in general, the direct number of calories is small. The heavier the weight, the lower the number of calories burned (partly because you spend less time actually lifting). I don't have my literature in front of me, but numbers I have seen range from 2-4 METs for squats @ 2-4 RM (the exertion of a mild to brisk walk), to roughly 5-6 cals for 1 set of bench press @ 90% of 1 RM.
There is a lot of misinformation about the relationship between heart rate and calorie burning. Not all heart rate increases are the same. During cardiovascular exercise, the increased heart rate is due to a VOLUME load--the metabolic demand results in an increased venous return, and increased stroke volume, leading to an increased cardiac output and increased oxygen uptake (VO2).
An increase in heart rate that DOES NOT result in an increase in VO2 will not increase calorie burn, nor will it promote an increase in cardiovascular fitness.
That is what occurs with heavy lifting. The increase in heart rate that occurs during heavy lifting is due to a PRESSURE load, not a volume load. The combination of a full or partial Valsalva maneuver, and the impeding of blood flow due to stronger muscle contractions increases afterload stress on the heart--the heart beats faster, but cardiac output does not increase. Therefore, no increased VO2, no increased calories.
The heart is working hard, but that doesn't mean the "cardiovascular system" is not working nearly as hard. The load on the heart itself can be tremendous--cardiac oxygen demand skyrockets--but the heart is a relatively small organ and it does not affect the entire body.
So shortening rest intervals and moving quickly from exercise to exercise to keep heart rate up and "burn more calories" can be a losing effort. You aren't really increasing calorie expenditure and the shorter rest periods can often erode the quality of the strength workout.
Lumping HIIT and circuit training together with heavy lifting further confuses the issue. Basically, there are few, if any, exercise activities that are either "all aerobic" or "all anaerobic" (In fact there is a significant "aerobic" component even to 100% sprint efforts). So everything is a mix of some sort.
However, a basic rule of thumb is that the aerobic component of an exercise and the resistive component are inversely related. The greater the resistive component, the less the aerobic component--and vice versa. So you should make sure that the workout you are doing is designed to meet your goals.
So, in general, trying to track calories burned during strength training is not going to be very rewarding, IMO. Again, it's not that there are no calories burned, it's just that there is no easy or consistent way to measure them.
And it doesn't mean that strength training is not effective as a weight loss tool -- we all know that it is. As to which one is "best"--don't ask me--I think it is one of the stupidest, most pointless arguments in fitness.0 -
What if you do 2 mins of cardio (like jumping jacks) in between each set? Would that be considered circuit training in the mfp exercise database? I know I'm jumping into a *kitten* show thread here, I'm trying to learn about strength training and legitimately curious.
That is the classic definition of circuit training. Back in the olden days, "circuit training" was set up like Curves--with strength stations alternating with cardio. You can adjust the intervals as desired.
With that type of training, the main benefit is time convenience. Studies on this type of training showed that one did not achieve the same level of improvement in either aerobic fitness or strength as one would by doing each type of training separately, but it was a way for someone to push themselves for a limited amount of time and get a little of both.
Another interesting study showed that doing 1 min of cardio between sets (10 RM sets on selectorized pieces) resulted in increased strength and decreased muscle soreness compared to lifting alone -- on this type of program.
The thing to remember is that one will achieve results that are SPECIFIC to the type of training being performed. And there are pros and cons to every type of training--it's just crucial not to lump everything together, but to make sure that you are structuring your program to meet your specific goals.0 -
Really? Increasing your hear rate does not increase calorie burn? When your hear works harder, it's to remove toxic carbon dioxide from your muscles, so it's doing the same procedure for cardio as it is for weight training. I think you need to do some research because weight training done in the right way can burn just as many, if not more, calories as traditional cardiovascular activity. Sure, someone that waits 5 minutes between sets is not going to burn as many calories as somone on a treadmill but I can get my heartrate into the fat burning zone with weight training and keep it there pretty easily weight training.
Yes really
Calories are burned is determine by the number of muscle cells that are activated to preform your activity
THAT is what uses the energy and uses the oxygen
When weight training you are usually activating a small number of groups, such as your bicep when doing your brocurls
That causes a increase in heart rate to delivery oxygen to those cells, even though the rest of your body did not consume the energy, only a small amount of that oxygen would be consumed
Doing a series of strength training will cause your heart rate to bump up over and over but only consume a small amount of oxygen (which is what we are trying to measure to determine calorie burn)
Ever heard of HIIT cardio training? Basically the same principles of weight training... a period of increased stress followed by a period of low stress/rest.
*EDIT* Also, the first purpose of your heart rate increasing is to remove carbone dioxide (very toxic to muscles). Basic human physiology my friend.
HIIT is nothing like strength training. The physiological loads are completely different. We obviously read different physiology books.0 -
I don't know how intense everyone's weight lifting sessions are, or how heavy they're lifting...but the general consensus seems to be that you don't burn many calories weight lifting. In my personal experience, my heart rate gets as high if not higher during a lifting session than a cardio session...and I typically have a sopping wet shirt to prove it. I don't use an HRM or even log weight lifting in MFP but I feel like lifting can potentially burn a lot more calories than people think, depending on the intensity of the lifting session.
See my other comments as to why the increased heart rates are not the same.
Again, that doesn't mean that lifting isn't beneficial, or that it doesn't burn calories, or that you can't effectively lost weight lifting alone--it just means that increased heart rate and sweat are not reliable indicators in this case.0 -
What if you do 2 mins of cardio (like jumping jacks) in between each set? Would that be considered circuit training in the mfp exercise database? I know I'm jumping into a *kitten* show thread here, I'm trying to learn about strength training and legitimately curious.
I think you're missing the overall big picture and confusing the goal (which happens a lot here). Don't change what you're doing to fit the measurement. Just understand that an "accurate" measure of calories burned from strength training is not possible (or at least not practical). The important thing is to choose some estimated amount of burn per minute, use it consistently over time (while also consistently logging food), and then weeks/months from now, make adjustments as necessary to your calories in/calories burned depending on how quickly you are/are not progressing towards your goal. Ultimately, it isn't the number on a website that dictates your success or lack thereof...it's the actual results. Don't fall into the trap of manipulating the measurement at the expense of actual results.
^^this is very good advice. Azdak explains it more technically, but at the end of the day, there is no way to accurately measure - the best way to estimate is to use actual weight loss results and tweak accordingly.0 -
Is there any surefire way to count the calories that you burn while lifting?
Every day, I try to do 30 minutes of cardio and then I move onto the weights, working a different muscle group each day. I started doing this about two months ago but I never know how to track the exercises on myfitnesspal.
Anyone else have any advice or are you wondering the same thing?
Please and thank you!
I just use the strength training in the cardio section of MFP and then I never eat them back because none of the calorie burns are correct. When I needed to lose fat I NEVER ate back my calories (because they are not correct, of course you burn something but not near what any of the calculators or HRM's say they are), and now that I'm maintenance I don't really eat the calorie burns, I just judge how I feel and eat 100-200 more calories in the evening if I feel like I need it.0 -
I agree with the posters that say you can and do burn calories when doing circuit training/resistance training - I wear a HRM and I can burn 800+ calories in one session (about an hour and a half). I do cardio 5x/wk and resistance training 4x/wk - I am certainly buring calories when I do my resistance training sessions. I don't take longer than 30-60 second breaks between sets. I am training for a fitness competition and my trainer designs my sessions and my diet, which we change up almost weekly. At the end of every session we both look at my HRM to see what I burned for that session and it's always 500+ and we always high five each other. Cardio is not the only way to burn calories. My HRM is the Polar FT4, btw. Easy to use and you can get one for a good price on Amazon.0
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What if you do 2 mins of cardio (like jumping jacks) in between each set? Would that be considered circuit training in the mfp exercise database? I know I'm jumping into a *kitten* show thread here, I'm trying to learn about strength training and legitimately curious.
I think you're missing the overall big picture and confusing the goal (which happens a lot here). Don't change what you're doing to fit the measurement. Just understand that an "accurate" measure of calories burned from strength training is not possible (or at least not practical). The important thing is to choose some estimated amount of burn per minute, use it consistently over time (while also consistently logging food), and then weeks/months from now, make adjustments as necessary to your calories in/calories burned depending on how quickly you are/are not progressing towards your goal. Ultimately, it isn't the number on a website that dictates your success or lack thereof...it's the actual results. Don't fall into the trap of manipulating the measurement at the expense of actual results.
^^this is very good advice. Azdak explains it more technically, but at the end of the day, there is no way to accurately measure - the best way to estimate is to use actual weight loss results and tweak accordingly.
^Agree.
I can raise my heart rate just from holding my breath. Does not mean I burned very many calories but and HRM will tell me I did. If I wear an HRM while lifting for a couple of sets of heavy bicep curls my heart rate spikes to 170. Now I do the same amount of time doing squats and my heart rate spikes to 170. The HRM will tell me I burned the same amount of calories. One lift used far more muscles than the other.
Turning your weightlifting into cardio no longer makes it strength training. There is a different option for circuit training. They are not the same thing so calling it resistance or strength training is not accurate.
With that being said I have been using the "Strength Training" under the cardio section and found it has been pretty accurate. It gives me 214 calories for 60 minutes of weightlifting. That is a fairly low number for the amount of work you are doing and an HRM will give you a MUCH higher number.
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Is there any surefire way to count the calories that you burn while lifting?
Every day, I try to do 30 minutes of cardio and then I move onto the weights, working a different muscle group each day. I started doing this about two months ago but I never know how to track the exercises on myfitnesspal.
Anyone else have any advice or are you wondering the same thing?
Please and thank you!
I just use the strength training in the cardio section of MFP and then I never eat them back because none of the calorie burns are correct. When I needed to lose fat I NEVER ate back my calories (because they are not correct, of course you burn something but not near what any of the calculators or HRM's say they are), and now that I'm maintenance I don't really eat the calorie burns, I just judge how I feel and eat 100-200 more calories in the evening if I feel like I need it.
Simple and effective.0
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