How are people burning such high calories

dondimitri

HIIT high intensity interval training is about the only thing that has proven to burn up to 1000 calories per hour. A lot of that comes from your lungs even after the exercise has been completed.

I disagree. There are common everyday activities that can burn more than 1000 cal/hour other than HIIT.

For a 200 lb male you don't have to jog all that fast to burn 1000 cal/hour: As already posted 6 to 7 mph would do it.

For a 200 lb male you don't have to ride all that fast to burn 1000 cal/hour: 20 mph would be more than fast enough.

arc918

it's very unlikely they are burning 1000 calories per hour.

I can (and do) burn a 1,000 in an hour. Here's the trick be pretty heavy and pretty fast.

I'm ~ 180 lbs and burn ~ 130 per mile. 8 miles @ 7:30 pace = 1,000+ calories.

Just this morning I ran 7 miles @ 7:32 pace, so that was 900+ in 52 minutes (would have done an hour, but I got a late start and had to take the kids to school).

RogueViper101

Tonight I burnt 1063 calories in 60 minutes rowing on water (recorded by my Polar FT7). To achieve this I put 110% effort in and as a result averaged 145 bpm and a max of 182.

Ok I'm quite heavy so burn more calories than the average man but its entirely possible.

Tracked GPS row workout - http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/RogueViper101/bjsuets5msk098kt

HartJames

I'm not sure where you got that but I'm pretty sure my Polar is a 7 (if not then 6) and it does indeed have settings for Vo2Max and resting HR.

Along, a "low end" brand would not be Pilar, the highest rater HRM's available and cost $150-$300. My irst HRM had almost no settings and cost a whopping $35 (also said I burned nearly twice what my polar reports).

Just wanted to chime in with a bit of clarification here. Firstly, HRM's are not terribly accurate to begin with (especially the lower end models like Polar FT7). Models that take into account resting HR and VO2 max are a little better. Most folks do not accuratley know what their max HR is and/or not capable of testing it so that further dilutes the accuracy. Most importantly, HRM's are designed to estimate caloire burns for steady state aerobic activities like running, so using them for thinks like kick boxing, circuit training, or High intensity activities where many breaks are taken will not be as accurate. They are next to useless for weight lifting calorie numbers.

With all that being said, let's take about the "fat-burning" zone in an over simplified explanation. At all times during training, your body is burning both fat and carbs for energy. Your training instenisty will determine the mix being used. What the HR monitor fat burning zone is trying to tell you is the point at which your body begins to go into oxygen debt because you are excersing harder than your current fitness is capable of keeping up with. If all you care about is calorie burns, then training at this higher intsensity for short intervals is fine. Note of warning; if you don't take sufficient breaks and regularly workout at this high threshold without recovering, you are risking metabolic damage and overtraining. However, if you care about improving your overall aerboic fitness, you need to establish your base by doing a lot of easier training at an intensity at which you could still carry on a conversation.

meaningful99

They are probably much heavier than you. Heavier people burn more calories. Imagine doing your regular workout with an 80 lb. packpack on. Wouldn't you be working a lot harder?

Jess21684

This! Agreed..

FUELERDUDE

With me, at 230lbs, I try to keep my heart rate in the 150-160 range for an hour, and I am a 36 year old male. doing an hour of cardio at this rate is right around 1,000 calories in an hour. As I loose weight, I will not burn as much in the same amount of time, at the same intensity.

EdTheGinge

When I started back in August I would burn about 1200cals cycling to and from work, now 5stone lighter I'm lucky if I burn 600cals. That's about an hour

Richard269

Well just got back from a walk with my HRM was out for 2 hours 15 min and used 1750 cal my Avg heart rate was 84 % and my Max heart rate was 97 %

MikeyD1280

Well just got back from a walk with my HRM was out for 2 hours 15 min and used 1750 cal my Avg heart rate was 84 % and my Max heart rate was 97 %

wouldn't that be a run then?

Richard269

Nope just a fast walk up and down the downs .about 6 1/2 miles.

angela828

I've never come close. In my spin class, the instructor said you could burn 750 calories/hour. I think I was more like 400 - when I checked my HRM.

^^^^^ this! stick with your HRM. I go to zumba once a week usually and they claim you can burn 600-1000 per hour.. false. I burn around 300-350 in a good class (45 minutes). I burn the most when I run to be honest. everyone is different. I think too many people depend on the numbers MFP gives them but they are WAY off... especially when it comes to stationary bikes and ellipticals. same with the machines.

focus on YOUR burn. I know if I want a super high burn I gotta put the work in. yesterday I ran a 5K on the treadmill plus kickboxing... about an hour and a half of exercise and I got a 750 calorie burn. i was very happy with that but knew i had to put in the time. when my friend and I both take kickboxing, she tends to burn more than me (we both wear HRMs) and I know the difference in calorie burns has to do with our weight, height, etc.

gamagem

Well I'm not heavy, weigh 152 and am not using the over inflated MFP number. I have burned nearly 1K calories doing Max Circuit of Insanity. My average heart rate during it is 140 and I may max it at 177 during the Mountain Climbers. I wear a heart rate monitor to track the calories. I'm 37 years old so when I notice my heart rate going over 160 i generally take a little break.

loseit4ever12

My HRM has me burning over 500 cals jogging at 5mph for 30 mins. Machines and MFP have me at about 415 cals.


QUESTION- aren't you supposed to subtract calories off whatever burn your HRM says to account for it tracking what you would burn in an hour just breathing??

gamagem

To me it's pointless to subtract that. My heartrate stays up for a while after working out which I don't log, so it seems to me it all works itself out.

lynchyboyeeeee

I play football every Monday and Thursday (5 a side) and I use a HRM. I play for about an hour and a half on average and range anywhere from 1000 to 1750 cals burnt depending on how heavy I am at the time and how hard I go at it. It is very much HIIT so not staying in zones ofc. The thing is , my body burn on average 150 cals an hour regardless of what I am doing so you can take 225 cals off whatever the HRM says for me over 90 mins to truly find out what the exercise has burnt for me

Ottinger13

I use the elliptical and treadmill at a high level setting and so far have burned up to 700 calories in an hour on either machine.

My heart rate never goes up to where I want it to. When I was at my heaviest, I could not do 5 minutes on the elliptical, and my heart rate was way up, but as time wore on and I kept using it, I can now do an hour and my rate never goes about 125 (I am 5'5'' and weigh 190 now)

On the treadmill, I use the hill setting at level 20 and it really burns the calories, I am sweating and working it, but my heart rate stays really low on that at 118.

Everyone is different. I have seen people in the gym running on the elliptical at a high setting and they really do burn a lot of calories so it can be done

ianandmand

I wouldn't go off MFP. It's estimations are out. I ran for an hour cross country And my heart monitor said 700, MFP said 1k.
It's certainly possible to do 1k in an hour though, it's the intensity.
Certain crossfit work outs I do I burn 300 in 15 mins

TheLuSir

Cocaine's a helluva drug...

mom9198

Seems to me (as others have stated) they are getting incorrectly reported and over inflated calorie burn amounts on MFP. Since everything on here is user-input, you really have to double check your calorie counts and burn amounts. There are MANY errors on exercises as well as food/calorie overage and underage.
When in doubt, double check and always use your HR monitor and your weight for kcals burned.
Hope that helps!

jingermanko

I am not sure about this. I do weigh more, and when I do my cardio and I use the MFP it say's I burn almost 500 cal's. I compared that to a few different sites and the MFP is actually less than those sites. I am still losing weight and I eat back my calories. I don't want to go out and buy a HR monitor...I just cant afford one. So how should I do this if MFP say's one thing that is less than what the other sites are saying?

graciepecie

irrelevant. who cares?

questions you should be asking yourself are things like "what sort of exercise regimen can I commit to doing regularly?", "how should i structure my diet in a way that will keep me satiated?", "what are my fitness goals?"

This

whitelaurel

Somebody might have said this already, but people might be working out longer than 35 minutes, too.

Also, if you push the max intensity for the full amount of time you work out, you might see different results?

I've been thinking about getting a HRM...

skadoosh33

I have the Polar FT7 and burn as much as 1100 calories in an hour on the treadmill. This is at a 6.6mph pace with some walk breaks. My average HR is 155-160 with max 178. I am 6' and 180lbs. My cycling is about 900-1000 calories/hr. This is not inflated and seems to be correct as I am eating 2300 calories/day and losing almost 2lbs each week.

MichaelBrewer2634

I use MFP mainly to keep up with my calorie intake. If I feel weak or dizzy by what it recommends I increase my calorie intake. Getting enough food is very important when losing weight. If you go too low you will slow your metabolism down. If you are losing 1-2lbs a week, and you are not lethargic then you are in the right calorie range. Good luck

Soosannah

I suspect they are using the inflated numbers given by MFP.

This. I never burn as much as MFP says

markpmc

irrelevant. who cares?

questions you should be asking yourself are things like "what sort of exercise regimen can I commit to doing regularly?", "how should i structure my diet in a way that will keep me satiated?", "what are my fitness goals?"

This ^^.

timpicks

I think that the MFP calorie estimates are inflated in certain areas. For instance, I bike commute. While I don't ever coast and go faster than the "vigorous 14-16" MFP category, it says that I burn over 800 calories an hour doing this. When I jog on a treadmill for 45 minutes, my hr monitor says I burned about 500 calories. I'm a bit winded after biking but am wiped out after the jog, so I don't think that I am burning calories at a higher rate by biking.

And it matters because If I am eating back all of my exercise calories and they are inflated, then that will affect my weight loss. So I don't eat back all of my exercise calories. It would be nice if after all the work I do logging that it would be based on accurate information. Any suggestions or constructive criticism would be appreciated.

sijomial

I'm a fit but elderly guy and have burnt a HRM measured 900 on elliptical machine and 840 on a spinning bike in an hour - these are both at the maximum rate I can sustain for the hour (85-95% of max). Completely knackered at the end of these fitness/exhaustion tests....

So for someone younger/fitter/heavier 1000+ an hour is entirely plausible. The doubters might just find that those posting high numbers are just pushing a lot harder and have the stamina to maintain high output for a longer period of time.

Really the key use of a HRM is so you can train in the correct zone to achieve your goals rather than to earn calories to eat - that's just a nice bonus.