Question on calories burned when weight lifting...

AuntieKT

for starters HR zones are *kitten*, and don't really have much to do with weight loss. Cals in vs. cals out. That said, strength training does not burn a lot during the lifting, but your metabolism is raised for 24-48 hours after a session for muscle recovery.

And HRM's are only designed to be somewhat accurate during steady state cardio, not circuits, or strength training. Just take a guesstimate and readjust if you are not getting expected results after 4-6 weeks.

Actually, HR zones are very important. While it is true that cardio will not help you lose weight alone, being in the zone lets you see where you are pulling your energy from. The body stores only so much carbs, when they run out then the body converts fat into energy to fuel the work out. Where in the HR zone doesn't really matter as much, but making sure that you are maintaining the elevated HR is important and helps to keep people on track in their workouts.

Even the Mayo clinic supports HR zone performance because of its benefits to the body.

Also, the OP already stated she doesn't follow what the HRM says when she weight trains, so I don't know why you are preaching to a choir.

Thank You! I just wear it when I lift to easily track my time (I like to see how long I worked out each day). I also know that the calorie calculations that my heart rate monitor is figuring aren't really all that accurate when you aren't in that magical zone and therefore didn't want to trust them for lifting so I didn't overestimate what I was burning. Hence, why I was asking what you guys thought I should do to guess the amount of calories I burned when I lift. Thanks for the support!

Calorie burns from HRM have nothing to do with zones, and virtually nothing to do with actual HR. Calorie burns happen when O2 exchange increases at the cellular level. This is most common and most easily measured during steady state cardio. When the activity is no longer steady state or no longer cardio, the calculations/estimates given by HRMs become hugely unreliable.

I go back to what I said before... change your mentality. Lift to change how you look (not to burn cals, not to lose weight, etc). Focus on your diet and do cardio to help with the calorie deficit if you want to lose weight. Do all 3 (weights, cardio, diet) for optimal health.

I know the calculations that the HRM is giving while lifting are hugely unreliable...that was the whole point of this post. I was wondering what a reasonable guess would be. I am trying to lose weight at the same time as gain muscle and strength. I just don't want to overestimate what I am burning and then eat back too many calories. I just also didn't think it was reasonable to lift heavy for over an hour and not count any of the calories that I had to burn during that time.

jacksonpt

you're not going to build any meaningful muscle while on a deficit to lose weight.

But to your question, take a guess. I'd say something between 4 and 6 cals per minute is a reasonable guess if you absolutely have to have a number.

filthyfit12

Don't worry so much about the calories. You'll never get a complete 100% number for the amount of calories you burned. I'm training for a bikini competition and I lift HEAVY 6x a week, with cardio 2x a week. I do wear a HRM and I do log the calories into the Strength Training section under Cardio, but that's more for tracking purposes. I eat more calories and up my carb intake on days where I train legs, but other than that, I eat pretty much the same every day. What works for the people here might not work for you, so switch it up for a week and see what happens. Lifting will increase your muscle, but less so if you're in a calorie deficit. The more muscle you have, the more fat you'll burn.