This is why Cardio is not enough...
happycauseIride
Posts: 536 Member
I wear my heart rate monitor every day but don't normally check the calories burned until I'm done. Today, after 30 minutes on the treadmill, I looked at the calories burned to compare with the number on treadmill monitor. I had walked for 30 minutes on a 3% incline at 3.6-3.8 and the treadmill said 235 burned and my HR monitor said 185. I knew the treadmill over estimated, but what it didn't know was that I also had 3 lb weights in my hands for half of that as well.
Now I finished my walk at 41 minutes, 2.4 miles. After that I did planks for 5 minutes and then I did squats. I joined this squat challenge and today I did 225 squats. I mix up the squats doing different types, hold 10 lb dumb bells in my hands and adding bicep curls, over head presses, etc to the squats to get a full body work out. The squats took about 15 minutes and then I stretched for 5 and was done.
In total I worked out for 65 minutes and my calorie burn was 465!! Now remember I was only at 185 in the first 30 minutes. So I burned roughly 230 in 40 minutes on an inclined treadmill with 3 lb weights in my hands and burned another roughly 235 in the last 20 minutes doing squats and lifting weights.
40 minutes of cardio=230 calories burned vs 20 minutes of squats and weights=235 calories burned.
This why cardio is not enough.
Now I finished my walk at 41 minutes, 2.4 miles. After that I did planks for 5 minutes and then I did squats. I joined this squat challenge and today I did 225 squats. I mix up the squats doing different types, hold 10 lb dumb bells in my hands and adding bicep curls, over head presses, etc to the squats to get a full body work out. The squats took about 15 minutes and then I stretched for 5 and was done.
In total I worked out for 65 minutes and my calorie burn was 465!! Now remember I was only at 185 in the first 30 minutes. So I burned roughly 230 in 40 minutes on an inclined treadmill with 3 lb weights in my hands and burned another roughly 235 in the last 20 minutes doing squats and lifting weights.
40 minutes of cardio=230 calories burned vs 20 minutes of squats and weights=235 calories burned.
This why cardio is not enough.
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Replies
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Awesome!!!
I've been slack with that challenge
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Some will say not to wear your HRM during strength training because its not accurate so be careful of that as well.
I still wear it though during haha.0 -
I wear my heart rate monitor every day but don't normally check the calories burned until I'm done. Today, after 30 minutes on the treadmill, I looked at the calories burned to compare with the number on treadmill monitor. I had walked for 30 minutes on a 3% incline at 3.6-3.8 and the treadmill said 235 burned and my HR monitor said 185. I knew the treadmill over estimated, but what it didn't know was that I also had 3 lb weights in my hands for half of that as well.
Now I finished my walk at 41 minutes, 2.4 miles. After that I did planks for 5 minutes and then I did squats. I joined this squat challenge and today I did 225 squats. I mix up the squats doing different types, hold 10 lb dumb bells in my hands and adding bicep curls, over head presses, etc to the squats to get a full body work out. The squats took about 15 minutes and then I stretched for 5 and was done.
In total I worked out for 65 minutes and my calorie burn was 465!! Now remember I was only at 185 in the first 30 minutes. So I burned roughly 230 in 40 minutes on an inclined treadmill with 3 lb weights in my hands and burned another roughly 235 in the last 20 minutes doing squats and lifting weights.
40 minutes of cardio=230 calories burned vs 20 minutes of squats and weights=235 calories burned.
This why cardio is not enough.
HRMs vastly overestimate the calories burned during strength training.
Cardio is not enough because it does not preserve lean mass the way strength training does. It doesn't burn more calories.0 -
I suppose it depends on the person. I don't track calories burned during strength training, as it really is a spotty estimate at best.
When it comes to cardio, my goal was 700calories/hour, which I recently increased to 1000, as I'm training for Color Me Rad. I find my treadmill and elliptical readouts are pretty on par with the /min estimates from mfp and other systems. That said, I do the treadmill at maximum incline, and elliptical at Level 15
For me, I believe cardio could be enough (from a purely calorie burning standpoint anyways). It is essentially all I track. For others though, it may not.0 -
HRMs vastly overestimate the calories burned during strength training.
^^^Yep. Sorry. HRM do not work for strength training. Read the instruction booklet, and it should tell you it doesn't work for strength training.
* caveat - There are some really expensive ones that can give you a closer estimate for strength training, but you have to put it in strength training mode and it's only a slightly better guess0 -
HRMs vastly overestimate the calories burned during strength training.
^^^Yep. Sorry. HRM do not work for strength training. Read the instruction booklet, and it should tell you it doesn't work for strength training.
* caveat - There are some really expensive ones that can give you a closer estimate for strength training, but you have to put it in strength training mode and it's only a slightly better guess
^^^^ This, so don't count the cardio out and I'd be cautious eating all those extra calories you think you burned.0 -
Cardio drops weight.
Weight Training drops fat.
You should honestly be doing a combination of the two no matter what. Whether you're hardcore with weight lifting and going light on cardio; or you keep a 50/50 of the two.
(Obviously both have other effects on the body that are both good and bad, but we're speaking specifically about the top of weight/fat loss)0 -
I use a HRM also. My best success has been three cardio days, and three weight training days. I do love my HRM though..0
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HRMs vastly overestimate the calories burned during strength training.
Cardio is not enough because it does not preserve lean mass the way strength training does. It doesn't burn more calories.
I have a Body Media Fit, and it shows hardly a bump in my calories burned during strength training, even though I'm panting and sweating.0 -
I swear, some days the advice on this site is so confusing.
Yesterday everyone was all up in arms because someone else called her own workout with 15-lb. weights "strength training" when it should have been "cardio with weights" because the weight was too small to qualify. And now this poster quotes her calorie burn using 10-lb. weights and everyone is telling her it doesn't count because it's strength training.
So which is it people?0 -
HRMs vastly overestimate the calories burned during strength training.
Cardio is not enough because it does not preserve lean mass the way strength training does. It doesn't burn more calories.
I have a Body Media Fit, and it shows hardly a bump in my calories burned during strength training, even though I'm panting and sweating.
The Bodymedia Fit is an interesting device. It seems like some sort of hybrid between a Fitbit and an HRM. I can't find any good info on specifically what it measures so I'm holding off judgment on it.0 -
Could some one plz tell me why HRMs aren't accurate for strength? If they measure your heart rate, why wouldn't they be as accurate as they are for cardio? I've never used one...
this is a pretty good explanation of why...
http://www.sparkpeople.com/community/ask_the_experts.asp?q=75A HRM won't give you an accurate idea of how many calories you burn during strength training, because the relationship between heart rate and calorie expenditure is not the same during strength training as during cardio exercise, which is what the HRM's estimate is based on. Unless your weight training is very vigorous circuit training, the heart rate monitor will be overestimating your calorie burn by a fair amount.
The problem is a technical one. Calorie burning isn't determined by heart rate, it's determined by the number of muscle cells that are activated to perform a given activity. It's the working cells that actually use the energy (calories) and consume oxygen. When working muscle cells need more energy and oxygen, your heart rate goes up to deliver these things to the cells via the blood stream.
Any muscle that performs a high intensity or maximum effort (strength training) will trigger an increase in heart rate and blood flow. But if only a single muscle group is on the receiving end to utilize that extra oxygen (doing a strength exercise that isolates your biceps, for example), only a relatively small amount of oxygen (and calories) will actually be consumed.
So while a series of strength training exercises may elevate your heart rate like aerobic exercise does, you're not actually using as much oxygen and burning as many calories as you would be if you were steadily using several large muscles all at once, as when walking, running, swimming, or doing aerobics for example.
The heart rate monitor doesn’t know whether your increase in heart rate is due to several large muscle groups working (cardio), an isolated muscle group lifting a weight (strength training), or even if adrenaline or excitement is increasing your heart rate. It just knows your heart rate, and the formulas it uses to estimate calories are based on studies of aerobic exercise, not other activities. So, it's going to overestimate your calorie expenditure when the rise in heart rate is stimulated by using isolated muscles at maximum intensity, which is what occurs during strength training.0 -
I actually disagree, very strongly. A HRM works differently for each person. Some will be more accurate than others. It's definitely a good judge of how hard you're working and to be honest I wear mine the whole time I'm working out. During strength training although I am sweating it really doesn't show many calories burned. The majority of my overall burn is from cardio.
You have to keep in mind that a HRM is an estimate, nothing is 100% accurate and you should be using it to motivate, or for a goal (ex. to hit 800 cals in a workout) you should not be plugging in your 863 cals burned and then attempting to put 863 back in with food anyways.
You NEED cardio, and you NEED strength training. Things work different for different people, see what works best for you! End of story.0 -
So... You do realize hrms are only accurate during steady state cardio- NOT lifting, right?0
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HRM can't tell the difference between increased pressure load and increased volume load which is why they overestimate for lifting0
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I swear, some days the advice on this site is so confusing.
Yesterday everyone was all up in arms because someone else called her own workout with 15-lb. weights "strength training" when it should have been "cardio with weights" because the weight was too small to qualify. And now this poster quotes her calorie burn using 10-lb. weights and everyone is telling her it doesn't count because it's strength training.
So which is it people?
I believe that other went like this:
"I'm doing some strength training [that's not really strength training]. How much more can I eat?"
MFP: "You're not really doing strength training."
This one kinda went:
"My HRM proves that strength training burns more calories than cardio!"
MFP: "Your HRM is wrong. Oh, and look at that; you may not have been doing actual strength training anyway."0 -
I swear, some days the advice on this site is so confusing.
Yesterday everyone was all up in arms because someone else called her own workout with 15-lb. weights "strength training" when it should have been "cardio with weights" because the weight was too small to qualify. And now this poster quotes her calorie burn using 10-lb. weights and everyone is telling her it doesn't count because it's strength training.
So which is it people?
I believe that other went like this:
"I'm doing some strength training [that's not really strength training]. How much more can I eat?"
MFP: "You're not really doing strength training."
This one kinda went:
"My HRM proves that strength training burns more calories than cardio!"
MFP: "Your HRM is wrong. Oh, and look at that; you may not have been doing actual strength training anyway."
But 225 squats in 15 min. seems like it would be continuous enough cardio work to qualify as steady state, wouldn't it? I'd have to be moving pretty consistently to get that many done that quickly.0 -
I am also confused by this because I use my HRM as well. I always minus 15% from my calorie burn before I log. Someone told me to use it as a tool and not log all calories because you would have been burning some during that time if you were not working out. It has been working for me. I use it for strength training and I am and have been losing weight. I guess my question is do you think it is different for a program like P90X? During some of the strength training sets you go into running in place and then jumping jacks. Also if you are doing the legs and back you are constantly moving with lots of lunges. During Chest and back it is non stop pull ups and push ups. I guess since it has been working for me I am not going to stop using it but just wondered if that is considered the same kind of strength training everyone is referring too?0
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Since we've ready covered the issue with HRMs and strength training, I wanted to add, the extra 3lbs weights would account for a very minimal extra burn as well. The treadmill and HRM were off, but it was a very minor discrepancy especially considering both are estimates.0
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I am also confused by this because I use my HRM as well. I always minus 15% from my calorie burn before I log. Someone told me to use it as a tool and not log all calories because you would have been burning some during that time if you were not working out. It has been working for me. I use it for strength training and I am and have been losing weight. I guess my question is do you think it is different for a program like P90X? During some of the strength training sets you go into running in place and then jumping jacks. Also if you are doing the legs and back you are constantly moving with lots of lunges. During Chest and back it is non stop pull ups and push ups. I guess since it has been working for me I am not going to stop using it but just wondered if that is considered the same kind of strength training everyone is referring too?
That's more of a cardio workout with a weight training component than a strength workout.
It might be a little more accurate than using a HRM with regular strength training, however, keep in mind that your heart rate going up and down will affect accuracy. I've never done P90x so I'm not really sure what exactly the workout entails.
But steady state cardio would be like a run where your pace is consistent and your HR remains relatively the same.0 -
I am also confused by this because I use my HRM as well. I always minus 15% from my calorie burn before I log. Someone told me to use it as a tool and not log all calories because you would have been burning some during that time if you were not working out. It has been working for me. I use it for strength training and I am and have been losing weight. I guess my question is do you think it is different for a program like P90X? During some of the strength training sets you go into running in place and then jumping jacks. Also if you are doing the legs and back you are constantly moving with lots of lunges. During Chest and back it is non stop pull ups and push ups. I guess since it has been working for me I am not going to stop using it but just wondered if that is considered the same kind of strength training everyone is referring too?
^^^^
Does anyone have an opinion on my question?0 -
HRMs vastly overestimate the calories burned during strength training.
Cardio is not enough because it does not preserve lean mass the way strength training does. It doesn't burn more calories.
I have a Body Media Fit, and it shows hardly a bump in my calories burned during strength training, even though I'm panting and sweating.
Looks like the BodyMedia Fit doesn't do heart rate at all. It measures acceleration, skin impedance, and skin temperature.0 -
I am also confused by this because I use my HRM as well. I always minus 15% from my calorie burn before I log. Someone told me to use it as a tool and not log all calories because you would have been burning some during that time if you were not working out. It has been working for me. I use it for strength training and I am and have been losing weight. I guess my question is do you think it is different for a program like P90X? During some of the strength training sets you go into running in place and then jumping jacks. Also if you are doing the legs and back you are constantly moving with lots of lunges. During Chest and back it is non stop pull ups and push ups. I guess since it has been working for me I am not going to stop using it but just wondered if that is considered the same kind of strength training everyone is referring too?
^^^^
Does anyone have an opinion on my question?
Just keep doing what you're doing. P90x isn't lifting. Continue to use the HRM and knock some off the top.0 -
I am also confused by this because I use my HRM as well. I always minus 15% from my calorie burn before I log. Someone told me to use it as a tool and not log all calories because you would have been burning some during that time if you were not working out. It has been working for me. I use it for strength training and I am and have been losing weight. I guess my question is do you think it is different for a program like P90X? During some of the strength training sets you go into running in place and then jumping jacks. Also if you are doing the legs and back you are constantly moving with lots of lunges. During Chest and back it is non stop pull ups and push ups. I guess since it has been working for me I am not going to stop using it but just wondered if that is considered the same kind of strength training everyone is referring too?
^^^^
Does anyone have an opinion on my question?
You posted while I was posting0 -
I am also confused by this because I use my HRM as well. I always minus 15% from my calorie burn before I log. Someone told me to use it as a tool and not log all calories because you would have been burning some during that time if you were not working out. It has been working for me. I use it for strength training and I am and have been losing weight. I guess my question is do you think it is different for a program like P90X? During some of the strength training sets you go into running in place and then jumping jacks. Also if you are doing the legs and back you are constantly moving with lots of lunges. During Chest and back it is non stop pull ups and push ups. I guess since it has been working for me I am not going to stop using it but just wondered if that is considered the same kind of strength training everyone is referring too?
^^^^
Does anyone have an opinion on my question?
Just keep doing what you're doing. P90x isn't lifting. Continue to use the HRM and knock some off the top.
Thanks!0 -
I am also confused by this because I use my HRM as well. I always minus 15% from my calorie burn before I log. Someone told me to use it as a tool and not log all calories because you would have been burning some during that time if you were not working out. It has been working for me. I use it for strength training and I am and have been losing weight. I guess my question is do you think it is different for a program like P90X? During some of the strength training sets you go into running in place and then jumping jacks. Also if you are doing the legs and back you are constantly moving with lots of lunges. During Chest and back it is non stop pull ups and push ups. I guess since it has been working for me I am not going to stop using it but just wondered if that is considered the same kind of strength training everyone is referring too?
^^^^
Does anyone have an opinion on my question?
You posted while I was posting
Thanks!0 -
HRM only measure correctly during aerobic exercise. Strength training is rarely aerobic. What some people refer to as "cardio" is often not aerobic. You must stay within a specific heart rate zone for aerobics.
Also, HRM will only measure correctly for aerobics if you are at a certain fitness level.
Doing 225 squats IS strength training, because you can improve strength that way.0 -
Cardio is enough for me at the moment. I think it depends what condition your body is in. I still have a lot of weight to lose. I have lost 35 lbs in 3 months from walking daily and eating better. Now, when I get closer to my goal weight, maybe walking won't be enough. I'm not at that point yet, so for me, cardio is perfect!
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I have a Body Media Fit, and it shows hardly a bump in my calories burned during strength training, even though I'm panting and sweating.
You do know that panting & sweating is not indicative of a good workout? I can break into a sweat & wake up panting during the night.
For the OP. Cardio worked just perfect for me. I gained some damn fine muscle doing it as well, despite what others think because I combine that with a strange technique I have in order to basically "fool" my body into thinking it's doing strength.0 -
I love my Body Media Fit device. It gives me the number of calories I burn all day, regardless of what I'm doing - sleeping or running. After a good cardio workout I continute to burn more than twice the calories per minute for a good couple hours than I was before I started the workout. The cardio criticts forget to realize this. If you really want to know your numbers, I recommend this device. I was skeptical too but I'm actually quite amazed at how accurate it is.0
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