Differing Calories Burned-Same Workout

vickipatterson462

I wear a heart rate monitor when I work out so I can see exactly what I'm burning. For some reason, it tracks very different amounts of calories burned, even when I do the exact same workout. Any reasoning for that? I did the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred Level 3 on Saturday and burned 225 calories, I did the same today and burned 175. Help!

Mokey41

You must have been putting more effort out one day than the other.

shadow2soul

I'm assuming you have one that has a chest strap. It's possible you pushed harder on Saturday then today or your fitness has improved, so your hr doesn't get as high, and as such you don't burn as many calories.

RaineMarie

If I do the same workout at different times of the day I burn different amounts of calories. I never burn as much in the morning, probably because I am still half asleep, and I dont get my heart rate as high. Its really only an estimate anyway, but there are various factors that can affect your intensity level from day-to-day.

JosieRawr

either you were more motivated the first time, or your muscle memory catches on fast and you had to exert less effort to complete the same moves. It's completely logical that your calories burned would vary.

kelsully

You must have been putting more effort out one day than the other.

I find that even at the same effort I burn a lot less in the early AM than in the afternoon...and effort is a big factor

kathleennf

HRMs estimate calories based on heart rate (duh - I know you know that, but...) There are many things that affect heart rate, and only one of them is how much you are exercising. Just think about it - WITHOUT exercise your heart rate will go up due to stress/anxiety, fever, caffeine or other stimulants, dehydration, etc etc. Add to that the fact that, as someone already pointed out, as you get in better shape, your heart rate will go up LESS for the same workout. There you have it. Plus, yes, you might have been working less hard on the second workout...

Shoechick5

we walk 9K both saturdays and sundays and I never get the same reading. If we do it after breakfast it's always higher, guess I burn more digesting my food. There are a ton of reasons why it will be different.

vickipatterson462

Thanks everyone!