why does strength exercises not burn cals? confused

KarlaKennedy84
KarlaKennedy84 Posts: 12 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
hi

just a bit confused and i am sure someone in here will be able to help me :smile:

when i put any strength exercises into MFP it doesnt give a cals burnt and i dont understand why!
when i do sit up and weights (arms and legs) i still get hot and sweaty and my heart rate increases so why doesnt it burn cals?

Replies

  • SamDanielleB
    SamDanielleB Posts: 71
    I've heard that MFP doesn't do calories for strength exercises because they are too hard to accurately calculate. The cals depend on body weight, intensity, reps, weight, form, etc. and MFP can't handle all the different factors, so it doesn't even try.

    However, there is a "strength training" thing in cardiovascular exercises, and you could use that if you want to get a vague estimate of calories for it.
  • unicornlady77
    unicornlady77 Posts: 72
    it does burn calories but its too complicated to figure out how many,I think. cause there's so many factors.
  • KarlaKennedy84
    KarlaKennedy84 Posts: 12 Member
    see i knew you guys in here would know :wink:

    thanks that makes more sense than strength training not burning any cals x
  • imtrinat
    imtrinat Posts: 153 Member
    MFP doesn't give you calorie estimates for strength training. I log it under cardio circuit training more as a way to keep up with session times, but beware that you won't burn quite that many calories. You may want to invest in a HRM to help out and get a more accurate picture of calories burned. Keep in mind that you do get the benefit of post exercise calorie burn due to EPOC. Also, as your muscles grow, your BMR will increase as well. A lot of the benefits you get from lifting occur after the fact.
  • Excuse_less
    Excuse_less Posts: 874 Member
    Get yourself a good HRM f you want to add the caloric burn. It definitely burns cals make no mistake about it !!
  • NormInv
    NormInv Posts: 3,303 Member
    If you are doing circuit, and not slacking in between sets, you are definitely burning cals in the fat burning to aerobic zone. Trick is to keep the heart rate up by limiting the rest time.
  • craigmandu
    craigmandu Posts: 976 Member
    I also tend to log it as circuit training under cardio, but realize, that will give you very high estimates. It really takes an HRM to be accurate.

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