No "calories" counted for weight lifting

fishgutzy
fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
edited December 26 in Fitness and Exercise
Very strange that the exercise sheet doesn't calculate any calories burned for lifting weights.
Should be an easy thing to do.
Work=force x distance.
Energy=work x time.

Personally, I do my weight session in a way that keeps my heart rate up while lifting. Minimal rest between sets. Doing push pull sets. Doing 3 different curls in succession per set. And a massive dumbbell set that includes a box for step-ups.

Another pet peeve is the swimming calculator. I swim two miles (72 laps) in about 80 to 90 minutes depending on the combination of strokes and how many laps I double count (I need to get a pool lap counter). Even did 3 mile in 2hrs 6 minutes once.
The calculator is straight time. It would be more accurate doing a laps. But no calculation would be totally accurate because it take more force to move my barge shape though the water than is does my long lean 6'4" son. :)

I guess the important thing is doing something to keep the scale going in the right direction. And so far it is. Down 39 pounds so far. I still have about 95 or so to go.

Replies

  • Thor2020
    Thor2020 Posts: 41 Member
    Look up strength training in the cardio section.....it's based on generic weightlifting for however many minutes.

    Not great, but at least it gives you some sorta credit.

    The other part is just for logging purposes I guess.
  • AddA2UDE
    AddA2UDE Posts: 382
    When I first started using MFP, I added calories for lifting and ate them back. I began to gain back the weight I had lost. (I had been losing weight while lifting prior to using MFP). I stopped eating back those calories or evening counting them for that matter. Works for me.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    But no calculation would be totally accurate because it take more force to move my barge shape though the water than is does my long lean 6'4" son. :)

    Just a heads up, the calculations for cardio are based on your current weight/height and the average calories a person of that size does for that activity for that length of time, so you and your son would have different calorie burns even if you did the same swim, lap for lap. You'll notice as you lose more pounds the number of calories you burn for each activity will go down.

    Edited to add: If you are truly lifting without rest, you might consider logging your lifting as Circuit Training, but that gives quite a high burn which again may not be all that accurate either, unless you are really banging out some seriously quick lifts.
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
    Doesn't strength training burn calories? Why don't you show any calories burned for strength training?

    Estimating the calories burned from strength training is very difficult because it depends on a variety of factors: how much weight you lifted per repetition, how vigorously you performed that exercise, how much rest you took between sets, etc. Because of this, we do not automatically calculate how many calories you burned from strength training exercises.

    However, if you'd like, you can add "Strength training" as a cardio exercise to get a rough estimate of how many calories you burned. Please be aware though that this is definitely a rough estimate and can be fairly inaccurate.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help/faq/91-doesn-t-strength-training-burn-calories-why-don-t-you-show-any-calories-burned-for-strength-training
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help/faq/91-doesn-t-strength-training-burn-calories-why-don-t-you-show-any-calories-burned-for-strength-training

    If you need the calorie burn log it under cardio use the strength training section of exercise to track your progress with weight / reps / sets over time

    Beat by a minute :P
  • Arleigh7
    Arleigh7 Posts: 150 Member
    As someone who does heavy lifting 4x a week I hear you. But I decided that whether or not MFP records the calories or not it was the fact I was doing the workout that really matters.

    One way you could fix this is to wear a heart monitor/watch combo that lets you input your vital statistics (weight, height, age, etc.) and use the start / end to give you a calories burned for each of your llifting workouts and then enter that in the cardio section but put the title weight lifting and edit the calories.

    I was going to do this but then decided I didn't care. If I eat right and workout I lose weight and bottom line that's all that matters! :)
  • Jynus
    Jynus Posts: 519 Member
    As someone who does heavy lifting 4x a week I hear you. But I decided that whether or not MFP records the calories or not it was the fact I was doing the workout that really matters.

    One way you could fix this is to wear a heart monitor/watch combo that lets you input your vital statistics (weight, height, age, etc.) and use the start / end to give you a calories burned for each of your llifting workouts and then enter that in the cardio section but put the title weight lifting and edit the calories.

    I was going to do this but then decided I didn't care. If I eat right and workout I lose weight and bottom line that's all that matters! :)
    HRM's are not accurate for strength training,.
  • josiereside
    josiereside Posts: 720 Member
    As someone who does heavy lifting 4x a week I hear you. But I decided that whether or not MFP records the calories or not it was the fact I was doing the workout that really matters.

    One way you could fix this is to wear a heart monitor/watch combo that lets you input your vital statistics (weight, height, age, etc.) and use the start / end to give you a calories burned for each of your llifting workouts and then enter that in the cardio section but put the title weight lifting and edit the calories.

    I was going to do this but then decided I didn't care. If I eat right and workout I lose weight and bottom line that's all that matters! :)
    HRM's are not accurate for strength training,.

    Why are HRM not accurate for strength training. I know my heart rate does not get high but it still calculates calories.
  • Jynus
    Jynus Posts: 519 Member
    As someone who does heavy lifting 4x a week I hear you. But I decided that whether or not MFP records the calories or not it was the fact I was doing the workout that really matters.

    One way you could fix this is to wear a heart monitor/watch combo that lets you input your vital statistics (weight, height, age, etc.) and use the start / end to give you a calories burned for each of your llifting workouts and then enter that in the cardio section but put the title weight lifting and edit the calories.

    I was going to do this but then decided I didn't care. If I eat right and workout I lose weight and bottom line that's all that matters! :)
    HRM's are not accurate for strength training,.

    Why are HRM not accurate for strength training. I know my heart rate does not get high but it still calculates calories.
    Your heart's purpose is to provide oxygen to the body to meet demand. More beats/min = more blood thus more oxygen needed. The amount of oxygen per beat is pretty static, it's basically your VO2MAX. While doing cardio, carbs + oxygen = atp to do work. Since you know the amount of oxygen needed by the body by your heart rate, you can use this basic formula to calculate the number of carbs needed to match the oxygen used per beat. and thus your calories burned..

    So whats the problem for resistance training? Easy, resistance training doesn't use oxygen.... as such the HRM formula is utterly useless.
  • marijasmin
    marijasmin Posts: 160 Member
    Activity burns calories, weight lifting is activity but does weight lifting burn calories?
    Pure weight training is without oxygen, hard to measure (of course) but something must be burned as fuel none the less. Do we always do pure weight training or do we add a dynamic element to it? I treat my weight training as my secret reserve of activity which is adding extra calories burned- my fit bit ultra adds a tiny little bit extra for it too.

    Extra muscle built as a result of weight training burns extra basic metabolic calories- a weed like me will burn less calories than a muscled version of this same weed at the same weight. It appears that if I lose 5lbs of fat and gain 5lbs of muscle not only will I look smaller (muscle is denser than fat) but I should burn more calories. My overall weight would be the same though. The system log takes no account of the muscle/fat ratio either.

    Views please?

    Jasmin
  • Montemuscle1970
    Montemuscle1970 Posts: 21 Member
    Weight training just has too many variables to give individuals an accurate calorie expenditure. The body is very efficient when it comes to how it uses its energy. The weight lifting itself may only burn 100 calories in the 60 minutes you take to do it, but its the recovery that really helps utilize calories. It takes more calories to repair and recover than to actually lift the weight.

    People have varying degrees of what they consider to be "hard lifting" so its hard to calculate. Where as being on a machine with fixed resistance that logs the data, it can be fairly accurate.

    I would say just do the weights and try to increase the amount every week so you can judge the "intensity" of it. Then just do some cardio (15 minutes or so, nothing crazy) after the weights if you're concerned you aren't burning enough.
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    Thanks for the heads up of weights under cardio.

    I have found already that just keeping track of stuff has made me more conscious of my intake. Finally broke the months long stall and lost another 10 pounds in less than a month. Yet I am never rarely hungry and never feel weak so I know I am not starving by any means.
    I am finally back to where I was before foot surgery 4 years ago. Still 90 to go but progress is good.
    4 years ago I could not swim 3 miles. But I can now.
  • Sithas
    Sithas Posts: 1
    Your heart's purpose is to provide oxygen to the body to meet demand. More beats/min = more blood thus more oxygen needed. The amount of oxygen per beat is pretty static, it's basically your VO2MAX. While doing cardio, carbs + oxygen = atp to do work. Since you know the amount of oxygen needed by the body by your heart rate, you can use this basic formula to calculate the number of carbs needed to match the oxygen used per beat. and thus your calories burned..

    So whats the problem for resistance training? Easy, resistance training doesn't use oxygen.... as such the HRM formula is utterly useless.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Activity burns calories, weight lifting is activity but does weight lifting burn calories?
    Pure weight training is without oxygen, hard to measure (of course) but something must be burned as fuel none the less. Do we always do pure weight training or do we add a dynamic element to it? I treat my weight training as my secret reserve of activity which is adding extra calories burned- my fit bit ultra adds a tiny little bit extra for it too.

    Extra muscle built as a result of weight training burns extra basic metabolic calories- a weed like me will burn less calories than a muscled version of this same weed at the same weight. It appears that if I lose 5lbs of fat and gain 5lbs of muscle not only will I look smaller (muscle is denser than fat) but I should burn more calories. My overall weight would be the same though. The system log takes no account of the muscle/fat ratio either.

    Views please?

    Jasmin

    Important distinction: It's not that resistance training doesn't burn calories--no one is saying that.

    But there is no way to effectively ESTIMATE or measure the calories burned. No formula, no "table", no HRM, no nothing.

    People take great offense because they think this means that people and MFP are saying that you burn NO calories with resistance training. That is not true. You burn calories. You just can't measure them.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    As someone who does heavy lifting 4x a week I hear you. But I decided that whether or not MFP records the calories or not it was the fact I was doing the workout that really matters.

    One way you could fix this is to wear a heart monitor/watch combo that lets you input your vital statistics (weight, height, age, etc.) and use the start / end to give you a calories burned for each of your llifting workouts and then enter that in the cardio section but put the title weight lifting and edit the calories.

    I was going to do this but then decided I didn't care. If I eat right and workout I lose weight and bottom line that's all that matters! :)
    HRM's are not accurate for strength training,.

    Why are HRM not accurate for strength training. I know my heart rate does not get high but it still calculates calories.

    HRMs do not calculate calories. They estimate calories when one is doing steady-state cardio. If you are not doing steady-state cardio, then the equations that the HRM is programmed with do not apply and the number display is just random.
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