Weight lifting question

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  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    Don't want to get into a debate so I will tell you my experience. I wear a HRM so I know pretty close to what I am burning. I burn around 300-400 calories heavy lifting when I am training on my own. Now with my trainer I burn around 600-700 because there is no rest at all, he constantly watches my monitor to keep heart rate elevated. He will make me sprint, jump jacks, or something to keep me elevated to get the burn.


    HRMs are useless for strength training. They are specifically designed for steady state cardio.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    When I started doing weight days, I kept it simple and logged it under "Strength Training" in the cardio database on MFP. The calorie counts come out much lower than cardio (as they should), and that was good enough for me. I also eat back all my exercise calories most days, so I didn't wanna go way over...

    Hope this helps!

    This is a fine way to account for it. You will also get increased post-exercise burn but not worth trying to account for unless you are trying to either gain or maintain.
  • jshort152
    jshort152 Posts: 80
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    Usually rigorous weightlifting for an hour uses anywhere from 200 to 350 calories during the workout itself not including afterburn so my advice would be to get a little extra carbs in about an hour or so prior to lifting for energy and your protein really doesn't need to change if your still taking in .8 grams per pound of body weight whether or not cardio or lifting protein should stay the same. Hope this helps!

    Jesse Short
    ISSA Certified Personal Trainer
  • MonkRocker
    MonkRocker Posts: 198
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    As already pointed out - calorie burn while lifting is dependent a lot on what your work/rest routine is.

    I wear a stopwatch the whole time. 1 minute between sets, 2 minutes between exercises. So my heart rate never really drops down to a resting rate. If you're gonna do a set then wait 5 minutes before the next, you're not going to burn as much.
  • m16shane
    m16shane Posts: 393 Member
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    First off, the assumption that most of the time you're doing "nothing" while lifting weights is a joke. It may appear that I'm not doing anything between sets, but believe me- most of the time my heart rate is jacked, my breathing is heavy and I'm sweating like a pig.

    Second, numerous studies have shown that weight lifting produces a longer calorie burn than standard cardio. This means that even after you finish your workout, you continue to burn calories. Conversely, when you end a standard session of cardio, you also end your calorie burn. Additonally, HIIT-style cardio has also been shown to produce a longer, post-exercise calorie burn as well.

    Ah, numbers. I DO enjoy numbers. Simply elevating your heart rate does cause more burn than a lower heart rate, true. But the burn from weight lifting is not nearly as much as from cardio. So, the idea that you are sitting on the bench with a high heart rate staring at the wall and the pounds are shedding is a JOKE too. If this was totally true in the way you seem to think, all we'd have to do is watch suspense movies and lose weight faster than a marathon runner ever could.

    HIIT does create a longer calorie burn than regular cardio yes. But the rate is lower and the overall caloric burn is not as high when all is said and done. HIIT has periods of high and then low intensity. This does create a state that the body will burn calories for a longer period of time, but due to the low intensity, it will not burn as much as a steady state cardio session.

    Anyone that thinks they are burning more sitting on a bench waiting between sets than they do while running at a medium-high pace is simply fooling themselves.

    Sorry to be judgmental but where do you have the proof to back up your thoughts? Judging by your pictures you do not lift much. I know this may sound harsh but its an honest question?
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    HIIT does create a longer calorie burn than regular cardio yes. But the rate is lower and the overall caloric burn is not as high when all is said and done. HIIT has periods of high and then low intensity. This does create a state that the body will burn calories for a longer period of time, but due to the low intensity, it will not burn as much as a steady state cardio session.

    .

    Kind of off track in this thread but I remember reading a Lyle McDonald article saying they were pretty much the same depending on the time expended for both. The article was essentially saying that HIIT is not better than steady state. I think the comparison was 20 minutes HIIT and 45 minutes steady state has essentialy the same burn in 24 hours period taking EPOC into account. Do you have different data?
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
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    I have had good results using MFP calculations under the Cardio/stength training section. For me the estimations have been low but I feel they are accurate. For reference MFP gives me 219 cals/hour. I put in the actual time I was at the gym including time between sets and eat back what it gives me.

    You can adjust your calorie intake anytime you want if you are not getting the results you are looking for. I would recommend giving any changes a couple of weeks before deciding if its working or not though.

    Personally I do not lift weights for the calories burn and dont try to turn my lifting into cardio or endurance training. Lift weights to stimulate the muscles for growth, strength and/or retention.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    As already pointed out - calorie burn while lifting is dependent a lot on what your work/rest routine is.

    I wear a stopwatch the whole time. 1 minute between sets, 2 minutes between exercises. So my heart rate never really drops down to a resting rate. If you're gonna do a set then wait 5 minutes before the next, you're not going to burn as much.

    You also may not get as much out of each set and challenge the muscles enough if you don't rest at least 3 minutes between sets. This allows time for full recovery of the ATP-PC energy system for the next set and enables you to lift more with greater intensity. So much of the benefit of lifting has nothing to do with heart rate. If you are doing muscular enderance training, what you've said applies but not for strength traiining.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    Bingo.

    Most of weight lifting is spent doing nothing. You lift for a few seconds, then wait and wait then lift a few seconds more.

    Cardio on the other hand, you're actively moving the entire time. That burns.

    You do burn SOME calories during weight training, but its not nearly as large as people seem to assume.

    You can manually set your goals to change daily protein intake to 25% of your calories, maybe even 30%. That should do it for you.


    No offence but i'd say this is rubbish.

    If I am lifting I make sure I get a post workout meal in (within an hour) - this includes protein & carbs (mostly simple carbs), for energy to transport the protein.

    You can have a nosy at my diary if you like - I go to the gym at 7am, so my postworkout meal is 'elevenses'.

    I'm in no way an expert on nutririon but i'd also consider changing your macro %s. IMO, MFP sets the carbs pretty high. I was doing 40/30/30 but I'm trying out 35/35/30 at the moment.

    Hope this helps.


    Oh, and you can log 'Strength Training' in Cardio so you get a calorie value :)
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    When I started doing weight days, I kept it simple and logged it under "Strength Training" in the cardio database on MFP. The calorie counts come out much lower than cardio (as they should), and that was good enough for me. I also eat back all my exercise calories most days, so I didn't wanna go way over...

    Hope this helps!

    This is a fine way to account for it. You will also get increased post-exercise burn but not worth trying to account for unless you are trying to either gain or maintain.

    Agreed.

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