strength training

Enter it under cardio for it to count.

Enter it as Strength Training under the cardio section for it to count.

Just log "Strength training" under the cardiovascularsection, and the time spent on it. Or enter your own workout. If you search for a workout and it is not there click the add exercise button.

HI, I'm just new to this but was wondering how/why fitness pal doesn't calculate the calories burned for strength training only cardio? Or am I doing something wrong? Thanks, Lisa

I use the strength training under cardio. I just ignore the calorie burn anyway. None if it is accurate. I just log the time spent for my exercise history and ignore the calories. I'm tempted to set it all to 0's.

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Don't forget to spam that link to your work out program so you can make your money.
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I'm sorry, but I found that a bit rude. Nowhere in the response to the OP was anything related to any sort of workout program.
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Yep me too, there is no need to be rude like that :frown:

Good, glad you did. Jealously is not nice

I actually got it to accept strength training but would like to also know the calories for cruches etc.

Unfortunately the only way to know for sure is by using a HRM. For crunches, etc. I sometimes log it as "Abs" under cardio. It doesn't give me much though, about one calorie per minute.

I actually got it to accept strength training but would like to also know the calories for cruches etc.

Unfortunately the only way to know for sure is by using a HRM. For crunches, etc. I sometimes log it as "Abs" under cardio. It doesn't give me much though, about one calorie per minute.

HRMs do not accurately estimate calories burned for strength training. They are designed for cardio work. I do wish they worked for strength work though!

The reason it doesn't log the calories from strength training is due to the incredible variations available. No idea how many calories any one idividual will burn because of what their muscles are already used to doing. Amount of weight to make me burn x number of calories may be miniscule compared to my weight-lifting male counterpart. and number or reps, number of sets, etc. just make it too hard for the program to be able to accurately guess.
So, you can record it in cardio if you wish, but personally, I don't count my strength training calories, I only count cardio. and I have my calorie limit set to TDEE of my desired body weight so I only count if I go over the number of workouts already planned in or am really pushing the high end of recommended deficit. But, that's just me and everyone has to find what works for them.
Good luck!

I count my calories from strength training. I wear a HRM and my heart rate does increase just as much with strength training as it does cardio, maybe not as continuously but definitely enough to count. I enter it manually created my own exercise titled "Strength training HRM"

Sometimes I feel ignored....

"SparkPeople's Fitness Tracker doesn't estimate calorie burn for strength training because so many variables are involved (how hard you're working, resting in between sets, the amount of weight you lift, etc.) that any estimate would not be very accurate. A heart rate monitor (HRM) is capable of estimating calorie burn pretty accurately—but only for aerobic (cardio) exercise, not for strength training. Here's why:

A 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."

Written by Dean Anderson, Certified Personal Trainer

http://www.sparkpeople.com/community/ask_the_experts.asp?q=75

And just to clarify, I work pretty damn hard when strength training. I also make sure to always stay in motion so if I'm taking a rest from lifting, I'm jogging in place. My heart rate stays elevated (I can tell this physically not just by my HRM) I sweat and work much harder than I do when just doing cardio, so I believe my burn is just as close to accurate when strength training. But no matter what you're doing a calorie burn is never going to be exactly accurate. I don't eat back my exercise cals either so the burn number is simply for the benefit of myself.

Sometimes I feel ignored....

I saw your post, wasn't ignoring it, just stating that I don't agree. My trainer would beg to differ as well.

Glad you disagree. But basic biology disagrees with you. Cardio uses oxygen to make energy. Weight lifting does not. HRM's measure heartrate based OXYGEN consumption to guestimate calorie burn.

Can you then pls explain to me how a device thats used to measure oxygen consumption is supposed to do so with activities that do not use oxygen???