Am I overestimating my exercise calories burned?

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abbie38
abbie38 Posts: 128
in Fitness and Exercise
I am logging my exercise daily, at it seems that I'm burning a lot of calories. Could I be overestimating them? For example, I taught two zumba classes today, and seem to average arund 700 cals burned per class, then I took a resistance training/cardio class for an hour. We do half the class dancing with 5 lb weights, and the other half is squats/dead lifts, etcetera, and I used two 20 lb dumbells. I estimated that at 400 calories. Did I burn 1800 calories today or am I being wayyyy optimistic? Any help would be great!

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  • mromnek
    mromnek Posts: 325
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    I would suggest getting a heart rate monitor and using that to monitor your calories burned. There are lots of models and price ranges. I went and got one each for my wife and I yesterday. The ones I settled on were $110, but there were several good ones for less.

    We went out walking, and were shocked at the number of calories burned. I just got off my exercise bike and found its calorie counter was off by 50%.
  • vhuber
    vhuber Posts: 8,779 Member
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    The only way to get an exact amount is to wear a good HRM. I wear a Polar F11 and I am never blessed with readings that high even while doing the hour Insanity workouts and they are the extreme HIIT workouts!
  • abbie38
    abbie38 Posts: 128
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    Thanks :) I was hooked up to a Polar (I think it's called) a couple times during my zumba class and I burned b/w 700-800 calories. I just don't know how to estimate the other classes. I think a HRM is a good investment. I should check into it!
  • mstanley
    mstanley Posts: 121 Member
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    My sister-in-law teaches Zumba and she wears a heart rate monitor during class. She burns between 800 - 1200 calories an hour with Zumba, so I don't think that you are overestimating.

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