Lifting- How many calories burned?

Rogue_Minx
Rogue_Minx Posts: 71 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Is there any surefire way to count the calories that you burn while lifting?

Every day, I try to do 30 minutes of cardio and then I move onto the weights, working a different muscle group each day. I started doing this about two months ago but I never know how to track the exercises on myfitnesspal.

Anyone else have any advice or are you wondering the same thing?

Please and thank you!
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Replies

  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    Not really, its not many
  • julieh391
    julieh391 Posts: 683 Member
    I'd get a heart rate monitor if you want to be super accurate. I'm considering getting one myself.

    Edited to add: If my heart rate is up for a substantial length of time I log it under Cardio/Strength Training. I usually round the calories burned down, though, because I never want to eat back too many exercise calories. It's worked for me so far, which is why I haven't bothered with a HRM yet.
  • pengem789
    pengem789 Posts: 45
    Lifting weights does not burn many calories at all because it is not cardio. HOWEVER, the more muscle mass your body has, the more calories you will burn ALL THE TIME - at rest, sleeping, doing your daily activities, and doing your cardio workout. It's worth it for toning and to increase bone density but it will not burn enough calories alone to even bother trying to log. If you want to log it just to be proud of yourself for it (which is what I do!), go ahead! It helps!
  • ssteinbring677
    ssteinbring677 Posts: 158 Member
    I don't know how intense everyone's weight lifting sessions are, or how heavy they're lifting...but the general consensus seems to be that you don't burn many calories weight lifting. In my personal experience, my heart rate gets as high if not higher during a lifting session than a cardio session...and I typically have a sopping wet shirt to prove it. I don't use an HRM or even log weight lifting in MFP but I feel like lifting can potentially burn a lot more calories than people think, depending on the intensity of the lifting session.
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    I don't know how intense everyone's weight lifting sessions are, or how heavy they're lifting...but the general consensus seems to be that you don't burn many calories weight lifting. In my personal experience, my heart rate gets as high if not higher during a lifting session than a cardio session...and I typically have a sopping wet shirt to prove it. I don't use an HRM or even log weight lifting in MFP but I feel like lifting can potentially burn a lot more calories than people think, depending on the intensity of the lifting session.

    Heart rate and sweat are not a indication of number of calories burned
  • EatClean_WashUrNuts
    EatClean_WashUrNuts Posts: 1,590 Member
    Wear an HRM with Calories Burned tracker for your complete workout (and log as ONE workout). Name it...Moving the Gym forcefully over the trolls.


    EDIT: Make sure that you are maintaining a High HR...which mean, little rest between sets and routine changes.
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    Wear an HRM for your complete workout. Name it...Moving the Gym forcefully over the trolls.

    HRMs are modeled after a constant cardio style activity and are not accurate to weight lifting
  • EatClean_WashUrNuts
    EatClean_WashUrNuts Posts: 1,590 Member
    Wear an HRM for your complete workout. Name it...Moving the Gym forcefully over the trolls.

    HRMs are modeled after a constant cardio style activity and are not accurate to weight lifting

    See my EDIT
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    Wear an HRM for your complete workout. Name it...Moving the Gym forcefully over the trolls.

    HRMs are modeled after a constant cardio style activity and are not accurate to weight lifting

    See my EDIT

    Still incorrect
  • timothyrcullen
    timothyrcullen Posts: 5 Member
    I think the effect is not WHILE you're lifting, but rather the increase in the number of calories burned throughout the day.
  • SomeoneSomeplace
    SomeoneSomeplace Posts: 1,094 Member
    Don't worry about calories when lifting weights. It's for toning

    Cardio is where you burn calories
  • jasonp_ritzert
    jasonp_ritzert Posts: 357 Member
    If you type "strength training" into the cardiovascular search box on MFP you can enter your time there. I do tend to be on the conservative side with this and enter one minute of 'strength training' for each set that I complete becuase someone can say they they lifted for an hour and may have only done five sets vs. someone that lifts for an hour and does 30 sets.

    It may not be the most accurate, but it gives you something to work with. I've been using it for a while and it seems to be somewhat accurate or you can just not log it and give yourself some extra calories to work with.
  • Christieson
    Christieson Posts: 36 Member
    Try this....

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/228804-how-many-calories-are-burned-during-30-minutes-of-weight-lifting/
  • hjfischer
    hjfischer Posts: 250
    I log my time under circuit training. It will depend on how hard you lift. I get a great work out lifting. I do not rest between sets and I do super sets and am out of breathe and sweating badly when I finish my 25-30 minutes of lifting. It is strenous and a cardio burn. But I work HARD at it. I do not waste any time. If you are lifting and resting and taking your time, you probably are not burning many calories, but building muscle and strengthening bone density is very important to overall health.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    Don't worry about calories when lifting weights. It's for toning

    100%. This is why Andy Bolton is a vascular, ripped god.
  • alvalaurie
    alvalaurie Posts: 369 Member
    I think the effect is not WHILE you're lifting, but rather the increase in the number of calories burned throughout the day.

    ^^^This!
  • EatClean_WashUrNuts
    EatClean_WashUrNuts Posts: 1,590 Member
    Wear an HRM for your complete workout. Name it...Moving the Gym forcefully over the trolls.

    HRMs are modeled after a constant cardio style activity and are not accurate to weight lifting

    See my EDIT

    Still incorrect

    Negative Ghost Rider. If you're HR is increased, you burn. This is fact. When you combine BOTH Cardio and Weights, whether one right after the other at a sustained increase of HR, you burn more than Lifting or Cardio, alone. If you take breaks longer than 15 secs between your sets, and are not pushing your limits. Additionally, you must maintain an elevated HR. It is best done by mixing your lifting routines - for example - Curls, Lat pull-downs, Military Press, Bench Press 10 reps = 1 set with <10s interchange.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Lifting weights does not burn many calories at all because it is not cardio.

    That's not exactly true. hell you burn calories while you sleep. You don't have to be doing cardio to burn calories. It *does* depend on intensity and the length of time you are lifting. An average burn might be around 200 calories in a one hour session, but that can vary widely, depending on the person and on the intensity, how long your rest between sets, etc.

    http://www.answerfitness.com/296/how-many-calories-are-burned-weight-liftin/

    http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist3.htm

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/338469-how-to-calculate-calories-burned-weight-lifting/
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    I think the effect is not WHILE you're lifting, but rather the increase in the number of calories burned throughout the day.

    And this!
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    Wear an HRM for your complete workout. Name it...Moving the Gym forcefully over the trolls.

    HRMs are modeled after a constant cardio style activity and are not accurate to weight lifting

    See my EDIT

    Still incorrect

    Negative Ghost Rider. If you're HR is increased, you burn. This is fact. When you combine BOTH Cardio and Weights, whether one right after the other at a sustained increase of HR, you burn more than Lifting or Cardio, alone. If you take breaks longer than 15 secs between your sets, and are not pushing your limits. Additionally, you must maintain an elevated HR. It is best done by mixing your lifting routines - for example - Curls, Lat pull-downs, Military Press, Bench Press 10 reps = 1 set with <10s interchange.

    You are incorrect, the number of calories burned by your heart is very small, increasing your heart rate does not increase calorie burn
  • jasonp_ritzert
    jasonp_ritzert Posts: 357 Member
    Wear an HRM for your complete workout. Name it...Moving the Gym forcefully over the trolls.

    HRMs are modeled after a constant cardio style activity and are not accurate to weight lifting

    See my EDIT

    Still incorrect

    Negative Ghost Rider. If you're HR is increased, you burn. This is fact. When you combine BOTH Cardio and Weights, whether one right after the other at a sustained increase of HR, you burn more than Lifting or Cardio, alone. If you take breaks longer than 15 secs between your sets, and are not pushing your limits. Additionally, you must maintain an elevated HR. It is best done by mixing your lifting routines - for example - Curls, Lat pull-downs, Military Press, Bench Press 10 reps = 1 set with <10s interchange.

    You are incorrect, the number of calories burned by your heart is very small, increasing your heart rate does not increase calorie burn

    Really? Increasing your hear rate does not increase calorie burn? When your hear works harder, it's to remove toxic carbon dioxide from your muscles, so it's doing the same procedure for cardio as it is for weight training. I think you need to do some research because weight training done in the right way can burn just as many, if not more, calories as traditional cardiovascular activity. Sure, someone that waits 5 minutes between sets is not going to burn as many calories as somone on a treadmill but I can get my heartrate into the fat burning zone with weight training and keep it there pretty easily weight training.
  • EatClean_WashUrNuts
    EatClean_WashUrNuts Posts: 1,590 Member
    You are incorrect, the number of calories burned by your heart is very small, increasing your heart rate does not increase calorie burn

    Please, post where you know this knowledge. Mine comes from being trained by the US Army as Medic, of which, part of my duties were to oversee the BOLO's

    INCREASING YOUR HEART BURNS.

    here is WELL KNOWN report...I'll give you the short highlight:
    Will your fitness level effect the number of calories you burn?
    Yes, as you do endurance training your body adapts in many physiological mechanisms. One positive adaptation is a lower submaximal heart rate intensity during your aerobic workouts at a given oxygen consumption. Fit individuals will often challenge themselves by exercising harder, elevating their heart rate intensity and thus burn more calories because they are also then elevating their submaximal oxygen consumption.

    Can certain types of exercise burn more calories than others?
    Based on the fundamental principles of indirect calorimetry, to burn more calories during exercise you need to increase oxygen consumption.


    Feel free to read: http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/caloricexp.html
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    If someone startles you, your heart rate goes up too, even though you don't move. It might go as high as when you are sprinting.
    Therefore, being startled burns the same calories as sprinting.

    I'm going to go watch two scary movies at once and burn a thousand calories.
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    Really? Increasing your hear rate does not increase calorie burn? When your hear works harder, it's to remove toxic carbon dioxide from your muscles, so it's doing the same procedure for cardio as it is for weight training. I think you need to do some research because weight training done in the right way can burn just as many, if not more, calories as traditional cardiovascular activity. Sure, someone that waits 5 minutes between sets is not going to burn as many calories as somone on a treadmill but I can get my heartrate into the fat burning zone with weight training and keep it there pretty easily weight training.

    Yes really
    Calories are burned is determine by the number of muscle cells that are activated to preform your activity
    THAT is what uses the energy and uses the oxygen

    When weight training you are usually activating a small number of groups, such as your bicep when doing your brocurls

    That causes a increase in heart rate to delivery oxygen to those cells, even though the rest of your body did not consume the energy, only a small amount of that oxygen would be consumed

    Doing a series of strength training will cause your heart rate to bump up over and over but only consume a small amount of oxygen (which is what we are trying to measure to determine calorie burn)
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member

    Please, post where you know this knowledge. Mine comes from being trained by the US Army as Medic, of which, part of my duties were to oversee the BOLO's

    Ask for a refund?
  • jasonp_ritzert
    jasonp_ritzert Posts: 357 Member
    If someone startles you, your heart rate goes up too, even though you don't move. It might go as high as when you are sprinting.
    Therefore, being startled burns the same calories as sprinting.

    I'm going to go watch two scary movies at once and burn a thousand calories.

    Yes, your heart rates spikes when startled, but how long does it stay there? Go do 30 minutes of jogging on a treadmill and do 30 of squatting or leg press and tell me which one you can recover from quicker and that you don't burn as many calories lifting as with cardio.
  • jasonp_ritzert
    jasonp_ritzert Posts: 357 Member
    Really? Increasing your hear rate does not increase calorie burn? When your hear works harder, it's to remove toxic carbon dioxide from your muscles, so it's doing the same procedure for cardio as it is for weight training. I think you need to do some research because weight training done in the right way can burn just as many, if not more, calories as traditional cardiovascular activity. Sure, someone that waits 5 minutes between sets is not going to burn as many calories as somone on a treadmill but I can get my heartrate into the fat burning zone with weight training and keep it there pretty easily weight training.

    Yes really
    Calories are burned is determine by the number of muscle cells that are activated to preform your activity
    THAT is what uses the energy and uses the oxygen

    When weight training you are usually activating a small number of groups, such as your bicep when doing your brocurls

    That causes a increase in heart rate to delivery oxygen to those cells, even though the rest of your body did not consume the energy, only a small amount of that oxygen would be consumed

    Doing a series of strength training will cause your heart rate to bump up over and over but only consume a small amount of oxygen (which is what we are trying to measure to determine calorie burn)

    Ever heard of HIIT cardio training? Basically the same principles of weight training... a period of increased stress followed by a period of low stress/rest.

    *EDIT* Also, the first purpose of your heart rate increasing is to remove carbone dioxide (very toxic to muscles). Basic human physiology my friend.
  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
    It's for toning

    Cardio is where you burn calories

    The word 'toning' makes me cringe.

    You may not 'burn many calories whilst lifting', but lifting heavy will increase the amount of calories you burn overall. Really lifting is a win win situation.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    If someone startles you, your heart rate goes up too, even though you don't move. It might go as high as when you are sprinting.
    Therefore, being startled burns the same calories as sprinting.

    I'm going to go watch two scary movies at once and burn a thousand calories.

    Yes, your heart rates spikes when startled, but how long does it stay there? Go do 30 minutes of jogging on a treadmill and do 30 of squatting or leg press and tell me which one you can recover from quicker and that you don't burn as many calories lifting as with cardio.

    My heart rate goes to about 170 during a single high effort deadlift pull. It stays there for about 20 seconds, then drops to about 150 for another 20 seconds, and eventually gets down to resting in a few minutes.

    When I run hard, my heart rate is around 160-165.

    So, you're saying that the 40 seconds where I'm kneeling, perfectly still, recovering from my deadlift max rep attempt burns the same number of calories as 40 seconds of running very fast?
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
    If someone startles you, your heart rate goes up too, even though you don't move. It might go as high as when you are sprinting.
    Therefore, being startled burns the same calories as sprinting.

    I'm going to go watch two scary movies at once and burn a thousand calories.

    Yes, your heart rates spikes when startled, but how long does it stay there? Go do 30 minutes of jogging on a treadmill and do 30 of squatting or leg press and tell me which one you can recover from quicker and that you don't burn as many calories lifting as with cardio.

    My heart rate goes to about 170 during a single high effort deadlift pull. It stays there for about 20 seconds, then drops to about 150 for another 20 seconds, and eventually gets down to resting in a few minutes.

    When I run hard, my heart rate is around 160-165.

    So, you're saying that the 40 seconds where I'm kneeling, perfectly still, recovering from my deadlift max rep attempt burns the same number of calories as 40 seconds of running very fast?

    ^^ this

    People, its not heart rate that burns calories, its activity

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