Do you include calories burned during strength training?

mom020305
mom020305 Posts: 33
edited September 20 in Fitness and Exercise
Today I did 37 mins of strength training without resting in between sets. I made it like a circuit, incorporating upper/lower body and abs. My HRM said I burned 578 and I also checked my HR every so often and it was always recording at 70-80%, I was sweating and breathing pretty good but could still hold a conversation.

Should I record this? If I did, between that and cardio I burned over 1000 cals!

TIA for your help!

Replies

  • rmccully
    rmccully Posts: 319
    I WOULD SAY YES
  • YESSSS!!!!!
    GIVE YOURSELF THE CREDIT... It was well deserved :) Good job !
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
    I, personally, don't record the calories for my strength training. I just list it under strength training to see how much I did and to keep myself accountable, to keep myself doing it.
  • mworld
    mworld Posts: 270
    I wouldn't record 578. Do a sanity check and see what 37 minutes of circuit training on the site tells you you would burn. Also, your heart rate only being between 70-80% implies that you really weren't working out at a very high intensity either since in strenght training you should be hitting well above 80% most of the time.
  • i weight lift 4 times a week and I record that under the cardio vascular part under weight lifting. Cuz i get my heart rate up and i'm know i'm burning calories.
  • Laceylala
    Laceylala Posts: 3,094 Member
    Why wouldn't you track all of them. You aren't being very accurate if you don't. How do you know exactly how many total calories per day you need to eat if MFP already puts the deficit into your base cals? (This is of course assuming you eat your exercise cals back.)

    Also I have found, as have others on this site, that the HRM is more accurate than the calories given for any exercises listed on MFP. The HR uses your body weight and age and heart rate to determine the calories burned, whereas MFP is very general not taking any of that into account.

    Calories burned are calories burned.

    I guess at the end of the day if you are finding that you are losing weight with not logging those cals then why fix what isn't broken? I personally want to track them so I have an accurate picture of what I am doing...that way down the line if I find I hit a plateau I can try to look back at my history and see what changes I need to make to continue on.
  • mworld
    mworld Posts: 270
    i think the point/question is not about tracking it, so much as gauging the reality of whats being given. Some very educated people have already come on and pointed out the inaccuracy of using a HRM during strength training to begin with so it is about being the right amount of conservative.

    You could wear your HRM all day, but you still shouldn't just put those calories it says you burned into your diary.
  • mom020305
    mom020305 Posts: 33
    I guess if I performed my sets with rest in between like I noramlly do then I would not even had bothered to keep track. B ut I performed it as a circuit, like Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. So for example I started with 45 sec of abs, 12 reps of biceps, 12 reps of triceps, back to the abs till I performed 3 sets of each and moved on the lower body, etc...

    I think the HRM monitor is much more accurate. I entered all my personal info into it. Unless I have read things wrong you should be working at 75-80%. I was at the high end of my target heart rate. The elliptical machine told me I only burned about 400 but my hrm recorded 532. I weigh 171 and 5'7" and from what I have learned my target heart rate would be:
    Intensity Target Heart Rate
    50-55% to 122-128 bpm
    60-65% to 135-141 bpm
    70-75% to 148-155 bpm
    80-85% to 161-168 bpm
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