Tracking strength training

HRMs do not accurately track cals burned from lifting
The additional cals burned from the amount of muscle a newb eating a deficit will gain is negligible

yeah,
I just throw a few hundred calories my way...has worked so far.

So no one tracks their calories when they lift weights?

They don't, and they shouldn't. Lifting weights isn't about burning calories, it's about building strength which requires calories. Try tracking your gains instead and make progress that way. Remember every weight you used and strive for more reps or increasing the weights each time you workout. Looking back on that will be much more informative than looking back at a single workout and seeing calories burnt in one day.

JesusChrist, don't list to this girl^^^^^ She has proven herself incompetent on previous threads.

Listen to the people telling you that you can log it under the cardio exercises. Weight training does not burn as many calories per session as cardio but that's not necessarily why people chose that form of exercise. People chose to lift weights in order to gain muscle, get stronger and to burn more calories while at rest due to an increase in muscle mass.

Congrats on lifting weights for 30 minutes! You've burned 250 calories, even though you took 2 minute breaks in between sets. Congrats to the next guy lifting 90% his max! He's burning just as many calories as you lifting 20 lb weights because he lifted for 30 minutes as well. It's true.

Let's all track this!!!

Wait, what? Are we not supposed to take breaks between sets now? I'd be willing to bet the "guy lifting 90% his max!" is taking more than 2 minutes between sets. Or didn't they teach you that in whatever bull**** place it was you became a esspert.

HRMs do not accurately track cals burned from lifting
The additional cals burned from the amount of muscle a newb eating a deficit will gain is negligible

yeah,
I just throw a few hundred calories my way...has worked so far.

I use my HRM for regular cardio stuff like running. For strength training I use the figure MFP pulls out of it's butt. It's significantly lower than what my HRM spews so I figure .... whatevs.

Here's the best link I was able to find:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/338469-how-to-calculate-calories-burned-weight-lifting/

And here is what that article specifies: (according with this formula I am burning more calories that what MFP tells me)

Weight lifting is a great exercise to not only build strength and tone muscles but to increase your metabolic rate and burn even more calories. For every 3 lbs. of muscle you build, your metabolic rate increases by 7 percent, according to West Valley College. This in turn increases the number of calories you need to maintain your weight by 15 percent. As an added bonus, after a weight training session you continue to burn calories at a higher rate for up to 24 hours. The number of calories you burn during the weight lifting session itself depends on your body weight and the type and intensity of the weight training. Consult your doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

Step 1
Weigh yourself before each weight lifting session. The number of calories you burn partially depends on your weight.


Step 2
Time the number of minutes you lifted weights. This includes the time spent resting between repetitions.

Step 3
Determine the intensity value of your weight training. A bodybuilding level of effort is vigorous and burns 0.055 calories per pound per minute. Circuit training with weights burns 0.042 calories per pound per minute. Strength training with free weights burns 0.039 calories per pound per minute. Lighter weight lifting with moderate effort burns 0.028 calories per pound per minute.

Step 4
Calculate the number of calories burned. First, multiply your weight by the number of minutes you exercised. For example, if you weigh 140 lbs. and lifted weights for 35 minutes, the formula would be 140 x 35 = 4900. Then multiply this number by the intensity value to get the number of calories burned. If you were circuit training, the formula would be 4900 x 0.042 = 206 calories burned.


Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/338469-how-to-calculate-calories-burned-weight-lifting/#ixzz2I4nqp1ii

HRMs do not accurately track cals burned from lifting
The additional cals burned from the amount of muscle a newb eating a deficit will gain is negligible

yeah,
I just throw a few hundred calories my way...has worked so far.

I use my HRM for regular cardio stuff like running. For strength training I use the figure MFP pulls out of it's butt. It's significantly lower than what my HRM spews so I figure .... whatevs.

Same. And I'm quoting you because you made me giggle.

As to why HRMs don't track accurately for weight lifting: the formula they use is designed for cardio, where you're using your whole body and consuming oxygen throughout. When you lift weights, you often do muscle groups in isolation. Your heart rate goes up because you need to deliver oxygen to the specific group you're using, but that doesn't correlate directly to your (much lower) calorie burn. http://www.sparkpeople.com/community/ask_the_experts.asp?q=75

I too add it under cardio, under strength training.

I do that and use my HRM to fill in the calories burned.

Yep, track those calories burned. You earned them!

HRMs do not accurately track cals burned from lifting
The additional cals burned from the amount of muscle a newb eating a deficit will gain is negligible

To all those using HRMs to track their lifting burns, I just wanted to point this out again: HRMs do NOT accurately track lifting heavy weights and are not designed nor meant to do so.

I have a Polar HRM I use for cardio. I do wear my HRM during weight training so I can be aware of what my HR is, but I do not use it to determine calories burned.

A lot of lifters just eat at a set flat rate (e.g. TDEE +/- some %) for calories and do not add back exercise calories. Some eat at a set level on non-workout days and a set level for workout days. This solves the problem of trying to figure out what you burned.

I usually just give myself 100 extra calories for weight lifting.

Also, I have a BMF which syncs with this site to give me a more accurate (but not perfect) estimate of my daily TDEE (which includes all exercise calories including lifting).

I lift weights so I can be my own BMF. It has nothing to do with syncing to anything or accuracy though.

Do you mean BAMF?

I'm just working to be a BMF now. I'll work on BAMF status once I've reached that first stepping stone.

I usually just give myself 100 extra calories for weight lifting.

Also, I have a BMF which syncs with this site to give me a more accurate (but not perfect) estimate of my daily TDEE (which includes all exercise calories including lifting).

I lift weights so I can be my own BMF. It has nothing to do with syncing to anything or accuracy though.

Do you mean BAMF?

I'm just working to be a BMF now. I'll work on BAMF status once I've reached that first stepping stone.

Baby steps.

In fact, that's what the B is in BMF: baby.