800 calories from... golfing?

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veto1024
veto1024 Posts: 20
in Fitness and Exercise
I thought I'd add in my golfing round today to my exercise on MFP and I was astounding by the results! 800 calories from 2 hours of golfing (I'm 250lb at the moment)!? Even with using a cart! Okay, sure, I feel sore and feel like I have just walked 3 miles (even though I haven't considering the cart), but 800 calories? I've heard that MFP overestimates calorie usage, but really?

I've noticed MFP uses the same source as WebMD so I'm curious as to how this particular number was figured. Seems high, eh?
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Replies

  • GoneKona
    GoneKona Posts: 87
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    Use a hr monitor next time. That will give you an accurate measurement
  • jasonp_ritzert
    jasonp_ritzert Posts: 357 Member
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    Sounds like the time I looked up fishing in the cardio category. Even though it said I burned calories, I had a hard time adding it in.
  • CarmenSRT
    CarmenSRT Posts: 843 Member
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    Don't be too trusting of the MFP calorie burn numbers. I recently got a BodyBuggSP and found out that my daily hour on the stationary bike (full resistance, 12+ MPH) was actually burning 300 cals, not the 600+ MFP says. Thankfully I haven't really been terribly trusting of the calorie burn numbers so have been leaving 300 cals a day uneaten all along.
  • cyndymar
    cyndymar Posts: 73
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    Yup totally exaggerates the calories your best bet and accurate one would be to get a polar HR monitor that calculate calories burned and fat % lost
  • moustache_flavored_lube
    moustache_flavored_lube Posts: 849 Member
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    Thats high probably about double what it should be. Keep in mind you burn a few hundred calories doing nothing for 2-3 hours (BMR)
  • alienrite
    alienrite Posts: 314 Member
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    I burn over 2,000 calories when I walk and golf and about 1,600 calories if I take a cart. It ends up being about 350 to 450 calories an hour. I burn 1,000 calories an hour on an elliptical (HRM) and about 1,150 running (HRM). I questioned the golf burns when I first started posting them but they line up for me and I lost weight when I used the MFP estimate as part of my daily calories.
  • djfriedman81
    djfriedman81 Posts: 125
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    Thats high probably about double what it should be. Keep in mind you burn a few hundred calories doing nothing for 2-3 hours (BMR)

    Thats the thing, the calories MFP estimates are the total calories burned during the time period, not the excess done by the activity. So if running burns 300 extra calories and your bmr is 200 that would indicate 500 calories burned during that time period. That being said i find that MFP is about 10% over what various heart rate monitors say. But it also uses generalized data regaring effort put into the activity.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    I usually just add ongoing activities for an hour, maybe even 90 minutes. I figure that makes up for any time I was slacking and any misguestimation.
  • moustache_flavored_lube
    moustache_flavored_lube Posts: 849 Member
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    FYI a HRM is really only an accurate for calorie burn when your heart rate is over 120 or so. I doubt you are getting that high when golfing with a cart so a HRM may not help you much in this case
  • GoneKona
    GoneKona Posts: 87
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    FYI a HRM is really only an accurate for calorie burn when your heart rate is over 120 or so. I doubt you are getting that high when golfing with a cart so a HRM may not help you much in this case

    That is total crap. I've used a Polar HR monitor for over 15 years training for triathlons. It measures your HR at all levels and is spot on.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    FYI a HRM is really only an accurate for calorie burn when your heart rate is over 120 or so. I doubt you are getting that high when golfing with a cart so a HRM may not help you much in this case

    That is total crap. I've used a Polar HR monitor for over 15 years training for triathlons. It measures your HR at all levels and is spot on.

    Yes, but heart rate is only an accurate way of figuring calories burned within a limited range. That is why HRMs don't work for calculating calories burned for lifting.
  • segooey
    segooey Posts: 24
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    Yes, but heart rate is only an accurate way of figuring calories burned within a limited range. That is why HRMs don't work for calculating calories burned for lifting.

    My understanding is HRMs aren't accurate when strength training because they base their calculations on all muscles working and burning extra simultaneously. When you lift, the heart rate goes up, but only a select few muscles are actually burning extra, so the HRM says you are burning more than you really are.

    I only use mine for cardio/full body stuff - walking, biking, yoga, and ice hockey.
  • aneedell
    aneedell Posts: 46 Member
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    I was a caddie in the old days (40 yrs ago) on the Tuxedo Park, NY course (which did not allow carts). Carried two bags 18 holes for $5/bag (some times a tip if I gave good advice). I may have burned 800 calories, certainly not the golfers! I always saw golf for them as mostly a good way to ruin a nice walk in the country. But that's me. I've never played.:smile:
  • segooey
    segooey Posts: 24
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    For walking, 3.0 mph, MFP's calorie burn is almost exactly as my HRM says (1-5 calorie difference each time).

    For ice hockey, MFP is always WAAAAY lower than the HRM, to the tune of MFP 1100, HRM 1600.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    No, golfing with a cart does not burn that many calories. Even less if you're a good golfer (fewer swings LOL). I would log it as slow walking (like 2 mph). I wore my HRM once, but my HR didn't get high enough for my calorie burn to be trustworthy.

    I use slow walking for a lot of activities that I don't have a good feel for the burn and they were leisurely/light intensity. For something like golf, I also reduce the time a bit since I spend a fair amount of time on the cart.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    Thats the thing, the calories MFP estimates are the total calories burned during the time period, not the excess done by the activity.

    How do you know this? I've never seen this before. HRMs include your BMR, but since you're directly adding calories when you use the MFP database, I would have thought they would somehow account for BMR. Is it in the documentation somewhere?
  • Kanlassak
    Kanlassak Posts: 101 Member
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    I'll second what some people have been saying about MFP including BMR in the calorie burned estimate. I don't know if it does for all activities, but I've seen calorie calculations for walking (like here: http://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/how-many-calories-are-you-really-burning-0?page=single) that match MFP for including BMR. You could either subtract out that couple hundred, or maybe count 3/4 time for lower intensity activities.
  • RunDoozer
    RunDoozer Posts: 1,699 Member
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    It's really only about 400 calories from actually golfing the other 400 is just from existing.

    I burn about 100 - 120 calories per hour. An average round of golf is four hours so that gives half

    The other half even if youre a scratch golfer thats 72 swings plus 2-3 practice swings easily close to 200 swings and thats if youre good. Not to mention the time spent on the range. And there is a fair amount of walking involved even if you do take a cart. Most of the time I'm getting out taking my clubs, letting my partner go ahead and walking up. Plus with my golf game I have to look for quite a few.

    So it's probably a bit of an overestimation but not too much.

    Comes out to be about an extra 100 calories an hour. Not much different than just walking on the treadmill.
  • aadutton
    aadutton Posts: 87
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    I thought I'd add in my golfing round today to my exercise on MFP and I was astounding by the results! 800 calories from 2 hours of golfing (I'm 250lb at the moment)!? Even with using a cart! Okay, sure, I feel sore and feel like I have just walked 3 miles (even though I haven't considering the cart), but 800 calories? I've heard that MFP overestimates calorie usage, but really?

    I've noticed MFP uses the same source as WebMD so I'm curious as to how this particular number was figured. Seems high, eh?

    I've been told you should only count 25 percent of your time if you are using a cart. You can count it all if walking. Jealous, btw.
  • cardinalsfootball
    cardinalsfootball Posts: 167 Member
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    I believe MFP overestimates by about 100% for most activities. I cut everything in half. I'd rather be conservative.

    Also, I follow the philosophy that if you aren't breaking a sweat or breathing hard, you probably shouldn't include the activity.

    And Golfing is sure as heck in that category.

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