How are people burning such high calories

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  • subconscious_ink
    subconscious_ink Posts: 194 Member
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    My heart rate monitor *says* I can burn 900 calories doing an hour of Insanity. HOWEVER, I am very out of shape, so sometimes my heart rate gets up much too high when I try to do it high intensity instead of going at a slightly slower pace. Also, I feel like my HRM might be overestimating, if that's possible for an HRM, so I always put in less on Myfitnesspal than I actually did.
  • realme56
    realme56 Posts: 1,093 Member
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    Even accounting for size and activity level I don't believe some of the numbers people post. It is up to them though so whatever. I answer only to myself.
  • iowachapman
    iowachapman Posts: 38 Member
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    I go by the cardio machine I am on, I enter my weight, age, so weight has a factor, plus if I am on treadmill how fast one goes, and or incline. I tend to push myself where I would not be able to talk to others around me. I have my headphones on, but sometimes folks will still want to talk, but I push myself where I am breathing heavy, I aint got time for dat, (talking that is) laugh. I want to get in there get my workout done and leave. I use a treadmill and something called AMT by precore, the AMT it shows 620 calories in 33 minutes, usually for me and sometmies when I am really on my game I can hit 630ish, but I seriously push it hard, I put that on the hardest resistance for 33 minutes and GOOOO.

    On the treadmill I can do 3.1 miles in 33 minutes, just recently did 1 mile in 9 minutes 20 seconds, these are not anything really fast, but for a guy at 230 and one the doc labels obese I think that is pretty darn good, though my fastest 3.1 mile run was 28 minutes. But now I can go 30 minutes easy without walking at 5.5 mph, if I push faster I will have 1 or 2 walk points for a minute, then back up to 6.5 or 7 mph,

    Hopefully this will help some, but my suggestion is push yourself, each time you go try to go faster, farther, more calories, beat one at least, better beat 2, and when you can beat all 3 you know your on your game and seriously progressing.
  • april_mesk
    april_mesk Posts: 694 Member
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    The other thing I like to measure is my VO2 levels. Some heart rate monitors track this and I think is a good indicator of what you are doing right/wrong. This may be something most people don't pay attention to but will give you a good idea of your own fitness level.
  • Rachaelluvszipped
    Rachaelluvszipped Posts: 768 Member
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    irrelevant. who cares?

    questions you should be asking yourself are things like "what sort of exercise regimen can I commit to doing regularly?", "how should i structure my diet in a way that will keep me satiated?", "what are my fitness goals?"
    Good advice there.

    Even with a HRM, you are still only getting estimates of a calorie burn. The estimates are better than some one-size-fits-many calculation from a website, but it's all just estimates. Speaking very generally, burning too much over a calorie per minute is often inflated figures.




    ^^Yes I like this information, very much!
    Also, someone who weighs 250 lbs will burn more calories than someone who weighs 125, doing the same activity for the same length of time.

    But ultimately, what Taso posted is better info. A HRM is good for getting calorie burn estimates when calculating target calorie goals and such. But really, for long term fitness goals, consistency, gradual improvement, more strength/flexibility/heart health are way more important than the numbers.
  • sallydurkin
    sallydurkin Posts: 211 Member
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    I do know that most mfp numbers are inflated, but that doesn't mean to me stop using them, I just don't eat back the calories, if I am hungry I will use some of them, if not I don't.
    I do know that I get high calorie burns from running up stairs, and I do run up them according to myfitness pal it says that in 42 min I burn approx 800+ calories, now I do run those stairs but I also know some days I am slower then other and some days I rock it. now the slower days it says I burn more calories for more min, even though I was slower.... so like I said I use my descretion but I do like numbers and to me I don't trust them so I keep that in mind. The stairs I run are at the mall and just under 50 stairs up I run up them 50 times, I have popsicle sticks that have counted out and I run up and drop one at the top run to the bottom pick one up and take it to the top. 50 Times. I would love a hm but don't have the money for it yet. One day soon.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    i used to post very very high intensity work outs. i got called out on them. but i started to look at what i did.

    warm up:

    either 8 minutes on the treadmill (high incline walk, or low incline run) or 8 minutes of jumping rope
    50 jumping jacks
    20 body weight squats
    10 lunges
    10 hip thrusts
    20 push ups
    5 pull ups
    20 spider-mans
    5 minutes of dynamic stretching

    Then after all that, i would start my work out. i'd go for a run with a weighted pack, or a long bike ride, or a swim for cardio.

    On lifting days i'd do the same warm up, and my main lift would be a barbell lift like overhead press, dead lift, squat, or chest press. Then i'd do some accesory work. maybe even a crossfit style WOD. High intensity, keep the heart rate up, little to no breaks.

    Then i'd cool down by jogging/walking it down, bringing my heart rate down slowly. and i'd finally end my work out with some stretching.

    so while maybe my calorie burn might have been high, maybe even a little inaccurate, the main this is that i saw results. a lot of results.
  • mgobluetx12
    mgobluetx12 Posts: 1,326 Member
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    It's unlikely they truly are burning that much. I see it a lot, especially with Circuit Training, which WAY overestimates on here. I used Circuit Training before I got my HRM and it said I was burning 370 for 25 minutes. I used my new HRM and I was actually burning 230. Pretty big difference if you're eating those calories back.
  • iowachapman
    iowachapman Posts: 38 Member
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    Folks can look at things positively or negatively, personally I know I bust my *kitten* when I go to the Y, I only use the calories as a indicator of how I did vs last time and previous, I also use how far it shows I went on the machine as a indicator, I been going to the Y 3 to 4 days a week since 2009, so those numbers weather real or not dont lie in terms of how well I perform on the machine. So dont worry if 1k calories is real or not, just look at it as if you really go HARD that is your number to beat next time, if your gym does not track numbers, keep track yourself so you know if you are getting better and performing better, they also help you to push yourself to go harder to beat the previous. But that is how I do it.

    If you can talk to others you aint pushing hard enough, Push harder or go home, it's not time to chit chat, its time to kick azzz
  • Adrini
    Adrini Posts: 56 Member
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    This is why I don't eat any workout calories. I knew the numbers were too high.
  • TennisQtpye
    TennisQtpye Posts: 110 Member
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    I burn about 1000 calories in two hours. Depends on the exercise I'm doing. My heart rate is at about 160 to 170. Sometimes when I'm doing HIIT it's 180. So it depends on the exercise and the intensity. Each person varies and it depends how much u weight.
  • iowachapman
    iowachapman Posts: 38 Member
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    Here is a calorie burn calculator.. based on what one is doing makes a difference, if someone is jogging for 45 minutes and weighs the same as someone walking for 45 minutes, the person who is jogging will burn more calories, the harder you push the more you will burn.. again, if you can talk, you aint pushing hard enough

    http://www.healthdiscovery.net/links/calculators/calorie_calculator.htm
  • meganfoster12
    meganfoster12 Posts: 411 Member
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    It depends ont the exercise and size of person; I do an hour on the elliptical and burn 1000 calories an hour!
  • nettip
    nettip Posts: 113 Member
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    When I used this last year and lost 36lbs I was burning less cals than I am now ( I've gained over the year and half due to illness and meds) so weight deffo makes a difference
  • Mads1997
    Mads1997 Posts: 1,494 Member
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    I suspect they are using the inflated numbers given by MFP.

    This ^^ and they also include things like cleaning etc which should already be counted in daily activity.
  • perdie7
    perdie7 Posts: 278 Member
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    it depends on size, height, weight, intensity, and a number of different factors.


    btw, you shouldn't be using your hrm for swimming. not only is it not accurate, it's not made for it.

    the Monitor I bought is made for swimming, I look long and hard for one I could use in the pool. Why would it be less accurate in the pool than running? it has cut my calories count by 200 and hour, while swimming.
  • SpleenThief
    SpleenThief Posts: 293 Member
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    They probably weigh more, or get their heart rate very high, or the common one they are overestimating.

    A combination of these things.

    At 226lbs I can burn about a thousand calories per hour running at a out a 9:30(ish) pace. That is probably a slight overestimation but not much. I've seen the math on a physiology site and it works out pretty well. Intense swimming is fairly close but probably closer to 750 or so per hour. Keep in mind that body comp factors in as well, muscular builds burn more than fatter people.

    Myf is a rough guideline, nothing more. Hrm data is closer, but there's still going to be variance from one person to the next
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    it depends on size, height, weight, intensity, and a number of different factors.


    btw, you shouldn't be using your hrm for swimming. not only is it not accurate, it's not made for it.

    the Monitor I bought is made for swimming, I look long and hard for one I could use in the pool. Why would it be less accurate in the pool than running? it has cut my calories count by 200 and hour, while swimming.

    gotcha.

    most heart rate monitors aren't made for swimming, the reason that they are less accurate, is that a lot of heart rate monitors will not transmit data to the wrist unit in water. This is due to the frequency of the transmitter and the transmission of the signal through water.
  • RotterdamNL
    RotterdamNL Posts: 509 Member
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    Dont go on calculators and stuff because those are rubbish, get a hrm that is ecg accurate. Mfp says my weekly goal is 1940cals and i am currently at 4691 :) and got 1 day left. I do 2 workouts every day, in the morning i do 30 day shred and in the evening Les Mills Combat :glasses:
  • bf43285
    bf43285 Posts: 43 Member
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    I have a Polar FT4, I burn 100 calories/10 minutes. My best workout was 1,000 in 90 minutes. I would say they are overestimating or doing some crazy things.