why am i burning so little?

kennie2
kennie2 Posts: 1,170 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Whenever I go to the gym i'll normally do 30-40 minutes cardio and about 20 minutes weight training but i only ever burn a max of 400 calories according to my HRM. And after that I am DEAD!
Is this normal? everyone else always seems to be burning like 1000 calories a day

Replies

  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Everyone else is probably a lot bigger than you are. Less body mass = less calorie burn.

    Edit: A HRM isn't accurate for lifting either because your HR isn't usually elevated enough for the algorithms to work properly so your burn is probably even less.
  • BlueObsidian
    BlueObsidian Posts: 297 Member
    Most people really don't burn 1000 calories a day. The ones that do are probably:
    1) Way overestimating their burns (especially if they are just using MFP's calculators and not an HRM),
    2) Exercising much longer than an hour, or
    3) Much heavier than you are. The smaller you are, the less calories you are going to burn doing the same activities.
  • NutellaAddict
    NutellaAddict Posts: 1,258 Member
    What are you doing in those 30-40 mins of cardio exactly?
  • runfatmanrun
    runfatmanrun Posts: 1,090 Member
    It's because you weigh less. My calorie burn for a 1 hour run when I was 250 pounds was much more that now at 170. At 120ish, yeah...your cal burn is gonna look relatively small unless you increase the intensity or make your workout harder in some fashion. The "downside" of weighing less :).
  • rgrstetson
    rgrstetson Posts: 121 Member
    You also must remember that the human body purposes itself to find the most efficient manner in which to conduct a movement, or series of movements. Periodization is crucial to making and keeping gains made. What type of cardio are you doing? Do you always do the same cardio? Have you been doing this routine for more than 12 weeks?
  • kennie2
    kennie2 Posts: 1,170 Member
    What are you doing in those 30-40 mins of cardio exactly?

    normally i'll do 20/25 minutes of jogging on 6mph, 5 minutes of rowing and 10/15 minutes of elliptical on level 6 with moderate effort
  • kennie2
    kennie2 Posts: 1,170 Member
    You also must remember that the human body purposes itself to find the most efficient manner in which to conduct a movement, or series of movements. Periodization is crucial to making and keeping gains made. What type of cardio are you doing? Do you always do the same cardio? Have you been doing this routine for more than 12 weeks?

    nope only started friday so ive done it like 4 times?
  • rmhand
    rmhand Posts: 1,067 Member
    400 calories sounds right to me!
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    You're small, your calorie burn sounds about right. People burning 1000 calories are much bigger than you and/or working out much more intensely and/or working out for longer. Or they're delusional/ignorant.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    What are you doing in those 30-40 mins of cardio exactly?

    normally i'll do 20/25 minutes of jogging on 6mph, 5 minutes of rowing and 10/15 minutes of elliptical on level 6 with moderate effort
    That sounds about right then...10 calories per minute is really not bad at all...
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Depending on the day, I burn anywhere between 250 - 350 per day. Personally, the only people that are burning 1,000+ calories and doing it correctly (ie they know how to fuel it) are athletes...everyone else is just over training and under eating...probably over estimating burn too.

    Your calorie goal already has a built in deficit...no need to exercise to lose weight and burn extra calories. Exercise for fitness and use your diet for weight control...if you're burning around 400 calories, that sounds about right to me. You don't need to kill yourself in the gym to lose weight...it's all in your diet.

    Do yourself a favor and set fitness goals that are completely independent of weight loss goals...you will thank yourself in the long run...trust me.
  • capnrus789
    capnrus789 Posts: 2,736 Member
    Attach a speed bag to your roof and work it while you're on the elliptical. Extra calorie burn.
  • heyjay31
    heyjay31 Posts: 79 Member
    I'm 170lbs. According to my HRM for stretching, ellipitical 10 min warm-up and 35-45 minutes of heavy lifting, I burn anywhere from 465-600. So it is probably about right.


    Edited to add: I burn crazy numbers if I add an extra workout in the evening. For example 30 day shred. Then my total for the day ranges from 800-1100
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
    For cardio, that sounds about right. I get around 200 for 30 minutes on the treadmill. Those folks you see burning 1000 are doing high impact cardio (PX90 or Insanity) and whatnot.
  • MrsSardone
    MrsSardone Posts: 194 Member
    Heart rate monitors don't give an accurate reading for calories burned during strength training. You should google it. There's tons of stuff that will explain it better than I ever could. As for your cardio...30-40 mins of machines (switching up and what not) I wouldn't be surprised if you were only burning like 200-300. If you wanna burn more then up the resistance.
  • buzzcockgirl
    buzzcockgirl Posts: 260 Member
    Most people really don't burn 1000 calories a day. The ones that do are probably:
    1) Way overestimating their burns (especially if they are just using MFP's calculators and not an HRM),
    2) Exercising much longer than an hour, or
    3) Much heavier than you are. The smaller you are, the less calories you are going to burn doing the same activities.

    I agree with THIS! I usually burn about 400-500 a day in an hour of working out. Sounds good!!
  • jaygreen55
    jaygreen55 Posts: 315 Member
    What are you doing in those 30-40 mins of cardio exactly?

    normally i'll do 20/25 minutes of jogging on 6mph, 5 minutes of rowing and 10/15 minutes of elliptical on level 6 with moderate effort

    For someone as petite as you appear 10 calories a minute is a pretty good clip. As was mentioned before HRMs are not good for weightlifting unless you are doing circuit training without rest between exercises and sets
  • scottal07
    scottal07 Posts: 8 Member
    I too think that it sounds right. I did about 40ish minutes of insanity today and burned 400 calories. I have only gotten close to 1000 calories when I workout close to two hours like on my long runs or when I do BodyPump/BodyAttack back to back. Normal workouts from 45-60 minutes I get 350-600 calories burnt.
  • PetulantOne
    PetulantOne Posts: 2,131 Member
    You're small, your calorie burn sounds about right. People burning 1000 calories are much bigger than you and/or working out much more intensely and/or working out for longer. Or they're delusional/ignorant.

    This.

    I'm 5' 3" 138 pounds. Max I burn in an hour is around 300. Don't compare yourself to other people, it'll make you crazy.

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