How to Calculate Calories Burned Weight Lifting

Traceval
Traceval Posts: 8
in Fitness and Exercise
Does anyone know how to determine how many calories you burn when lifting weights? I guess this app doesn't do that?? I guess i could add it to my cardio but not sure how to figure out the calorie part?

Can anyone help?

Replies

  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Big picture...
    It's almost impossible to say for sure. Some people will tell you that it's drastically less than whatever you'd burn during an intense cardio workout, others will say it's significantly more (due to the muscles having to repair themselves afterwards).

    Personally, I happen to think it's about the same. For the sake of easy conversation and round numbers, let's say you burn 10 cals per minute doing cardio, so in 60 minutes you burn 600 cals. All of those 600 cals are burned while you workout, as there is virtually no tissue damage done during a typical cardio workout. Now say you lift for 60 minutes. You'll burn somewhere around 300 cals during the workout, and another 300 cals after as the muscles repair themselves. I've read a couple of articles and talked to a couple of people who I trust in this area and they agree with this... which is why I happen to believe it.


    More to your question...
    If you look up strength training in the cardiovascular section it'll give you calorie burns. The strength training section of this site is more for tracking progress... lifts, sets, reps, weight, etc.


    Some perspective...
    IMO, if you are concerned about calories burned for your deficit/weight loss, focus on cardio. If you want to change how your body looks, then lift and lift heavy. Any calories that you burn lifting can be thought of as a bonus. Run (or kick box or stair climb or whatever) to burn cals, lift to change how you look.
  • Traceval
    Traceval Posts: 8
    Got it! Thank you so much for getting back to me on this, it's all starting to make sense. =)
  • ChrisLindsay9
    ChrisLindsay9 Posts: 837 Member
    This program has a pretty decent estimator.

    Click Exercise -> Database -> or choose an exercise below -> strength training (weight lifting)
  • heathersherrell1
    heathersherrell1 Posts: 7
    I have a heart rate monitor (got it at Target in the sports/fitness section for less than $60) that goes around my chest and transmits to a watch that comes with it... I use it for both cardio and strength training. I find that I burn about the same *during* my strength training as I do during a cardio workout (love me some Zumba!!). For example, Monday, I did 60 minutes of Zumba, and then I followed it immediately with a strength training for about 45 minutes to an hour (I don't do that often, and I about died... lol) and burned almost 1000 calories. It's all about how high your heart rate gets. If you've got a healthier/stronger heart than mine, it might take more for your heart rate to get up high enough to burn that many calories. I *love* my monitor. It helps me keep everything accurate. And I just add what I burn doing strength training to my cardio results on here.
  • Mock_Turtle
    Mock_Turtle Posts: 354 Member
    ^

    the HRM is useless for estimating calories burned since when you take a break between sets you heart rate stays elevated but you're not doing anything physically, so it's going to severely overestimate calories burned.
  • Shannon_H
    Shannon_H Posts: 35
    ^

    the HRM is useless for estimating calories burned since when you take a break between sets you heart rate stays elevated but you're not doing anything physically, so it's going to severely overestimate calories burned.

    I don't agree with that. Your heart rate is still up, your body is still working, your body is still burning. IMHO
  • Alisonab
    Alisonab Posts: 6 Member
    ^

    the HRM is useless for estimating calories burned since when you take a break between sets you heart rate stays elevated but you're not doing anything physically, so it's going to severely overestimate calories burned.

    I don't agree with that. Your heart rate is still up, your body is still working, your body is still burning. IMHO

    I agree as well. If your hear rate remains elevated, I count it as the burn with the workout. That's why it's always important to consider afterburner as well with different types of exercise.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    hr doesn't always = calorie burn.

    calorie burns go up when oxygen exchange in your cells increases. Strength training doesn't cause a significant increase in O2 exchange... it increases PRESSURE, not VOLUME.

    even if you don't want to believe that, HRMs use calculations to estimate cals burned. Those calculations assume a consistently elevated hr you only get during steady state cardio. when your workout is not steady state (intervals, some group classes, etc) or when the workout isn't cardio (strength training, yoga/stretching, etc) those calculations become highly inaccurate.

    People need to stop thinking HRMs are miracle devices. They are great at certain times, horrible at others.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    ^

    the HRM is useless for estimating calories burned since when you take a break between sets you heart rate stays elevated but you're not doing anything physically, so it's going to severely overestimate calories burned.

    I don't agree with that. Your heart rate is still up, your body is still working, your body is still burning. IMHO

    I agree as well. If your hear rate remains elevated, I count it as the burn with the workout. That's why it's always important to consider afterburner as well with different types of exercise.

    Sorry but hrm's aren't accurate for lifting. Their algorithms are based on a presumption you're doing steady state cardio. Disagree all you like, but manufacturer sites even state this.

    No-one is suggesting your heart rate isn't up, or that you aren't burning. But heart rate won't be a good indicator for strength based exercise.
  • Mock_Turtle
    Mock_Turtle Posts: 354 Member
    ^

    the HRM is useless for estimating calories burned since when you take a break between sets you heart rate stays elevated but you're not doing anything physically, so it's going to severely overestimate calories burned.

    I don't agree with that. Your heart rate is still up, your body is still working, your body is still burning. IMHO

    If that was the case we wouldn't even have to work out to burn calories - we'd just need to get our heart rate up by artificial means like being yelled out or suddenly startled.
  • kcaffee1
    kcaffee1 Posts: 759 Member
    I usually have to adjust the MFP calories burned under the strength training entry. Found this site when I googled calorie burn calculators for lifting, and it's what I use to figure my burns from on those days:

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/338469-how-to-calculate-calories-burned-weight-lifting/
  • TJMiddaugh
    TJMiddaugh Posts: 67 Member
    i bought a heart rate monitor (a non intrusive style chest strap that sends the signal to the wrist watch from amazon for like 50 bucks for their cheaper model but works great, polar brand) and it records my heart rate for the duration of the exercise which will calculate how many calories you burned. its better than the averages sites like these throw at you. depending on alot of factors, age, weight, height, conditioning, etc.. your heart rate will vary and so will your caloric burn depending on your effort. also helps me not lolly gag to much. i can tell if i am resting to long because you can set the high and the low beep alarm. im just trying to reduce body fat percentage though. not lose weight, (lowering it from 14% not trying to bulk up just get cut again) so high intensity interval style training has been working for me. i do different routines through out the week to keep it mixed up, and i found its the easiest way to get close to the real deal. kettle bells class last week kept my heart rate ave at 144 for 55 minutes which netted me almost 700 cals. but those figures would have been skewed because those types of classes vary greatly depending on length and instructor. on my runs sometimes i do sprints and other times i do miles. even on my heavy lift days it helps me minimize my breaks to get that cardio effetc also. there are alot of sites that once you know the length of your workout and your average heart rate during that time (plus you height weight age) that will calculate your calories for you. also check out the difference between gross calories and net calories. if your running a tight ship anyways. hope this helps. it definitely cleared up the waters for me! no more guessing
  • TJMiddaugh
    TJMiddaugh Posts: 67 Member
    now that i read these posts (which i should have done first) it just seems like asking a question like you did will just spark a major debate and become a war of words and endless statistics. so debunk all you want lol it works for me and my routine. just depends on what your trying to accomplish. good luck too you
  • longtimeterp
    longtimeterp Posts: 614 Member
    The Polar FT80 is specifically designed for strength training, but i guess polar didn't know hrms don't work for strength training when they made it...
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    now that i read these posts (which i should have done first) it just seems like asking a question like you did will just spark a major debate and become a war of words and endless statistics. so debunk all you want lol it works for me and my routine. just depends on what your trying to accomplish. good luck too you

    sorry obviously it would have been better to misinform people.
    pointing out something is wrong really isnt srarting a 'war of words'....
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    The Polar FT80 is specifically designed for strength training, but i guess polar didn't know hrms don't work for strength training when they made it...

    it is designed to help you manage heart rate and recovery during strength training - to train smarter - not to estimate calories accurately during strength training.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    now that i read these posts (which i should have done first) it just seems like asking a question like you did will just spark a major debate and become a war of words and endless statistics. so debunk all you want lol it works for me and my routine. just depends on what your trying to accomplish. good luck too you

    Its not a war of words and statistics. Its the basic science of how HRMs and the cardiovascular system works. HRMs calorie estimates are designed based on a relationship between VO2max and HR in a specific situation, during steady state cardio. There is no such relationship in other situations, like low intensity/rest. And as pointed out above the change in heart rate for strength training is not related to VO2 max, therefore it cannot estimate correctly.

    It is working for you, great. The numbers you are using aren't too far off regardless of how you came up with them.The problem lies where people blindly follow their HRM and believe the seriously inflated burns. It is a common problem on this board.
  • stephaniethomas80
    stephaniethomas80 Posts: 190 Member
    hr doesn't always = calorie burn.

    calorie burns go up when oxygen exchange in your cells increases. Strength training doesn't cause a significant increase in O2 exchange... it increases PRESSURE, not VOLUME.

    even if you don't want to believe that, HRMs use calculations to estimate cals burned. Those calculations assume a consistently elevated hr you only get during steady state cardio. when your workout is not steady state (intervals, some group classes, etc) or when the workout isn't cardio (strength training, yoga/stretching, etc) those calculations become highly inaccurate.

    People need to stop thinking HRMs are miracle devices. They are great at certain times, horrible at others.

    ^^^ this! HRM's are for aerobic exercise(cardio) not anaerobic (strength training)
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    Long story short: it's a fairly insignificant amount. If you lift for an hour or two, you're probably looking at 500 kcal. The significance really is how you want to eat relative to your average TDEE. Are you trying to lose fat? Build muscle? Which is more important? Are you cycling calories or working on a fixed intake?

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