How come weight lifting isn't burn any calories?
hiaag89
Posts: 13
As what i have said above...i'll do alot of weight lifting exercise include bench press,triceps extension,squat,pull-up,pull-down etc but when i add it to my exercise diary...it shown me that all of the weight lifting exercise didn't burn any calories?So is it true?
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Replies
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You can enter it under cardio, but it doesn't give you a high burn. It is very difficult to determine the calories burned. The benefits of strength training go far beyond just burning calories, though.0
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My suggestion is to get a heart rate monitor! Polar makes a lot of different models. A good mid-range one is the FT4. It iwll measure your HR and time in target zone, is customizeable based on height and weight and will track approx calories burned based on HR and time no matter the exercise. I love mine and find it more reliable than the one on the treadmill or the approximations on MFP. Individual intensity accounts for a fair amount of calorie burn.0
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Bump for later.0
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Even if you did get a HRM it still isn't going to be accurate.
Better to just see how many shirts of sweat ya ring out at the end of your workout.
That's at least 1-200 cals.0 -
My suggestion is to get a heart rate monitor! Polar makes a lot of different models. A good mid-range one is the FT4. It iwll measure your HR and time in target zone, is customizeable based on height and weight and will track approx calories burned based on HR and time no matter the exercise. I love mine and find it more reliable than the one on the treadmill or the approximations on MFP. Individual intensity accounts for a fair amount of calorie burn.
WRONG. HRMs are not made for strength training, only aerobic exercise.0 -
Even if you did get a HRM it still isn't going to be accurate.
Better to just see how many shirts of sweat ya ring out at the end of your workout.
I agree with you on the HRM, but disagree that sweat is an indicator of the intensity of a workout.
OP, strength training burns calories whether MFP says so or not. This issue here is COUNTING the calories burned. You can enter your time spent strength training as a cardio exercise, but know that the result is an estimation (a HRM would only be estimating too). Too many factors are at play in strength training for any estimate to be accurate: time resting between sets, weight lifted, reps, exercises performed (full body compound lifts or sitting at machines, for example).0 -
My suggestion is to get a heart rate monitor! Polar makes a lot of different models. A good mid-range one is the FT4. It iwll measure your HR and time in target zone, is customizeable based on height and weight and will track approx calories burned based on HR and time no matter the exercise. I love mine and find it more reliable than the one on the treadmill or the approximations on MFP. Individual intensity accounts for a fair amount of calorie burn.
WRONG. HRMs are not made for strength training, only aerobic exercise.
I know that is true in theory, but in practice I used it during my cut and did just fine eating back the number on the hrm minus bmr. I lost over 40 pounds that way.
Curious if anyone does it and has disastrous results? Because for me it was close enough, and helped remind me to bring the intensity. Not scientific, I know, but it worked.0 -
I do think it's weird that MFP will give me 80 calories (!!!) for 5 minutes jumping rope but nothing for a significant strength training session, but as mentioned if it really bothers you you can go under cardio and look for I think circuit training? I think that's what I usually use if I want to track it that way. I don't usually bother though.
Maybe they think people just want to track what they did and reps on the strenght training session, which is helpful.0 -
You can also use the MET method.
What struck me, was that when I calculated MET for a workout, it came out to ... About what the hrm estimated, minus bmr.
So I kept things simple.0 -
1 - if you really want to, you can log it as cardio...it's going to be pretty inaccurate though as there are just too many variables when it comes to lifting...i.e. intensity, are you strength training, body building, or muscular endurance training...rest periods, etc.
2 - Weight training/resistance training is more about the long term investment in your overall body composition, muscle retention/building, strength, bone density, overall fitness, etc than it is about the calorie you burn right now.
3 - You actually don't burn a ton of calories weight lifting, but you do burn more over the course of the next 48 - 72 hrs while your muscles repair.
4 - No matter how badly you want a HRM to be accurate in determining calorie burn with strength training, it is pretty much useless. Your burn is not determined by your HR. Your HR is used in a formula that also assumes an aerobic activity is being performed in order to approximate your % of VO2 Max while you're working. Weight lifting is a piss poor indicator of VO2 max, thus calorie burn estimates with a HRM are way off and vastly overstated. This is pretty easy to google and research, I don't know why so many people insist that a HRM works for weight training and why so many people don't understand that it's not your actual HR that determines calorie burn. If it did, I would have had the fastest metabolism on the planet before my meds 'cuz I had a resting HR of around 110.0 -
I know that is true in theory, but in practice I used it during my cut and did just fine eating back the number on the hrm minus bmr. I lost over 40 pounds that way.
Curious if anyone does it and has disastrous results? Because for me it was close enough, and helped remind me to bring the intensity. Not scientific, I know, but it worked.
I used to use my HRM whenever I strength trained (I don't anymore, but I still log my workouts based on old HRM formulas I input into my custom exercises here). I used those numbers to calculate my TDEE. When I eat a cut from TDEE or TDEE, I lose or maintain predictably. My general thought is that while my HRM surely overestimates my calories burned while actually engaged in strength training, it is not measuring any EPOC or calories burn post-weight training. Therefore, I imagine it probably isn't terribly far from accurate for my particular strength training (free weights and barbells, compound lifts, 6-12 reps depending on exercise).
So yep, though the HRM estimation of cals burned during strength training isn't scientific, my use of it to calculate TDEE and then compare real-life results to predicted results was.
No disastrous results here
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As what i have said above...i'll do alot of weight lifting exercise include bench press,triceps extension,squat,pull-up,pull-down etc but when i add it to my exercise diary...it shown me that all of the weight lifting exercise didn't burn any calories?So is it true?
HI hiaag89!
I have seen some online calculators at sites like Self and Livestrong. I don't know how accurate they are, but at a minimum, they should give you some idea.
Fortunately, the strength training machines I use calcualte it for me based on some combo of my weight, reps, rest between set, time take to get from ,machine to machine, etc. So while I am confident, I have an idea of what I've burned, I have not tried to enter it on MFP. I mainly enter them here because I like having consistent, detailed records lol, but I do enter the calories in the exercise notes for tracking.
That would be a nice feature enhancement but in the meantime, maybe you should try an online calculator so you would at least have a ballpark estimate of how many extra calories you're burning.0 -
1 - if you really want to, you can log it as cardio...it's going to be pretty inaccurate though as there are just too many variables when it comes to lifting...i.e. intensity, are you strength training, body building, or muscular endurance training...rest periods, etc.
2 - Weight training/resistance training is more about the long term investment in your overall body composition, muscle retention/building, strength, bone density, overall fitness, etc than it is about the calorie you burn right now.
3 - You actually don't burn a ton of calories weight lifting, but you do burn more over the course of the next 48 - 72 hrs while your muscles repair.
4 - No matter how badly you want a HRM to be accurate in determining calorie burn with strength training, it is pretty much useless. Your burn is not determined by your HR. Your HR is used in a formula that also assumes an aerobic activity is being performed in order to approximate your % of VO2 Max while you're working. Weight lifting is a piss poor indicator of VO2 max, thus calorie burn estimates with a HRM are way off and vastly overstated. This is pretty easy to google and research, I don't know why so many people insist that a HRM works for weight training and why so many people don't understand that it's not your actual HR that determines calorie burn. If it did, I would have had the fastest metabolism on the planet before my meds 'cuz I had a resting HR of around 110.
I KNOW you are right, but at the same time, real world experience and all that. I don't think the hrm tells me what I burn in a session, but it's still perhaps a good way to alter my calorie target for the day.
Maybe it only works because of the way I work out, but in my case, it leads to something close enough to get results.0 -
When I started lifting, I switched to the TDEE - 20% method for calorie intake instead of using the MFP method of eating back exercise calories. TDEE already accounts for exercise calories, so essentially you are already eating them back, and it's already built in to your daily calorie goals.
More information about TDEE-20% can be had at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k130 -
When I started lifting, I switched to the TDEE - 20% method for calorie intake instead of using the MFP method of eating back exercise calories. TDEE already accounts for exercise calories, so essentially you are already eating them back, and it's already built in to your daily calorie goals.
More information about TDEE-20% can be had at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13
Not an option for me.
1)my schedule changes often
2)I follow leangains style IF and I've implemented the recommendation to eat at a surplus when I lift, and at a deficit when I don't.
Tdee is awesome for people who can keep the same schedule week to week, but for me it makes no sense. I also feel I get a psychological boost from "earning" extra food.0 -
Ok~I have done the exercise below:
1)Incline Dumbbell Fly 22lbs = 4 sets with 10+reps
2)Bench Press, Barbell 70lbs = 3sets with 6+ reps
3)Lying Triceps Extension 22lbs = 3 sets with 12+ reps
4)Pull Ups = 6 times
5)Machine Squat 100 lbs = 2 sets with 20+ reps
6)Leg Extension 260lbs = 2 sets with 50+ reps
7)Leg Press 90lbs = 2 sets with 15+ reps
8)Seated Biceps Curl 70 lbs = 3 sets with 7+ reps
9)Lateral Raise, Dumbbell, Side 4.4lbs = 2 sets with 10 reps
So how much calories i have burned??Because at myfitnesspal it shown 0 ....0 -
BTW...cardio there can't find any weight lifting exercise....0
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You can enter it under cardio, but it doesn't give you a high burn. It is very difficult to determine the calories burned. The benefits of strength training go far beyond just burning calories, though.
I'd go with this0 -
yeah...but the problem is i can't find any weight lifting exercise under cardio there.....or did i miss something?0
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Even if you did get a HRM it still isn't going to be accurate.
Better to just see how many shirts of sweat ya ring out at the end of your workout.
That's at least 1-200 cals.
Sweat is no indication of a workout. I sweat in my sleep. I sweat just sitting down in the summer. Does not mean I'm working out at all.
HRM would be more accurate than going by sweat amount.0 -
you can create your own exercises and enter everything in manuallyyeah...but the problem is i can't find any weight lifting exercise under cardio there.....or did i miss something?0
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