Am I doing Strenght+ Cardio or Circuit

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sarahwright01
sarahwright01 Posts: 229 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello everyone,
I need to know how you would enter this:

For my Strength training days, I do 10 minutes of cardio (Usually on a elliptical) followed by 1 set of weights.
For my set of weights I am doing exersices outlined by my trainer. They are a total of 8 different strengthening exercises which I do for 15 reps and I increase my weight each time. (For example: Squats 1st set =25 pounds, 2nd set =30 pounds 3rd set= 35 pounds.)

I repeat this 3 times until I do a total of 30 minutes of Cardio, and my weight total is up to about 35-40 minutes.

Would I count this as "circuit training" or as strength training and Elliptical training separetly?

When I add it in as a total of 60 minutes of circuit training it says i burn 781 Calories. But when I add it in as 30 minutes of strength+30 minutes on the ellipitcal it says i only burn 597 calories. Thats a fairly big difference.

How do you think I should enter this?

Replies

  • jasimpson
    jasimpson Posts: 7 Member
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    I would track it as circuit training. I'm sure your trainer has told you that you are actually doing interval training which burns more calories because your heart rate is going up and down. Circuit training is typically set up to do the same thing :) Hope this helps
  • ladybuglola
    ladybuglola Posts: 3 Member
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    I would ask your trainer how many calories his/her strength training days burn. I asked mine and hers vary from 300-500 depending on the workout that day. To me, it definitely feels like it should be way more but unfortunately it isn't.
    Hope that helps!!
  • iamdesiderata
    iamdesiderata Posts: 95 Member
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    you burn more calories doing circuit training because you are doing continuous activity, without pausing in between cardio and strength training.

    I would invest in a heart rate monitor with the ability to count calories burned, so you get the most accurate measurement. Then, when documenting your workout on MFP, under circuit training, just type in the calories your HRM said you burnt first, and then enter in time.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    I would track it as circuit training. I'm sure your trainer has told you that you are actually doing interval training which burns more calories because your heart rate is going up and down. Circuit training is typically set up to do the same thing :) Hope this helps

    Interval training only has an advantage when the intervals are performed at 85%-100% effort (and it has nothing to do with heart rate going up and down). What the OP is doing is not interval training.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    Hello everyone,
    I need to know how you would enter this:

    For my Strength training days, I do 10 minutes of cardio (Usually on a elliptical) followed by 1 set of weights.
    For my set of weights I am doing exersices outlined by my trainer. They are a total of 8 different strengthening exercises which I do for 15 reps and I increase my weight each time. (For example: Squats 1st set =25 pounds, 2nd set =30 pounds 3rd set= 35 pounds.)

    I repeat this 3 times until I do a total of 30 minutes of Cardio, and my weight total is up to about 35-40 minutes.

    Would I count this as "circuit training" or as strength training and Elliptical training separetly?

    When I add it in as a total of 60 minutes of circuit training it says i burn 781 Calories. But when I add it in as 30 minutes of strength+30 minutes on the ellipitcal it says i only burn 597 calories. Thats a fairly big difference.

    How do you think I should enter this?

    The lower number is the most realistic and even that is probably too high.
  • JudyArazoza
    JudyArazoza Posts: 13
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    I have to agree with Adzak.

    Unless your cardio portions are at or above 85% of maximal effort ( which is hard to maintain for 10 minutes) and you are not taking rests, and your weights are heavy enough that you can barely finish in good form, you should record this as cardio and weights separately.

    If you want to increase your calorie burn. Interval Training or High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), or Interval Training plus circuit training will help.
  • ShaneT99
    ShaneT99 Posts: 278 Member
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    I would record the elliptical as elliptical and the strength training as strength training. The circuit training calories on MFP are way too high in my opinion. It's very difficult to calculate calories burned while strength training. The number of sets, the number of reps, how heavy weights you use, how long your rest periods are, which exercises you're doing, the tempo of the exercises...all of those things factor into the calories you burn while lifting weights. Given all of those factors it's almost impossible to get an accurate calorie count on weight lifting. Even heart rate monitors aren't a good indicator for this. They are designed for cardio/aerobic workouts (at least that's what I've read).
  • sarahwright01
    sarahwright01 Posts: 229 Member
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    Thanks everyone!

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