How many calories does weightlifting burn?

It is listed under "cardio", in your exercise journal.

Short answer:

It depends.

I normally don't log the calories burned through weight training, as it can vary.

The intensity of the workout will determine how many calories burned, along with other variables like age, weight, gender, etc.

You shouldnt use a HRM for lifting.

There's really no good way to measure that outside of a laboratory, and even in a properly equipped lab it's not an easy thing to do. Part of the problem with lifting is that you'll continue to burn calories even after you are done, mostly by the body repairing the muscle fibers and recovering from the workout itself. A HRM won't capture that burn, since those are focused on cardio and are based mainly on your heart rate, which will be at normal levels even though you are burning more calories recovering from lifting.

Personally, I switched to the TDEE - % method when I switched to weight training. Don't have to "eat back" the exercise calories with that method.

It is listed under "cardio", in your exercise journal.

It is, but doesn't tell you how many calories are burned.

How do I convert data from my HRM to calories burned?

Yes, it does tell you how many calories are burned.

You cannot convert data from your HRM. If you really wanted to, I'd take maybe 1/3 of what the HRM says and go from there.

Depends on a million factors? How heavy? How many reps? Intensity? Etc. It's hard to tell.

There's really no good way to measure that outside of a laboratory, and even in a properly equipped lab it's not an easy thing to do. Part of the problem with lifting is that you'll continue to burn calories even after you are done, mostly by the body repairing the muscle fibers and recovering from the workout itself. A HRM won't capture that burn, since those are focused on cardio and are based mainly on your heart rate, which will be at normal levels even though you are burning more calories recovering from lifting.

Personally, I switched to the TDEE - % method when I switched to weight training. Don't have to "eat back" the exercise calories with that method.

EPOC doesn't really consume a lot of calories. Also EPOC exists for aerobic exercise as well. It's not exclusive to anaerobic exercise.

What I opted for was counting 140 cals for ~45 minutes of moderately intense lifting under Cardiovascular. I chose that # because it is the same amount of calories in the protein shake that I drink immediately afterward. I found this to be the most practical way to count my cals for lifting.

It is listed under "cardio", in your exercise journal.

It is, but doesn't tell you how many calories are burned.

How do I convert data from my HRM to calories burned?

Your HRM doesn't give you cals burned? What brand and model is it?

That said HRM's will be wildly inaccurate for cals burned from strength training as your HR is elevated for a different reason than the calculation in the HRM assumes it is. In other words, don't use cals burned from a HRM during strength training.

That blog post that gets quoted over and over here is a prime example of useless bro-science and is mostly a steaming pile of conjecture and speculative drivel.

Just out of curiosity, why does your HR go up then when lifting weights?

You shouldnt use a HRM for lifting.

And why is that?

Bump for later

Here is a calculator that I dug up. Gives some approximates for weightlifting.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/calories.htm

I am contemplating using the weight lifting options which give a higher burn than the MFP cardio strength training option.

It is listed under "cardio", in your exercise journal.

It is, but doesn't tell you how many calories are burned.

How do I convert data from my HRM to calories burned?

Your HRM doesn't give you cals burned? What brand and model is it?

That said HRM's will be wildly inaccurate for cals burned from strength training as your HR is elevated for a different reason than the calculation in the HRM assumes it is. In other words, don't use cals burned from a HRM during strength training.

That blog post that gets quoted over and over here is a prime example of useless bro-science and is mostly a steaming pile of conjecture and speculative drivel.

Just out of curiosity, why does your HR go up then when lifting weights?

Actually it is true. HRM's assume a certain oxygen uptake and it uses % of max HR as an estimate. But in reality it has very little to do with effort and oxygen uptake. Even if it were accurate the oxygen uptake only occurs in a correlated manner to % of max HR during steady state cardio, so HRM's will be way off for anything other than steady state cardio. If the HRM does not allow you to manually change V02Max and Max HR then it will be even more inaccurate, even during steady state cardio.

The only way to know is to get a HRM.

I suspect the calories burned as MFP shoes for weight lifting are a little low

The calories MFP gives for weight lifting seem very low to me. But I'm not sure a HRM is going to be any more accurate. HRM are meant to measure calories burned during aerobic activity.

Just out of curiosity, why does your HR go up then when lifting weights?

Azdak sums it up better than I could:

"There is a mistaken belief among many people--repeated even by many "experts" on bodybuilding websites--that ANY increase in heart rate reflects aerobic conditioning and an increase in caloric expenditure. This is not true. The primary reason is that the increase in heart rate that occurs with strength training results from a different physiologic mechanism than it does during aerobic exercise.

The increased heart rate that occurs with aerobic exercise is the result of the need for increased cardiac output--the heart must pump more blood to meet the energy demand of the activity. Heart rate increases because of a VOLUME load.

The increased heart rate that occurs with strength training is the result of changes in intrathoracic pressure and an increase in afterload stress. There is no corresponding increase in cardiac output, and thus only a modest increase in oxygen uptake. Heart rate increases because of a PRESSURE load.

So, unlike aerobic exercise, the increased heart rate during strength training DOES NOT reflect either an increase in oxygen uptake or a significant increase in caloric expenditure. Moving quickly from machine to machine to keep the heart rate elevated does not change this fact. It is still a pressure load, not a volume load."