Heart Rate Monitor and Weight Lifting

Brunette122
Brunette122 Posts: 107 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Would you wear it while lifting? Opinions/thoughts? I found a couple of strength videos on fitnessblender that I'd like to try and I will be using dumbbells. Is an HRM just meant for cardio activities?

Replies

  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
    I wear mine when I lift, but not to track calories, just to watch my heart rate and see where it is at throughout my routine. HTM calorie counts are really only accurate fern steady state cardio.
  • skadoosh33
    skadoosh33 Posts: 353 Member
    Doesn't work for calories burned but good to monitor HR.
  • Brunette122
    Brunette122 Posts: 107 Member
    That's what I thought but thought I'd ask. So do you log your weight lifting in MFP though or do you ignore any calories burned during weight lifting?
  • vorgas
    vorgas Posts: 741 Member
    As mentioned, HRMs aren't useful for calculating calories burned during weight lifting. It's because HRMs are designed to measure the Volume Load on your heart during Aerobic exercise (combining oxygen with fat). Lifting weights causes a Pressure Load on your heart during Anaerobic exercise (using glycogen in your muscles). Two different reasons for your HR to go up and two different sources of energy. It just won't be accurate.

    The energy required to lift a weight is approximately .00032 calories per pound per foot per second (one pound moved through one foot in one second). Of course, your body is terribly inefficient and will expend quite a bit more energy to apply that amount of force. The exact amount depends on the nature of the lift. A barbell squat demands more than a smith machine squat for example. Lowering a free weight in a controlled manner demands much more energy than letting a machine quickly glide back to the rest spot.

    But as you can see, if you move 10,000 foot pound seconds during a workout, you've applied 3.2 calories. Even at ten times inefficiency, you've burned a whopping 30 calories.

    Of course, this is just the energy burned during the workout. The glycogen will need to be replaced (free carbohydrate calories). And now that you've torn up your muscles, your body is going to need to gobble up lots of protein to repair those. So the calorie requirement goes up even more. But it's kinda hard to measure.

    Hope that helps.
  • Brunette122
    Brunette122 Posts: 107 Member
    Wow, it does, thanks! :) Lifting is very new to me.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    As others have said... it's not good for estimating calorie burns. You can use it for watching HR and timing rests/breaks though.

    And on a side note, I don't think of lifting as a good way to burn cals. It's a good way to change body composition/appearance, get stronger, etc. If you want to burn calories, go for a run or something.
  • Brunette122
    Brunette122 Posts: 107 Member
    yea i have been doing cardio everyday for weight loss but heard alot from ppl saying to incorporate to get the biggest bang for my buck.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    yea i have been doing cardio everyday for weight loss but heard alot from ppl saying to incorporate to get the biggest bang for my buck.

    Weight loss: diet
    Cardiovascular health, endurance, speed, etc: cardio
    Strength, aesthetics, etc: lifting
  • johnnifast
    johnnifast Posts: 23 Member
    I wear mine everytime I workout (lifting or cardio). I use it not for the HRM, but for it to track how many calories I burn for each workout session. I use those calories burned numbers and coordinate that with my daily macros. People lose weight when they are in a calorific deficit.
  • Brunette122
    Brunette122 Posts: 107 Member
    If I shouldn't log my weight lifting in MFP because I can't go by my calories burned from my HRM then how do I know what I can eat any given day to stay within my diet macros?
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    I just use MFP's entry under cardio for "strength training". 40 min ~ 140 calories.
  • Brunette122
    Brunette122 Posts: 107 Member
    got it, i'll do that. thanks!!
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    If I shouldn't log my weight lifting in MFP because I can't go by my calories burned from my HRM then how do I know what I can eat any given day to stay within my diet macros?

    Chances are you aren't burning enough while lifting to really impact your daily caloric need.
  • MaryDreamer
    MaryDreamer Posts: 439
    I always log my ST calorie burn under Cardio.
  • Yodifer
    Yodifer Posts: 87
    I dont log my weight lifting as calories burned - just my cardio. so for my weight lifting days I'll try to stay around 1400 calories, cardio days closer to 1500. Seems to be working. I'm 5'2 150lbs
  • Brunette122
    Brunette122 Posts: 107 Member
    Ugh. weight lifting sucks a bit in that sense. My diet macros are set at 1200. I guess if I lift I'll eat 1400. Is that ok? I'm used to burning close to 400 calories from my cardio activities and I love it because I can eat more !
  • Brunette122
    Brunette122 Posts: 107 Member
    I dont log my weight lifting as calories burned - just my cardio. so for my weight lifting days I'll try to stay around 1400 calories, cardio days closer to 1500. Seems to be working. I'm 5'2 150lbs

    Are you set at 1200 too?
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    No way to know for sure. Do it for a month or so and see what happens. If your expected results line up well with your actual results, then keep going. If not, you'll have to tweak something.
  • BajaDreamin333
    BajaDreamin333 Posts: 267 Member
    I wear mine while I lift because I do circuit training. I do a series of 2 or 3 exercises with a cardio boost. So I might do 15 reps each of bicep curls, chest press, skull crushers followed by 30 mountain climbers. Then the next set is 3 more different weight exercises with a bump of 15 jumping jacks or running up stairs 3x. My goal is to keep my HR up the entire time I lift to maximize calorie burn and get the benefits of lifting.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    I wear mine while I lift because I do circuit training. I do a series of 2 or 3 exercises with a cardio boost. So I might do 15 reps each of bicep curls, chest press, skull crushers followed by 30 mountain climbers. Then the next set is 3 more different weight exercises with a bump of 15 jumping jacks or running up stairs 3x. My goal is to keep my HR up the entire time I lift to maximize calorie burn and get the benefits of lifting.

    You'll likely see more benefit (at least from the lifting) if you stop the cardio stuff and simply focus on lifting the most weight you can regardless of HR.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    As mentioned, HRMs aren't useful for calculating calories burned during weight lifting. It's because HRMs are designed to measure the Volume Load on your heart during Aerobic exercise (combining oxygen with fat). Lifting weights causes a Pressure Load on your heart during Anaerobic exercise (using glycogen in your muscles). Two different reasons for your HR to go up and two different sources of energy. It just won't be accurate.

    The energy required to lift a weight is approximately .00032 calories per pound per foot per second (one pound moved through one foot in one second). Of course, your body is terribly inefficient and will expend quite a bit more energy to apply that amount of force. The exact amount depends on the nature of the lift. A barbell squat demands more than a smith machine squat for example. Lowering a free weight in a controlled manner demands much more energy than letting a machine quickly glide back to the rest spot.

    But as you can see, if you move 10,000 foot pound seconds during a workout, you've applied 3.2 calories. Even at ten times inefficiency, you've burned a whopping 30 calories.

    Of course, this is just the energy burned during the workout. The glycogen will need to be replaced (free carbohydrate calories). And now that you've torn up your muscles, your body is going to need to gobble up lots of protein to repair those. So the calorie requirement goes up even more. But it's kinda hard to measure.

    Hope that helps.

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