weight lifting true calorie count

in for the responses

Seems about right. It'll be a lot lower than cardio, but you don't do it for the cardio burn. You do it to get stronger and to preserve muscle.

100 Cals for 30 mins seems reasonable.

As with all things, try the values you get for about a month. Look at your results and compare them with your expected/theoretical results. Reassess, as necessary.

I am curious about what people will say. I wear my HRM while weight lifting. I have read from multiple sources that HRMs aren't very accurate for weightlifting, that they overestimate. I am not sure how much they overestimate, but I take what my HRM says and multiply it by 0.7. That factor did not come from any source, I simply made it up.

Yesterday was a lifting day for me. I ran on the treadmill for 15 minutes to warm up and then lifted. According to my HRM, my total workout was 68 minutes and I burned 524 calories (about 150-160 were from my time on the treadmill). I logged the whole thing as 367 calories.

It's not even that they overestimate- it's just that the relationship between HR and calories used by the HRM doesn't hold true at all for lifting. It's like trying to measuring volume with a scale. Sometimes you can measure volume (like of water-similar liquids because of consistent density) but scales don't actually measure volume directly.

The way HRMs calculate calories is that there is a known relationship between oxygen exchange and calories burned during cardiovascular, aerobic exercise. There is also a known relationship between HR and oxygen used based on an individual's VO2max. The HRM uses an equation to relate HR and calories based on VO2max. In reality, there is no direct relationship between HR and calories.

Lifting weights is anaerobic. The elevated HR as a result of anaerobic exercise is different than from aerobic and doesn't have the same oxygen-exchange relationship so the relationship doesn't hold true. It would be like trying to measure 1 cup of flour on a scale. You can't. (unless you know what it's supposed to weigh)

When I started my weight training program with a trainer, he wanted me to do weights because he said they were more efficient for fat loss and you continue to burn calories for two days after the session.

I wear my HRM during my warm up and my exercises. I usually burn 50-60 kcals in 10-15 mins, so you can't really tell. I am not very used to strenght training so that might be why my heart rate increases easily; I also already have a high heart rate.
I'd suggest you to wear your HRM even while lifting, but yes, it still burns less than most cardios.

The way HRMs calculate calories is that there is a known relationship between oxygen exchange and calories burned during cardiovascular, aerobic exercise. There is also a known relationship between HR and oxygen used based on an individual's VO2max. The HRM uses an equation to relate HR and calories based on VO2max. In reality, there is no direct relationship between HR and calories.

Lifting weights is anaerobic. The elevated HR as a result of anaerobic exercise is different than from aerobic and doesn't have the same oxygen-exchange relationship so the relationship doesn't hold true. It would be like trying to measure 1 cup of flour on a scale. You can't. (unless you know what it's supposed to weigh)

And yet, lifting weights must use energy...at least more energy than sitting on the couch watching TV, so how do they measure how much? I have a bodymedia device, which tells me I burn about 6 calories a minute doing it, if I keep moving...such as doing a circuit. If I lift something heavy 5 times and then take a 2 minute break, it's much less than that...very close to the amount it tells me I burn watching TV. To be honest, the estimation of all of it is pure magic to me, which is part of the reason I never eat back all of my exercise calories.

There is no good way to measure calories lifting. Especially since a good portion of the calories that are used happen over the next few days during recovery as your body repairs tissue.

This is why I suggest just using the estimate MFP gives- for me at my weight, it's just under 200 cal/hr. It's not scientific, but it's generally good enough for most users. I have used it for almost 2 years and it has worked accurately enough to be predictably OK for weight-loss by the numbers with eating all the calories back.

I have found MFP's estimates to be accurate enough that they don't skew my predicted weight loss results over almost 2 years with eating back 100% of those calories.

That's for lifting heavy. If you're doing circuit-style faster lifting you may be burning more calories and might do better with the circuit entry.

Yep, I have the same story. It's a good baseline and one that has served me well for years. FWIW it gives me about 300 calories an hour (6'3" 210lbs)

If I spend about an hour doing weights and squats/lunges etc at the gym, what is the true calorie burn or what should I list that as. I know that mfp lists weight lifting at 100 per 30 minutes. Is that true? Seems low.

There are way too many variables involved...lifting intensity...are you lifting for strength vs hypertrophy vs muscular endurance, etc...rest periods...and then of course, the after burn for the next 24-36 hours +. Really, you don't burn that much weight training...in the act itself...that is not the point of weight training (not really the point of any exercise)...but weight training is more about a long term investment in your overall body composition. It will also help you maintain your metabolism as you burn more calories at rest.

100 calories for 30 minutes seems about right to me...

I looked up some calculator online that told me for an hour of lifting, I burn 330 calories in an hour. I can't find that website right now but this one gave me the same basic numbers (http://www.livestrong.com/article/338469-how-to-calculate-calories-burned-weight-lifting/)....

Anyways, MFP says i would burn LESS in 60 minutes of weight lifting than i would in 60 minutes of walking, which I highly doubt.

There is other impacts from weightlifting that are more important than caloric burn, of course. And so I stick to it more than cardio for this reason.

bump

When I started my weight training program with a trainer, he wanted me to do weights because he said they were more efficient for fat loss and you continue to burn calories for two days after the session.

Except that the "extra" calorie burn in that case is only about 2 cal/hour. But it makes the trainer sound impressive and that's what is important (to the trainer).