MFP Calorie Count

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fan_of_fit
fan_of_fit Posts: 17 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Does anybody know why MFP has calorie counts for cardio, but not strength exercises? Surely I have to be burning something with those reps :)

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  • JakeNJ95
    JakeNJ95 Posts: 54
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    It is hard to gauge depending on each individuals, but under cardio search strength circuit then just put in the amount of time you worked out. Also, do not take the amount of calories burned from this as a definite amount, take like half.
  • stef_monster
    stef_monster Posts: 205 Member
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    Moderate to heavy lifting (5-10 reps per set) doesn't really burn that many calories while you're doing it. The only way to get close to an accurate number would be a heart rate monitor, and even then you may be disappointed. Results from strength training don't come from calories burned during reps of an exercise. The results come from your body tapping into fat stores to repair the microscopic tears in your muscles created by lifting very heavy things.

    I'd recommend only eating only a fraction of strength exercise calories back; half at the most. I don't trust MFP's exercise calorie calculator 100%, so unless you're trying to gain, err on the side of caution.
  • fan_of_fit
    fan_of_fit Posts: 17 Member
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    Awesome, thanks everyone!
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    You are always burning some calories just for regular daily movement. Strength training does not burn a substantial amount more than this. MFP estimates this normal burn from your stats, activity level. Cardio does burn substantially more.
    Does anybody know why MFP has calorie counts for cardio, but not strength exercises? Surely I have to be burning something with those reps :)
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    Just log it in the cardio section under strength training. It's about right. For me, an hour session is about 273 cals burned, which seems to be dead on.

    That is what it says for me too...I can't see it being right for me and you both...

    As for those who say weight training doesn't burn substainial calories...DYEL?
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    I usually log about 150 calories burned for a 45 minute lifting session.

    Like others said - I use the "strength" log to log my reps/weights, but for calories, use the cardio entry for "strength training"
  • SLMartucci
    SLMartucci Posts: 4 Member
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    I just got a heart rate monitor and before I would use the weight lifting/circuit training/strength training exercises entered as cardio.. My actual calories burned that i know now are pretty far off from what MFP was saying. It didnt matter too much since I dont really adjust my food intake based on what I burn though.

    I suggest getting a heart rate monitor so you know for sure.. There are some good ones online for under $100. I got the polar f60 off heartratemonitorusa.com and it was just over $100. Polar has a few versions that are less expensive as well.

    If you just want to guess I would be conservative with your numbers. Also, take less rests between sets to keep your heart rate up.
  • stef_monster
    stef_monster Posts: 205 Member
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    As for those who say weight training doesn't burn substainial calories...DYEL?

    Using the cardio exercise "Strength training (weight lifting, weight training)" from the database, MFP gives me less than 200 calories burned (185 to be exact) per hour. I do a compound lift routine (Stronglifts at the moment) 3 times per week. I go for maybe 30-45 minutes per session, which comes out closer to 150 calories burned. My FitBit gives me even less- usually about 100 calories burned for ~45 minutes, but its accuracy is diminished because it doesn't read some movements as 'steps' and therefore doesn't add extra calories burned.

    One hundred fifty calories is nothing to sneeze at, especially if your TDEE -10% is only 175 or 200 calories, but it's less substantial next to the ~400 calories I'd burn in the same amount of time doing intense cardio.

    So yes, it does burn calories, but I wouldn't trust MFP to give an accurate estimation of afterburn from a lifting session. Eating 100 or 200 extra calories per day while lifting heavy shouldn't wreck progress as long as you're being extremely diligent about logging and accurately reporting your activity level, which a heart monitor would help with.

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