Swimming calorie burn calculation

LadyOfMisrule
LadyOfMisrule Posts: 2
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi,

I'm trying to figure out exactly how many calories I burn whilst exercising but different calculators across th internet are giving me a big difference in results. I am 5ft5 and I currently weigh 154lbs, i've been swimming 1000m of breaststroke in 45 mins with a 20 sec rest between each lap. I've only started recently, and this is pretty tiring for me so I'm definitely putting in effort. The question is, how much? I've been given results between 275 and 550cal burned for this exercise. Would anyone happen to know a reliable counter, or even better a calculation for me to be able to figure it out myself?

Thanks in advance :)

Rebecca

Replies

  • mfp2014mfp
    mfp2014mfp Posts: 689 Member
    I swam for about 4 months last summer (Australia) and I used half of what mfps stated burn was, I had my goals set at pound and half per week and I pretty much averaged that in loss so my estimation probably wasnt far off. I checked it against Heart Beats per minute from another site based on my rate and it was close. It really was trial and error but this is what I found to be accurate for myself.
  • LuizH
    LuizH Posts: 211 Member
    I use this:

    http://42.195km.net/e/swim/

    Not sure how accurate it is, but I trust these numbers better than the MFP database
  • Flissbo
    Flissbo Posts: 302 Member
    Hi, well done on the swimming!

    I'd also be interested to see if anyone knows of a proper calculation that takes into account the distance swam over the time period.

    I swim a mile in just over 30 minutes (crawl), which I know is faster than most people in my pool, so therefore I too am also putting in great effort, however someone else of my height and weight may only swim 1/2 a mile in 30 minutes but will be given the same calorie burn by MFP as me, which isn't accurate since I am swimming twice as fast! For running there are options such as 8 minute mile, 10 minute mile etc. We need something like this for swimming!

    So it's a great question, one which I can't answer though! Lets hope someone else can!!!
  • FrostyBev
    FrostyBev Posts: 119 Member
    The best way to be accurate with the swim is to wear a HRM. I found while wearing mine and swimming 1 mile (Free) in ~32 minutes my calorie burn was usually within 10% of MFP.
  • LadyOfMisrule
    LadyOfMisrule Posts: 2
    Hi,

    Thanks for the advice guys. I don't have a heart rate monitor, but I'll be checking my pulse when I go again tonight so I can get an idea of my heart rate. I put my details into http://42.195km.net/e/swim/ and it came up with 550cal, which seems like loads? MFP only says 524. I think I'll assume it's more around the 300 cal mark and plan accordingly, rather than overcompensating for calories I may not actually have burned!

    Rebecca
  • Flissbo
    Flissbo Posts: 302 Member
    I use this:

    http://42.195km.net/e/swim/

    Not sure how accurate it is, but I trust these numbers better than the MFP database

    Thanks for this! Just had a look, I came out at 286.5 cals for my usual swim.

    MFP has me at 226 cals for swimming crawl at light / moderate effort and 323 cals for fast / vigorous effort (which is how I've always logged as I do seem to swim fast compared to most people) so the calculation puts me just over half way between the two MFP estimates.

    How did others find this calculation compared to MFP?

    PS. I am 5'7 and 129 lb - just to give you an idea of my size to be able to compare cals burned for one person to the next.
  • SinCityFit
    SinCityFit Posts: 96
    From reading about caloric calculations for years, I just use 25 calories per 100m.
  • moniqueleec
    moniqueleec Posts: 2 Member
    I use this:

    http://42.195km.net/e/swim/

    Not sure how accurate it is, but I trust these numbers better than the MFP database

    MFP says I burn 540 for fast, vigorous effort (which I usually select, as I am out of breath and my heart rate is quite fast)
    378 for light/moderate.
    The website you shared says 397.

    Interesting to see the difference. I think I'll be selecting light/moderate from now on. Not that it matters, I stick to my calorie goal every day regardless of how much I've burnt.
  • AwesomeSquirrel
    AwesomeSquirrel Posts: 644 Member
    I swim 1000m in 25 minutes at my comfortable-rehab pace, I'm a strong swimmer and I don't really take breaks. I still log this as light/moderate effort as I'm by no means pushing it. I do select the freestyle entry as I can't bothered to log the mix I do on any given day.
  • Ksh1055
    Ksh1055 Posts: 248 Member
    Never crossed my mind that MFP calories burned could be inaccurate. No wonder it looks like I'm burning so many calories without losing much weight through swimming. Will need to research this further.
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
    I think a lot of the calorie burn inaccuracies come from the different effort levels that we are allowed to choose from. For example when using an elliptical my heart rate is very high and I sweat buckets so my initial thought is that the intensity level must be vigorous but then I am unfit even though I am improving.

    Someone with a higher level of fitness may find my workout a breeze and might not even break sweat lol

    Same with walking at the beginning, what I was doing seemed like hard work so must be at a fast pace right? Finally drove out a mile course then walked it, timed it and was really disappointed with the pace and subsequent burn.

    I now rely on net calorie burns from a HRM but mine isnt waterproof so cant use it swimming so cant help there sorry

    ETA Some Grammar
  • garnet56
    garnet56 Posts: 21 Member
    A Heart Rate Monitor is no necessarily the answer I have Swimovate Pro and Polar HRM's and they differ wildly in calorie results with the Swimovate giving more Calories than the Polar.

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