Can anyone guess at calories burnt?

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jo_marnes
jo_marnes Posts: 1,601 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all,

I was reading a post yesterday about Body Pump classes and how many calories burnt and I've done one today and am not sure what to add it as. Popular amounts were around the 400 calorie mark but that I'm feeling thats a little excessive.

For those that don't know, it's a 55 min class with free weights. You select your own weights, change them about as required and each music track (4-5 mins) focuses on one muscle group. So, you do a warm up, squats, chest, back, triceps, biceps, lunges, shoulders and abs. Finish with a stretch and cool down. My weights vary from 17kg (squats), 10 kg (back and lunges) and 4kg for arms. I always put this in as strength training which gives me around a 160 calorie burn, but others are saying its more like an aerobic class, which would give me a 350 burn.

Any ideas?

Replies

  • sarahmckinley
    sarahmckinley Posts: 23 Member
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    I think I would put it in as circuit training...I use strength for when I take a rest between sets, and aerobic when I'm not using much resistance, but who knows? :)
  • tnfphelan
    tnfphelan Posts: 23
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    Try putting in circuit training.
  • cupcakelover103
    cupcakelover103 Posts: 197 Member
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    It is very hard to guess, but i would put it under 'cuircut training'. I do this with my exercise dvds as well :)
    I ALWAYS underestimate my exercise calories. Although it could be more and it's nice to see a bigger number up there, you don't want to put in more than you've burned. Especially if your like me and you eat most of them back!
    This way you know you've had a good workout and can be certain your not accidently eating over your calories
  • Edestiny7
    Edestiny7 Posts: 730 Member
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    Any time I put in what my heart rate monitor says I burned during free weight strength training, it is double what MFP says for the amount of time. So I would estimate that 320 would be about right for me personally.
  • somigliana
    somigliana Posts: 314 Member
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    I was surprised when I wore my HRM to do strength training the other day. I did a full body strength workout with a 5 minute warmup and 5 minutes of stretching. For 50 minutes, I had about 350 calories burned, so for me the MFP strength training calc is too low. I did do step-ups, though, and squats, which get my heart rate going.
  • jo_marnes
    jo_marnes Posts: 1,601 Member
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    Maybe I'll go with 300 then.... I always thought 150 was low, but when I compare it to the sweat and cardio of other classes, it's not even close. I guess it's hard to tell what those muscles are burning!!
  • NotGivingUp
    NotGivingUp Posts: 3
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    Hi Jo,

    I had a similar query with this last year. I'am a fitness instructor and often guessed the amount of calories or used the MFP guide in exercise. I wasn't losing weight and was told it was possibly becasue I was burning off too many calories and actually not eating enough food to fuel my body, therefore I was going into starvation mode. Anyway getting to the point! I invested in a HRM not too expensive around the £30.00 mark and it is the best thing I ever did! I will say the exercise guide on MFP is a pretty good guide. But then of course it always depends on how hard you actually work. So my advise would be to treat yourself to a HRM and be certain of what you are burning. (try amazon they have a great range with a good price range too) Hope this helps.
    Tracy x (Good luck)

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