Calculating calories burned through weight training?

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jtr357
jtr357 Posts: 45 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone,I'm relatively new here,so I hope I'm putting this in the right area.

Is there any formula for calculating calories burned through intense weight training?Training until complete muscle fatigue.I know weight training is primarily for maintaining & creating lean muscle mass & is not primarily for fat burning,but it has to be a significant caloric number.I wish MFP was able to calculate the calories burned through this like they do with cardio exercises.

Thanks for any help
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Replies

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    MFP does...it's under cardio (search Strength Training)

    However they imo are not accurate and there really isn't a way to really determine it outside a lab...any exercise burns are really just estimates anyway...even when measured with HRM etc.

    Unless in a lab setting.
  • jtr357
    jtr357 Posts: 45 Member
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    I do add to the strength training & the calories burned don't change.They only count the cardio & that pacer app.

    Thanks for your reply
  • joe_piercey
    joe_piercey Posts: 12
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    I think what SezxyStef meant is that under cardio exercise there are options for strength training.

    I use it all the time. You can also find circuit training if you're into giant sets or supersets, etc... I find that selecting strength training seems unrealistically low for what I put myself through when lifting, but circuit training is probably too far to the other end. Either way, look for it under cardio. None of the entries under "strength training" do anything for calories.
  • jtr357
    jtr357 Posts: 45 Member
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    Thanks guys.I'll search around.There's probably a way you can calculate calories burned through weight training,after you put in your body weight.I'll check back here if I find it.
  • colors_fade
    colors_fade Posts: 464 Member
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    I just use the Strength Training under Cardio.

    I also track it with Endomondo. I get to the gym, I turn on "Weight Training" and record the duration of my workout. When it's over, I record the calories burned.

    Nothing is precise. The point is to get a rough estimate of calories in vs. calories out. Every day my goal is a 500 calorie deficit or greater.

    Strength training is a necessary part of that, as you seem to understand, so we don't lose all our lean muscle mass.
  • jtr357
    jtr357 Posts: 45 Member
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    Thanks so much colorsfade.That's exactly what I was looking for "Endomondo"
  • jtr357
    jtr357 Posts: 45 Member
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    Just pulled this off the web :


    The exact number of calories burned during strength training workouts depends on intensity, time and your body composition. According to the Harvard Medical School, on average, caloric burn ranges from 90 calories per hour of moderate training by a 125-pound person to up to 266 calories per hour of vigorous effort by a 185-pound person. Circuit training burns even more. Christopher Scott, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist at the University of Southern Maine, began using a modified method to estimate energy expenditure and found that weight training burns up to 71 percent more calories than originally thought. By his calculations, just one circuit of eight exercises taking about eight minutes can expend 159 to 231 calories, or about the same as running at a 6-minute-mile pace.

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/256854-calories-burned-through-strength-training/
  • jtr357
    jtr357 Posts: 45 Member
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    Here's a calculator.I'm not sure how accurate it is though.I put in my gender,age,height & weight.I hope it's accurate. :D



    Situps / crunches - vigorous 65
    Stationary bicycle / spinning - moderate 281
    Lifting weights - vigorous 878
    Total Calories Burned 1,223

    https://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc
  • colors_fade
    colors_fade Posts: 464 Member
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    That's an interesting calculation.

    I always choose whatever the lowest number is, when using calorie-burned calculations. I figure that's mathematically safer than overestimating the calories I might have burned and being wrong, and then not really getting the deficit I targeted.

    I don't do circuits anyway, so I always assume the way I weight train is very low-calorie burning. I'm there to build strength, or at least hang on to the muscle I have while spending the next few months cutting. I lift heavy, hard, maximum effort, and then it's a 2-5 minutes of pacing/walking around the gym floor waiting to recover for the next lift, so I can give maximum effort.

    Circuit training seems to me more like a pseudo-cardio workout than a true strength training workout, because those folks are trying to burn calories and sweat hard. I don't think you can really maximize strength gains while doing that sort of workout. They seem to burn calories good though.
  • tsimblist
    tsimblist Posts: 206 Member
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    Here's a calculator.I'm not sure how accurate it is though.I put in my gender,age,height & weight.I hope it's accurate. :D



    Situps / crunches - vigorous 65
    Stationary bicycle / spinning - moderate 281
    Lifting weights - vigorous 878
    Total Calories Burned 1,223

    https://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

    I have been using this calculator for my lifting workouts:
    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/calories.htm
  • jtr357
    jtr357 Posts: 45 Member
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    2-5min?! between next lift?Wow.I'm just the opposite.I rest for no more than 20-25sec between sets & maybe a minute between the next exercise.I go for the fat burning AND the muscle build.I read on Lou Ferrigno's FB page that you should never rest any more than 1 minute between sets & that should be closer to 30sec.You have to keep those muscles warm,& not let them cool down one bit.
    That's a good idea though about being extremely conservative with the numbers.I'd rather figure low than high anyday.Thanks man.
  • jtr357
    jtr357 Posts: 45 Member
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    Thanks tsimblist.I buy a lot of stuff from them.Never thought of checking out their forum though.
  • beesareyellow
    beesareyellow Posts: 335 Member
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    Resting 2-5 minutes between sets is totally normal for strength training/power lifting. You are working in the low rep range and lifting heavy. Loe Ferrigno is an amazing bodybuilder, but bodybuilding goals are different from those of powerlifting. Body builders work in a much higher rep range, so shorter rest times make a lot more sense. I have done both and now do powerlifting exclusively, it's a totally different mindset.
  • jtr357
    jtr357 Posts: 45 Member
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    Thanks for your reply beesareyellow.I've never power lifted aside from "maxing out" occasionally.I've always been more body building orientated.
    It's good to learn new stuff. :)
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    Truth of the matter is that most people who weight train use TDEE method instead of MFP NEAT Method that way all the guess work is gone...

    Eat the same number of caories everyday regardess of exercise.

    It's just a matter of figuring out your TDEE which can be done using your data or a website like IIFYM.com
  • jtr357
    jtr357 Posts: 45 Member
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    SezxyStef ,What is TDEE?
  • mike_ny
    mike_ny Posts: 351 Member
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    You lift and work out to get fit, build muscles, and feel healthy and strong. You don't work out to lose weight, so don't get so stressed about accurately counting calories burned. I just use the MFP time calculation for weight training and measure the total minutes assuming one minute pauses between sets. It doesn't see to be as many calories as one thinks it should be, but it seems to be about right going into my calorie deficit target for the day.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    Truth of the matter is that most people who weight train use TDEE method instead of MFP NEAT Method that way all the guess work is gone...

    Eat the same number of caories everyday regardess of exercise.

    It's just a matter of figuring out your TDEE which can be done using your data or a website like IIFYM.com

    This for real. Makes life so much easier!!
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    2-5min?! between next lift?Wow.I'm just the opposite.I rest for no more than 20-25sec between sets & maybe a minute between the next exercise.I go for the fat burning AND the muscle build.I read on Lou Ferrigno's FB page that you should never rest any more than 1 minute between sets & that should be closer to 30sec.You have to keep those muscles warm,& not let them cool down one bit.
    That's a good idea though about being extremely conservative with the numbers.I'd rather figure low than high anyday.Thanks man.

    if you're lifting weights over a certain percentage of your 1RM then you definitely need that time between sets.

    and your muscles dont cool down.. they are inside your body that's close to 100 degress fahrenheit :laugh:
  • jtr357
    jtr357 Posts: 45 Member
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    Within 5 min your muscles cool down,regardless of their depth.Thats a fact. tee hee

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