Calories burned during HIIT exercises

Options
megstoo
megstoo Posts: 47 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I do a bootcamp 4 to 5 days a week (1 hour each time) and it's mainly all HIIT exercises. Some days are more cardio or strength focused (yesterday for example was all strength work - I know today will be all legs with some sprinting).

Most of the HR monitors I see are only good for the stable cardio (machines). How do I figure out calories burned during HIIT sessions? I asked my trainer and he said some days could very easily be up to 1,000.

Replies

  • cmbauer99
    cmbauer99 Posts: 184 Member
    Options
    I use a Polar H7 Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor and it works great for HIIT. I pair it with my phone and the Polar Beat app. Use that for Cardio, Running, Strength ETC ETC
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    Options
    I use a Polar H7 Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor and it works great for HIIT.

    By works great presumably you mean it gives you a number?

    Heart rate is not a meaningful proxy for calorie expenditure where training is anaerobic. I wouldn't bother at all, that said I'd be sceptical of a 1000 cal session, that's about 90 minutes worth of sustained effort.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
    Options
    Personally, I just log it as generic circuit training. If you lose weight faster than you want, eat back more calories. And vice versa. Anything beyond that is just overthinking the whole thing.
  • megstoo
    megstoo Posts: 47 Member
    Options
    I use a Polar H7 Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor and it works great for HIIT.

    By works great presumably you mean it gives you a number?

    Heart rate is not a meaningful proxy for calorie expenditure where training is anaerobic. I wouldn't bother at all, that said I'd be sceptical of a 1000 cal session, that's about 90 minutes worth of sustained effort.

    Thanks, for tracking purposes I do 500, I figure if it's more that's great but I doubted it would be any less.
  • MelAb8709
    MelAb8709 Posts: 140 Member
    Options
    I have wondered the same thing about my bootcamp classes. They're 45 minutes, but I log 40 minutes of circuit training since I'm not actually moving for 45 whole minutes.

    I considered a HRM, bummer to know it wouldn't be that accurate. All I know is I'm sweating like a pig afterward.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
    Options
    Thanks, for tracking purposes I do 500, I figure if it's more that's great but I doubted it would be any less.

    500 net for a hard 60 minute session is in the "reasonable" range. It's doggone hard to net more than 10 calories per minute.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    Options
    I use a Polar H7 Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor and it works great for HIIT.

    By works great presumably you mean it gives you a number?

    Heart rate is not a meaningful proxy for calorie expenditure where training is anaerobic. I wouldn't bother at all, that said I'd be sceptical of a 1000 cal session, that's about 90 minutes worth of sustained effort.

    This^^^
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Options
    I do a bootcamp 4 to 5 days a week (1 hour each time) and it's mainly all HIIT exercises. Some days are more cardio or strength focused (yesterday for example was all strength work - I know today will be all legs with some sprinting).

    Most of the HR monitors I see are only good for the stable cardio (machines). How do I figure out calories burned during HIIT sessions? I asked my trainer and he said some days could very easily be up to 1,000.

    Your "trainer" is using the age-old marketing tool: hyperbole.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Options
    I do a bootcamp 4 to 5 days a week (1 hour each time) and it's mainly all HIIT exercises.

    If you're doing something for "1 hour each time", you're not doing HIIT.

    And HRMs are a disaster for interval-y type training - they will overestimate burn rates by as much as 500%.

Categories