Silly question, but...

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linchambers0208
linchambers0208 Posts: 11 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Why does the cardio count for burning calories, but not any other type of exercise?

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  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    example?

    ETA: You're burning calories all the time. Any estimates that MFP gives is going to be an estimate to start with, it's just easier to give estimates for solid state cardio than, say, lifting weights.
  • linchambers0208
    linchambers0208 Posts: 11 Member
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    I have noticed that any type of strength training that I have put in doesn't show calories burned. I was just a tad confused by that.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    I have noticed that any type of strength training that I have put in doesn't show calories burned. I was just a tad confused by that.
    you can enter strength training under cardio, there's an entry for it. I don't log strength training though.. I just chalk it up as gaining more awesome.
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
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    Estimating calorie burns for anything other than steady state cardio gets complex. For something like weight lifting, there are a lot of variables (weight lifted, number of reps, percentage of one rep max, rest times, etc.) that have a large impact. Weight training does have an entry under cardio, but it burns a lot less than cardio and may not be worth logging (I log as 1 calorie just to track exercise).
  • GreenEyedTrailMonster
    GreenEyedTrailMonster Posts: 21 Member
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    The act of weight lifting itself burns very few calories. A little more than normal everyday moving about but only a very little more.

    Weight lifting can be effective in pursuit of weight loss in a less direct way. Increasing your muscle mass means that your body will burn more calories generally since moving a 65 kg body which is muscular will use more calories all of the time than moving a 65 kg body made up of a greater percentage of fat. That is how weight lifting can help in the journey to weight loss.

    There is a phrase in the weight lifting world which is that "you get lean in the kitchen". Weight lifting will not make you lose weight per se as an activity (as described it has a more secondary effect); neither is it possible to spot lose weight from a certain region on your body. The reduction of your fat mass comes from your dietary behaviour. When you are eating to lose weight eventually your subcutaneous fat will reduce and then the muscle that you have been building with your weight lifting, will become more visible.

    I hope that that is more clear now :smile:
  • JenGranzow
    JenGranzow Posts: 116 Member
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    My burns for lifting are definitely lower, generally, than for more traditional cardio (running, kickboxing, etc.) but I am still burning a lot more calories than if I were just going about my normal day. There is a wide range of burn depending on what lifts you are doing and how much you are lifting, as with anything else - it's all about the effort.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    Why does the cardio count for burning calories, but not any other type of exercise?

    lol. Says who?

    Or do you mean to ask why cardio is more efficient at it?

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