Why no calories "awarded" for weight training?

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hedgertiger
hedgertiger Posts: 51 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi! Why does the plan not award any calories for a strength workout? (the way it does for cardiio) Surely this is burning calories, in fact many would argue that Weight training burns the most calories!

I aim to lose 9 pounds and do cardio and do weight training (high intensity).

Replies

  • wondergirl1003
    wondergirl1003 Posts: 138 Member
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    You report your sets and reps in the strength training section. Look in cardio and find "strength training" in there. Or calisthenics if you are doing push ups, pull ups and such.
  • hedgertiger
    hedgertiger Posts: 51 Member
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    You report your sets and reps in the strength training section. Look in cardio and find "strength training" in there. Or calisthenics if you are doing push ups, pull ups and such.

    yeah Ive recorded my sets and reps in the strength section but no calories are "awarded" on my plan?
  • sovrappensiero
    sovrappensiero Posts: 13 Member
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    hedgertiger isn't asking how to include strength training info, but rather why no calories are subtracted for this form of physical activity.

    I've often wondered this same thing. I'm sorry I don't have an answer; I don't do high-intensity strength training, just some basic core training to strengthen my muscles, so I never really worried about this too much. However, I can suggest a work-around that would probably be time-efficient in the long run:

    Just search online for an activities calorie calculator (below is just one I found in a quick search) that includes the strength training activities you do. If you have specific routines you run, you could just add up all the calories burned during that routine and then create a new exercise (under cardiovascular, so you can input calories) and input the calories you calculated and the time it takes you to do the routine. Then you can add these custom routines to your log as needed. You may have the "guess-timate" the calories burned for some exercises, but I bet you could get a pretty accurate figure.

    I'm sure that weight training burns some calories because another app I used to use (Lose It) did deduct calories for weight training. They get their numbers from reputable sources that should be available on the web. For the record, in my opinion MFP runs circles around the Lose It app, except for perhaps this one area.

    Hope my work-around helps you!

    A site with an activities calorie calculator:
    www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc
  • mirna_ayala0428
    mirna_ayala0428 Posts: 406 Member
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    bump
  • hedgertiger
    hedgertiger Posts: 51 Member
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    hedgertiger isn't asking how to include strength training info, but rather why no calories are subtracted for this form of physical activity.

    I've often wondered this same thing. I'm sorry I don't have an answer; I don't do high-intensity strength training, just some basic core training to strengthen my muscles, so I never really worried about this too much. However, I can suggest a work-around that would probably be time-efficient in the long run:

    Just search online for an activities calorie calculator (below is just one I found in a quick search) that includes the strength training activities you do. If you have specific routines you run, you could just add up all the calories burned during that routine and then create a new exercise (under cardiovascular, so you can input calories) and input the calories you calculated and the time it takes you to do the routine. Then you can add these custom routines to your log as needed. You may have the "guess-timate" the calories burned for some exercises, but I bet you could get a pretty accurate figure.

    I'm sure that weight training burns some calories because another app I used to use (Lose It) did deduct calories for weight training. They get their numbers from reputable sources that should be available on the web. For the record, in my opinion MFP runs circles around the Lose It app, except for perhaps this one area.

    Hope my work-around helps you!

    A site with an activities calorie calculator:
    www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

    thanks for that!

    Ive noticed that in the cardio section that weight lifting is an option so ive selected 60 mins of that and its awarded me the calories - wohoo!

    no idea why it wont do the same in the "Strength" section
  • hedgertiger
    hedgertiger Posts: 51 Member
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    bump

    eh?
  • wondergirl1003
    wondergirl1003 Posts: 138 Member
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    hedgertiger isn't asking how to include strength training info, but rather why no calories are subtracted for this form of physical activity.

    thanks for that!

    Ive noticed that in the cardio section that weight lifting is an option so ive selected 60 mins of that and its awarded me the calories - wohoo!

    no idea why it wont do the same in the "Strength" section

    That's pretty much what I said.
  • hedgertiger
    hedgertiger Posts: 51 Member
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    hedgertiger isn't asking how to include strength training info, but rather why no calories are subtracted for this form of physical activity.

    thanks for that!

    Ive noticed that in the cardio section that weight lifting is an option so ive selected 60 mins of that and its awarded me the calories - wohoo!

    no idea why it wont do the same in the "Strength" section

    That's pretty much what I said.

    i know. cheers
  • synchrohobbit
    synchrohobbit Posts: 58 Member
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    I think the strength section might just be more to keep track of your progress, i.e. weights and reps. Not sure though.
  • hedgertiger
    hedgertiger Posts: 51 Member
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    I still think there is a problem with the cals awarded. I am doing 40 mins of intense HIIT weight training (little rest between sets and pushing to the max every set) but this is only giving me 154 cals?

    I am tempted to enter it as Circuit training which gives 411 clas for 40mins!
  • synchrohobbit
    synchrohobbit Posts: 58 Member
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    I would suggest figuring it out from your heart rate. I think the calculator on here assumes you do not have a consistently elevated heart rate if you type in weight training, so you can use your average HR to make a better guesstimate:

    http://www.triathlontrainingblog.com/calculators/calories-burned-calculator-based-on-average-heart-rate/

    If not, circuit training sounds more accurate.
  • kwardklinck
    kwardklinck Posts: 1,601
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    I enter my Bootcamp workout as "circuit training" because there are plyometrics and cardio involved in the workout. My heart rate is up the whole time, so I'm burning more than just "strength training" would burn.

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