Weight Lifting & Cardio Calorie Burns

lindalee0315
lindalee0315 Posts: 527 Member
edited September 26 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm just curious if anyone else does this: Since I've gotten my heart rate monitor I obsess over total calories burned. I get frustrated that an hour of P90X weight lifting will burn less than 500 calories, but I can burn 750 in an hour doing cardio. I know a healthy routine has both components, but I do find myself stressing out about the "lower" burn. Does anyone else feel like this or am I just strange?

Replies

  • laddyboy
    laddyboy Posts: 1,565 Member
    Yes and No. Keep in mind that the weight lifting increases your lean muscle tissue thus buring more calories during the day. So, even though you burn more doing cardio (plus you burn muscle doing more than 30 minutes of intense cardio), in the long run you'll burn more calories doing the resistance.
    Make Sense?
  • corrinnebrown
    corrinnebrown Posts: 345 Member
    No I am the same way....during shoulders and arms or chest, shoulders and triceps I actually pause it run with knees up to burn more calories and get my heart rate up. I am so glad I am not the only one.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    I'm just curious if anyone else does this: Since I've gotten my heart rate monitor I obsess over total calories burned. I get frustrated that an hour of P90X weight lifting will burn less than 500 calories, but I can burn 750 in an hour doing cardio. I know a healthy routine has both components, but I do find myself stressing out about the "lower" burn. Does anyone else feel like this or am I just strange?

    Resistance training has far more benefits than just caloric burn. increase bone density, increases circulation and strength, burns more calories when finished the workout, builds muscle, which burns more calories at rest than fat, etc.
  • lmr9
    lmr9 Posts: 628 Member
    No, you're not strange. :smile: I also do a mix of cardio and weight training, and I burn 450-600 calories per hour. Straight cardio does burn more per hour though. For example, I can burn 700+ in an hour of spin. But, the weight training is essential. You will lose more body fat, and inches, if you keep weight training in your routine. Keep it up - 500 calories per day is awesome! :flowerforyou:
  • foxxybrown
    foxxybrown Posts: 838 Member
    I no longer wear my HRM when doing strength training and I don't add in those calories.
  • fab50G
    fab50G Posts: 384 Member
    I was discouraged by that too in the beginning. But, everything I've read about strenth training says you ultimately burn more calories, plus you continue to burn after you workout.
  • Laurieannfanelli
    Laurieannfanelli Posts: 36 Member
    I feel you. I try to explain to my sister that cleaning house isn't enough excersise since it may only burn a few hundred calories. That is why it is so hard to lose weight. Is easier to gain I think. But you really don't burn many calories, but the benifits of the toning will be noticed in the way you cloths fit. I am finally believing in this.
  • Shandke
    Shandke Posts: 116 Member
    Ok I have a similar question....I don't have a heart rate monitor and wondered what your calorie burn rate compares to the standard calories burned indicated in the MFP calculations? I have just been using these numbers, but everyone else's numbers really seem quite a bit higher. I've been doing P90X for strength training and according to the MFP....45 minutes of Back & Biceps and 15 of AB Ripper = 60 minutes of Cardio Strength Training only burns about 190 calories?? This also seems pretty low compared to the work out I seem to get from these routines?
  • corrinnebrown
    corrinnebrown Posts: 345 Member
    Ok I have a similar question....I don't have a heart rate monitor and wondered what your calorie burn rate compares to the standard calories burned indicated in the MFP calculations? I have just been using these numbers, but everyone else's numbers really seem quite a bit higher. I've been doing P90X for strength training and according to the MFP....45 minutes of Back & Biceps and 15 of AB Ripper = 60 minutes of Cardio Strength Training only burns about 190 calories?? This also seems pretty low compared to the work out I seem to get from these routines?

    When I do back and biceps and ab ripper I usually burn 600-650
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,332 Member
    Straight weight lifting, as mentioned, burns less calories while you are working out, but has much more of an after effect and keeps burning calories afterward. Cardio doesn't do that to any major extent. It burns calories while you are doing it, but that effect pretty much stop when you stop working out. I try for the best of both worlds I do Cardio Strength Training, also called Metabolic Resistance Training. It is a combination of High Intensity Interval Training and Strength Training. I have more about it on my MFP blog. As with all interval training it will burn extra calories long after you stop, and in 25-30 minutes of it I will burn around 400 calories, that would be 800 an hour if it were possible to do it for an hour, but that would be asking for overtraining injuries. This sort of exercise type will keep burning extra calories for up to 36 or even 38 hours later. Even better, it, like HIIT, will burn a lot more fat than long duration steady state cardio. Nine times more in one study. (Here is a short summary of those findings with link to more information on it http://www.marklauren.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=49 )

    While you may be obsessed with your calorie burn at the time you are working out, that is far from the whole picture. The after burn from your weight sessions is far higher than that from cardio sessions (although P90X is somewhat different from long times on treadmills or ellipticals). I would encourage you to work to realize this, and further to realize the benefits of weight training for taking off fat are truly amazing.
  • calmmomw3minimeez
    calmmomw3minimeez Posts: 499 Member
    I happen to be an oddball who bought an HRM that does NOT give me calories burned but it does let me know what 'zone' I'm in during a workout. I too do jogging in place, jumping jacks, etc. while strength training. Although I use the numbers that MFP gives me, sometimes I count it as circuit training which looks a little more accurate than just the weight training alone.:smile:
  • BigBoneSista
    BigBoneSista Posts: 2,389 Member
    Nope I don't really care about the differences in calorie burn between cardio and strength training. I know the benefits of both. Ultimately strength training benefits are a few steps above cardio.

    However I do hate it when I which up my cardio to a new routine and my burn isn't as high as my old routine. Now that gets me.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,332 Member
    I happen to be an oddball who bought an HRM that does NOT give me calories burned but it does let me know what 'zone' I'm in during a workout. I too do jogging in place, jumping jacks, etc. while strength training. Although I use the numbers that MFP gives me, sometimes I count it as circuit training which looks a little more accurate than just the weight training alone.:smile:

    The problem with the whole "zone" thing is there is no such thing. Google "Fat Burning Zone Myth" and you will have a bunch of pages come up that explain it.
  • abyssfully
    abyssfully Posts: 410 Member
    laddyboy and erikirb are right on on this one. Strength training is so important.
  • lindalee0315
    lindalee0315 Posts: 527 Member
    Thank you all for "weighing in." I do strength training regularly, but I always am disappointed in the lower calorie burns. I wouldn't give it up, I was just curious if anyone else felt this way.
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