Weight/strength training & calories

bajules
bajules Posts: 1 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I know that doing a hard core 20 minute strength training workout with 2 lb weights burns calories. But, when I log it in Myfitnesspal it shows that I didn't burn any calories. What do all of you do to keep your workouts & calories more accurate?

Replies

  • joneallen
    joneallen Posts: 217 Member
    I use a heart rate monitor to track calories burned while weight training. It's a Polar FT7.
  • skibikeswim247
    skibikeswim247 Posts: 1 Member
    Hi there, I'm an exercise science major and pre pt. If you want to burn calories , a 20 minute strength training routine with 2 lb weights is not efficient . I would recommend jogging with a heart rate of 80% of your maximum (220bpm -your age) for 30-60 minutes . I use runkeeper app to track my activities because it synchronizes with this app. Try cross training. If you have any more questions, please let me know.
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,134 Member
    Primarily because people don’t lift weights to lose weight. There are far too many variables with weight training to know what your particular calorie expenditure is. HRM are not designed to properly measure calories from weight training (you could go to a research lab and workout in a bomb calorimeter, but that’s probably not in the budget).

    The other issue with this is that calories in and calories out are all estimates. There are so many variables on either side of that calculation that it doesn’t make sense to think you can get to a better number.

    When I want to track my calories (which I only do during cutting), I’ll log 250 calories for each intense (heavy) hour of lifting. I do that primarily to make sure I’m eating more protein on those days. After three weeks, I check my progress and tweak my calorie intake up or down. I expect to lose three - six pounds in three weeks. If I lose less, I cut my calories back, if I lose more, I add calories.

    In this case, you are a unique snowflake. The types and amount of food you need is unique to you in this current time (and subject to change over time). Self experimentation will get you further than questioning why things that work for others isn’t working for you.
  • 4thDegreeKnight
    4thDegreeKnight Posts: 69 Member
    I ran into this as well, and I can share what has worked for me over the past 2 months.

    Under "Cardiovascular" is a "Strength Training" option. Regardless of weight, if you are doing a routine similar to X sets with Y reps with a minute or two rest in between - you can count on the calories in My Fitness Pal. Essentially, if you are consistently moving and putting in effort, the calculation seems to be right.

    If you are doing something where you are very light reps or sets but are go go go, you may want to look up "Cardiovascular" and then "Circuit Training". This is something like at YouFit where its 1 minute doing as much of X weight machines as you can followed by 1 minute rest, rinse repeat for 15 machines.

    As it was explained to me, if you are calculating these calories, eating them, and still losing - then they are right for you. In my case that seems to be working.

    If I am doing something like heavy lifting for my sets, where I am wobbly and exhausted when I am done, I may add 20% on top of the calculated calories.

    The problem I have been finding is the calories calculated by MFP for cardiovascular work seems to be high (elliptical, treadmill, etc) - so I override with whatever the machine says.

    As said before, so much goes into what type of workout you do - so I could see MFP having a hard time nailing it down.
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