Q: Why isn't my strength training counting as calories burned?

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Lanafig22
Lanafig22 Posts: 1 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi there,
New to this app. Seems easy enough but just want to understand why after I add my strength training it isn't counting as calories burned? I worked out for 50 mins this morning but all was floorwork, squats with weights, triceps, push ups, abs, etc. It shows up as entries but not as calories burned. Is this appropriate?

If anyone out there decides to read this and has help, thanks in advance

Best Regards,
Lana

Replies

  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,323 Member
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    I don;'t know but its a great question. It should be...I want every oz of calories burned I can get. lol.
  • Noelv1976
    Noelv1976 Posts: 18,948 Member
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    You can add that to your cardio, just include a title to your workout. According to some folks, strength training shouldn't be counted as burning calories. I'm not gonna get into the scientific mumbo jumbo. But you can add the exercises to the strenght training, so that way you or your friends can see what you did. Unless you're wearing a HRM, you won't know exactly how much you've burned.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
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    Add "Strength training (weight lifting, weight training)" to Cardiovascular to get estimated Calories Burned added to your Diary. Please note that the Calories burned for Cardiovascular exercises are estimates for a general population and may differ for you as an individual. If desired, add individual strength training exercises, such as "Biceps Curl," to Strength Training to have a log of sets, reps, and weights as individual exercises.

    Please see these articles in the list of articles on this topic in the MFP Help pages...
    myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/11170-why-don-t-you-calculate-calories-burned-for-strength-training-
    myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/topics/455842-exercise-diary-and-exercise-database/articles

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  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    Noelv1976 wrote: »
    Unless you're wearing a HRM, you won't know exactly how much you've burned.

    You won't know how much you burned strength training with an HRM either. They're not accurate for that. Only for cardio with a steady elevated heart rate.

  • OhioGuy37
    OhioGuy37 Posts: 99 Member
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    My Fitbit Charge HR will track steps taken while I am working out with weights etc. it must sense the body motion and convert that to steps. Steps in turn are used to calculate calories burned and is imported in to MFP
  • pamcakes0804
    pamcakes0804 Posts: 3
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    That really bugged me at first. But I use my HR monitor and log it that way. Adding my strength training
  • SkyeGuy
    SkyeGuy Posts: 7 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Adding Strength training is a bad idea for a number of reasons. 1) HR isn't particularly elevated, meaning you're logging calories for just "living" - myfitnesspal already tracks your living calories. 2) Moving a weight, even a few hundred pounds a few hundred feet can be easily calculated and results in nearly negligible calories burned. 3) Cardio burns calories because not only are you moving yourself (lots of weight for long duration) but also because of increased heart rate and respiration.

    If you want to lose weight, you're better off just counting any weight loss calories you might burn weight lifting as a "bonus".

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