How are people burning so many cals?

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amyclavey10
amyclavey10 Posts: 15 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
hi,

So I'm fairly new to exercise. I've always danced and took to jogging last year, but at the gym I struggle. From a few PT sessions I've learnt some good weight exercises but even when combining these with cardio I'm still only burning 2-300 cals before I burn out or my hours up.
How are people burning 500+ ?
How do u calculate calories burned from weights? Am I just lazy?
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Replies

  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
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    You aren't lazy...nobody burns the same. I average 400 calories in the gym and I'm overweight.
  • str8bowbabe
    str8bowbabe Posts: 712 Member
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    I depends on what I am doing but I average 300 -400 per session.
  • rhtexasgal
    rhtexasgal Posts: 572 Member
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    I don't try to estimate my calories burned from weight training. I only enter my cardio and I easily burn about 450 calories in a 30-40 minute session on the elliptical. The machine will actually say about 480-500 calories but I always subtract calories before I log them because the machines are never accurate and often over-estimate calories.
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
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    if you log it under weightlifting in MFP, it will still underestimate due to the fact that you're still burning. It's a really low number, but it gives me a reason to have a square of chocolate lol
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
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    When you see HUGE burns nearing the 1000 range, the answer would be... they're not burning that many cals.

    It really depends on weight and height. But, is better to underestimate, than to overestimate your burn and eat back more than you should.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    A lot of people like to think they're burning a lot more calories than they really are. You'll never convince them the 15 minutes they leisurely walked on the treadmill didn't burn off 800 calories either. My advice - don't worry about what other people are saying they burn and just focus on your own workout. You'll just make yourself crazy otherwise. The results will show on the scale when you're posting accurate burns and eating back a reasonable amount of calories versus those who aren't living in reality....
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited April 2015
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    amyclavey10 wrote: »
    How are people burning 500+ ?

    On MFP? By over-exercising their imaginations, usually.

    500 calories is a 250 pound person running 5k. Or a 180 pound person running 5 miles.

    Scale for weight and fitness as per your realities...
  • missgiddyup341
    missgiddyup341 Posts: 7 Member
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    I burn about 200-300 a day. I run a mile or so (I am new to the whole running thing) then I do an ab work out. I also take me dog who can't run on a mile walk. It works for me! You shouldn't stress on burning calories, just focus on your workout! Have fun!
  • RodHudson1229
    RodHudson1229 Posts: 65 Member
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    There are many factors when it comes to calorie burn. First and foremost it depends on the person and their body composition. Secondly it depends on how its being determined. Is it just being determined by a basic calculation or is a heart rate monitor being used in the calculation? Lots of factors affect this outcome and everyone is different. Pay close attention to your body and your scale. You will know and learn how your doing between your logging and activities.
  • justfenix
    justfenix Posts: 30 Member
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    It really depends on what that person is doing and what their weight is. My numbers can be crazy but I'm 5' tall, weigh 209 right now and am swimming 3500-5000 meters. I also don't use MFP numbers for that. There is a better calculator for swimming that uses your weight, the amount of time you swam and the distance to estimate how hard you actually swam. If I enter the same time and distance but subtract 20lbs, The calories burned is much less. It takes more effort to drag my not insignificant butt up and down the length of that pool than it would take someone that weighed 150. The numbers don't mean anything unless you know the data behind them so don't let them get you down.

    I generally don't use MFP calculator for walking either. I have another app on my phone (that incorporates distance, time, my age, weight and actual measured length of stride so I manually enter those numbers into MFP. I have no idea how to enter calories burned from my weight workouts so I don't bother, I figure they just make up the difference in any inconsistencies.
  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,531 Member
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    Focus on some serious weight lifting & you'll find your body morphe. If you want some nice calories burned, try swimming, running, cycling. Racquetball, tennis, and a good pickup game of basketball will kill those calories, too.
  • andympanda
    andympanda Posts: 763 Member
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    I usually walk 5-7 miles a day. I figure 100 calories per mile. thus 500-700 calories a day.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,568 Member
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    I burn about 600 calories a day, but that's between the 2 workouts I split in the day (cardio AM/weights PM)

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • cblue315
    cblue315 Posts: 3,836 Member
    edited April 2015
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    My Tuesday/Thursday WO:
    15 mins stair treadmill 200 cals, 2000 steps
    20 mins run 200 cals,
    35 mins circuit or HIIT 400 cals

    These are approximate but I think fairly close.
    I am not sure how to get totally accurate counts.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    edited April 2015
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    I burn roughly 250-300 calories in a 30 minute workout.

    It all depends on how much you weigh, how fit you are, etc.

    it's also very possible that people are overestimating how much they are burning.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    Cheerios0392 wrote: »
    I'm lucky to burn 200 cals from most of my workouts. I was honestly surprised when I got my fitbit and it indicated that, I always felt like I was working super hard and should be burning a lot. But no. Now I just stick to walking cause I can go longer and therefore burn more calories that way with little to no real strain on my body.

    Um, a FitBit is basically a pedometer. It isn't going to be a reliable indicator of what you are burning for other workouts.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    3dogsrunning wrote: »
    Cheerios0392 wrote: »
    I'm lucky to burn 200 cals from most of my workouts. I was honestly surprised when I got my fitbit and it indicated that, I always felt like I was working super hard and should be burning a lot. But no. Now I just stick to walking cause I can go longer and therefore burn more calories that way with little to no real strain on my body.

    Um, a FitBit is basically a pedometer. It isn't going to be a reliable indicator of what you are burning for other workouts.

    Yesterday I saw someone logging a 4000(!!!!!!!) calorie burn because their FitBit told them to.

    Madness.
  • abetterluke
    abetterluke Posts: 625 Member
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    rhtexasgal wrote: »
    I don't try to estimate my calories burned from weight training. I only enter my cardio and I easily burn about 450 calories in a 30-40 minute session on the elliptical. The machine will actually say about 480-500 calories but I always subtract calories before I log them because the machines are never accurate and often over-estimate calories.

    This still seems high to me...I mean I'm definitely not an expert and I'm sure it all depends on how you're doing it but that seems like a lot of calories in a short period of time.
  • jenniferinfl
    jenniferinfl Posts: 456 Member
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    My Polar HRM said I burned 415 calories for my 5k walk this morning.
    Tomorrow is my 4 mile day, over 500 calories.
    On Sunday I'll be walking 9 miles for around 1200 calories.
    I am over 200 lbs, so that does tend to mean that I burn more.
  • AmazonMayan
    AmazonMayan Posts: 1,168 Member
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    The only time I burn a huge amount (1000 + ) is when hiking several miles over a few hours. Rocky trails up and downhill with roots and sometimes larger rocks to get over.

    I'm still very overweight and already my HRM is logging lower and lower burns on my runs. I run for 30 minutes and the first time was 281 cal burned....now after less than 2 weeks I'm down to 236 cal burned. I think I need to go faster but I'm building up slowly. Walking forget it lol my heart rate rarely even hits the "zone" even in my very hilly neighborhood. I'm lucky to burn 100 now walking the dogs for a decent distance.

    If I log 500 in a day, it's a combo of several things and I have already adjusted calories lower so it's hopefully close to accurate. I'm losing steadily so something is right :)

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