Calories burned during strength training?

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How do you guys count the calories lost during strength training/lifting? If MFP cannot project it, should I get a FitBit or an Apple Watch or anything else of that sort?
Thanks guys :)

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  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    It's practically impossible to make a judgement on how much lifting burns. In the end, it's not much. You can add "Strength Training" to the search in the Cardio section and input the minutes performed and it will give you an estimate. Most people who lift figure it into their activity level and count it as 1 calorie burned (ie..TDEE method).
  • Michael190lbs
    Michael190lbs Posts: 1,510 Member
    edited December 2015
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    A lot of people here count is as 250 calories per hour obviously that will be different with the different workouts and size of people.. I agree with the above I do TDEE as well
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
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    Better off not even tracking it. Don't attempt to "Eat Back" calories, it just defeats your goals. ;)
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    A lot of people here count is as 250 calories per hour obviously that will be different with the different workouts and size of people.. I agree with the above I do TDEE as well

    I've never even gone that high when I logged strength training...100-120 an hour at the most.

    But yeah, OP, there are many factors that come into play that it's hard to really estimate the burn amount.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited December 2015
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    I just go with the strength training estimate (under the cardio section) which is based on METS.
    But it's just a rough estimate - I lift in a short rest / high volume style most of the time so it's probably a low estimate for me.
    But it's not worth fussing about something that can't be measured - definitely don't try to use a tracking gizmo or HRM though.
  • distinctlybeautiful
    distinctlybeautiful Posts: 1,041 Member
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    Yeah, those heart rate monitors are made for steady cardio, like running, walking, or biking.
  • julietta_g
    julietta_g Posts: 7 Member
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    Thanks for all the responses, you guys are awesome!
  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,862 Member
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    I just put in 98 calories for my workouts that range from 30-48 min. Since I'm losing weight slowly and as expected, that seems to be about right. I did that because I was so hungry that I figured I had to be burning something. I hadn't read 250/hour so it's interesting that I came close to that.
  • Michael190lbs
    Michael190lbs Posts: 1,510 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    A lot of people here count is as 250 calories per hour obviously that will be different with the different workouts and size of people.. I agree with the above I do TDEE as well

    I've never even gone that high when I logged strength training...100-120 an hour at the most.

    But yeah, OP, there are many factors that come into play that it's hard to really estimate the burn amount.

    You have to under stand I burn almost 100 calories an hour laying on the couch with my feet up doing absolutely nothing so working out I would say a 250 calories is a light estimate especially if the person is eating enough to build muscle plus more than likely that person carries more muscle which burns even more calories.