Weight training calorie burn

ap1972
ap1972 Posts: 214 Member
edited November 25 in Health and Weight Loss
Is there any way of getting a fairly accurate figure for calories burnt during weight training?

Replies

  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    Nope.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,985 Member
    Nope. There isn't.
  • tess5036
    tess5036 Posts: 942 Member
    It doesn't burn many
  • Courtscan2
    Courtscan2 Posts: 499 Member
    I don't count it, I just let my fitbit estimate how many calories I need based on my steps and heart rate. Better to underestimate than overestimate, imo
  • lacyphacelia
    lacyphacelia Posts: 58 Member
    I don't think exercise affects one's BMR as much as people like to think. It's good to build muscle mass, but unless you're putting on many pounds of muscle your BMR will not change much.
  • abbynormal52
    abbynormal52 Posts: 151 Member
    edited April 2018
    I have successfully used the calories MFP calculated under 'cardio' 'strength training'.

    I was in maintenance at the time, didn't eat calories back for lifting as people said it is a low burn, and lost 4-5 lbs in a couple of months, and was constantly tired, now I eat them all and maintain my weight no problem.

    Give the MFP calculation a try, if over time your weight is not where it should be, adjust the percentage up or down.

    Cheers, h.

    I thought I was going to die when I wasn't eating my weight-lifting calories about a year ago. I eat all my calories, including my cardios burned, but haven't been adding in the weight-training. I know I'm burning calories, so I know I need to fuel the burn from those as well. I'm already at a 20% deficit from my TDEE amount, and I'm not going back to being freaking worn out, lol!! I'm with you middlehaitch!

    Just looking for a way to calculate them now as I've increased my weight-training (body weight training) and I sweat a lot, and find myself feeling too tired, like lastnight. So that always tells me, more fuel to build those muscles;) Denise

    PS Too tired for me is not being able to sleep. It may sound weird but if I'm not fueling, I don't sleep well, good indicator for me;)

  • abbynormal52
    abbynormal52 Posts: 151 Member
    tyrindor wrote: »
    tess5036 wrote: »
    It doesn't burn many

    That's just not true. Studies have been done which claim people who diet/lift generally lose body fat much faster than people who only diet/exercise. Most exercises stops burning calories as soon as you stop. Weight lifting keeps you burning calories throughout the day, and even the next couple days, as your muscles rebuild. Lifting also makes you look physically better in the end.

    Due to the fact it's impossible to track, less comfortable than doing cardio, and comes with higher risks of injury, lifting isn't as popular. Many people claim it doesn't burn many calories simply because they aren't doing it (or aren't lifting heavy enough to rip/build their muscles).

    I agree whole-heartedly but mainly because I proved it for myself. I only do body-weight right now, but it's working, and I am actually "seeing" the results. More, muscle tone, less fat. I used to hate the idea of working any kind of "weight trainging" program. I had preconceived ideas.

    Now it's my main goal to continue both with my walking (which does burn calories but I do it more because I love walking and enjoying the scenery around my area) and weight-training because my best results come from that. I love how "I know" my muscle continue to burn long after the workout too;)

    But again, I had to try it, read about it, how it works, and try it. I love how even at 65, I can "shape up" not just lose fat.

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    to account for my lifting I set my activity as light active and log strength training as 1 calorie. that way it spreads the cals out across the week, which is good for recovery. for cardio, I log it on the day I do it, and eat most of that cals back
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    tess5036 wrote: »
    It doesn't burn many

    Actually, vigorous weight lifting can burn as much as 250 calories every 30 minutes:

    https://www.health.harvard.edu/diet-and-weight-loss/calories-burned-in-30-minutes-of-leisure-and-routine-activities

    Don't trust those numbers. 155lbs running 10mph for 30min gives 614 cals, nope, mors like 490 0.63*distance*weight... so 5miles*0.63*155=488, what I am unsure about, is that does that 488 also include what you would have burned had you not worked out (essentially 45 cals) sitting on the couch, if so the amount from running would be even less if entered into MFP because 45 of them are already account for.

    I also assume by vigorous weights, they mean not stopping, super setting with no breaks, but if the running is off by 25%, I would assume the strength training is over estimated by a similar amount.
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    tess5036 wrote: »
    It doesn't burn many

    Actually, vigorous weight lifting can burn as much as 250 calories every 30 minutes:

    https://www.health.harvard.edu/diet-and-weight-loss/calories-burned-in-30-minutes-of-leisure-and-routine-activities

    Don't trust those numbers. 155lbs running 10mph for 30min gives 614 cals, nope, mors like 490 0.63*distance*weight... so 5miles*0.63*155=488, what I am unsure about, is that does that 488 also include what you would have burned had you not worked out (essentially 45 cals) sitting on the couch, if so the amount from running would be even less if entered into MFP because 45 of them are already account for.

    I also assume by vigorous weights, they mean not stopping, super setting with no breaks, but if the running is off by 25%, I would assume the strength training is over estimated by a similar amount.

    The 488 calories is incremental. That is, it is only the calories that you burned through the act of running.

    If you google "calories burned by running", you'll find the original Runner's World articles that gave rise to that formula.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,607 Member
    I have successfully used the calories MFP calculated under 'cardio' 'strength training'.

    I was in maintenance at the time, didn't eat calories back for lifting as people said it is a low burn, and lost 4-5 lbs in a couple of months, and was constantly tired, now I eat them all and maintain my weight no problem.

    Give the MFP calculation a try, if over time your weight is not where it should be, adjust the percentage up or down.

    Cheers, h.

    I don't lift much (compared to other kinds of workouts), but I aways use the MFP estimate for this, too. It's a tiny amount, but for some reason weight training makes me extra hungry, and the small, well-timed added snack is a help.

    It's so few calories it's hard to say whether it really worked for me, or not - but I lost weight as I expected.
  • sssuscello
    sssuscello Posts: 7 Member
    tyrindor wrote: »
    tess5036 wrote: »
    It doesn't burn many

    That's just not true. Studies have been done which claim people who diet/lift generally lose body fat much faster than people who only diet/exercise. Most exercises stops burning calories as soon as you stop. Weight lifting keeps you burning calories throughout the day, and even the next couple days, as your muscles rebuild. Lifting also makes you look physically better in the end.

    Due to the fact it's impossible to track, less comfortable than doing cardio, and comes with higher risks of injury, lifting isn't as popular. Many people claim it doesn't burn many calories simply because they aren't doing it (or aren't lifting heavy enough to rip/build their muscles).

    actually fat is lost in a deficit. so lifting weights is not going to make fat loss faster. as for burning calories throughout the day its not as much as you think it is. your body burns calories all day every day. when Im weight training/lifting I burn an extra 3 calories per hr after Im done for about 2-3 hrs then its back to burning the same amount of calories( I did a test,its the same with cardio for me but I hate cardio) I was the rest of the day before lifting.

    so no weight lifting doesnt cause a long term calorie burn like you think it does. you are burning calories throughout the day whether you lift or not. so no it doesnt burn as many calories. if a person did 30 min of weight lifting and 30 min or running they would burn more running. Its not really going to carry on days later either.I havent lost fat any faster lifting that compared to when I was doing just cardio. the difference was my body did look better and different,but the fat loss wasnt any faster. your body can only burn so much fat per day.

    I think what they are referring to is the fact that a person with a higher muscle mass has a higher metobolic rate compared to someone of the same weight but a higher body fat percentage. Yes it’s all calories in vs. out but if your body utilizes more calories to sustain itself it would prove true that if both people ate the same amount of calories the higher muscle mass individual would lose body fat easier because they are in a deeper deficit.

  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    sssuscello wrote: »
    tyrindor wrote: »
    tess5036 wrote: »
    It doesn't burn many

    That's just not true. Studies have been done which claim people who diet/lift generally lose body fat much faster than people who only diet/exercise. Most exercises stops burning calories as soon as you stop. Weight lifting keeps you burning calories throughout the day, and even the next couple days, as your muscles rebuild. Lifting also makes you look physically better in the end.

    Due to the fact it's impossible to track, less comfortable than doing cardio, and comes with higher risks of injury, lifting isn't as popular. Many people claim it doesn't burn many calories simply because they aren't doing it (or aren't lifting heavy enough to rip/build their muscles).

    actually fat is lost in a deficit. so lifting weights is not going to make fat loss faster. as for burning calories throughout the day its not as much as you think it is. your body burns calories all day every day. when Im weight training/lifting I burn an extra 3 calories per hr after Im done for about 2-3 hrs then its back to burning the same amount of calories( I did a test,its the same with cardio for me but I hate cardio) I was the rest of the day before lifting.

    so no weight lifting doesnt cause a long term calorie burn like you think it does. you are burning calories throughout the day whether you lift or not. so no it doesnt burn as many calories. if a person did 30 min of weight lifting and 30 min or running they would burn more running. Its not really going to carry on days later either.I havent lost fat any faster lifting that compared to when I was doing just cardio. the difference was my body did look better and different,but the fat loss wasnt any faster. your body can only burn so much fat per day.

    I think what they are referring to is the fact that a person with a higher muscle mass has a higher metobolic rate compared to someone of the same weight but a higher body fat percentage. Yes it’s all calories in vs. out but if your body utilizes more calories to sustain itself it would prove true that if both people ate the same amount of calories the higher muscle mass individual would lose body fat easier because they are in a deeper deficit.

    even at that a lb of muscle burns like 6 extra calories.and still the body only burns so much fat at a time. 6 calories really isnt a lot more compared to the person who has less muscle mass.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    sssuscello wrote: »
    tyrindor wrote: »
    tess5036 wrote: »
    It doesn't burn many

    That's just not true. Studies have been done which claim people who diet/lift generally lose body fat much faster than people who only diet/exercise. Most exercises stops burning calories as soon as you stop. Weight lifting keeps you burning calories throughout the day, and even the next couple days, as your muscles rebuild. Lifting also makes you look physically better in the end.

    Due to the fact it's impossible to track, less comfortable than doing cardio, and comes with higher risks of injury, lifting isn't as popular. Many people claim it doesn't burn many calories simply because they aren't doing it (or aren't lifting heavy enough to rip/build their muscles).

    actually fat is lost in a deficit. so lifting weights is not going to make fat loss faster. as for burning calories throughout the day its not as much as you think it is. your body burns calories all day every day. when Im weight training/lifting I burn an extra 3 calories per hr after Im done for about 2-3 hrs then its back to burning the same amount of calories( I did a test,its the same with cardio for me but I hate cardio) I was the rest of the day before lifting.

    so no weight lifting doesnt cause a long term calorie burn like you think it does. you are burning calories throughout the day whether you lift or not. so no it doesnt burn as many calories. if a person did 30 min of weight lifting and 30 min or running they would burn more running. Its not really going to carry on days later either.I havent lost fat any faster lifting that compared to when I was doing just cardio. the difference was my body did look better and different,but the fat loss wasnt any faster. your body can only burn so much fat per day.

    I think what they are referring to is the fact that a person with a higher muscle mass has a higher metobolic rate compared to someone of the same weight but a higher body fat percentage. Yes it’s all calories in vs. out but if your body utilizes more calories to sustain itself it would prove true that if both people ate the same amount of calories the higher muscle mass individual would lose body fat easier because they are in a deeper deficit.

    A pound of fat burns about two calories per day. A pound of muscle burns about 6 calories per day. So if you lost 10 pounds of fat and put on 10 pounds of muscle (which is a significant transformation), you'd burn an extra 40 calories per day. Not very significant.
  • Johnd2000
    Johnd2000 Posts: 198 Member
    My completely unscientific method is to log the time as Cardio/Weightlifting, BUT I only count the time I’m actually lifting. That is, I use a stopwatch.

    It rarely amounts to more than 100 or so calories, so it doesnt really affect my daily calorie goal. I just like to include it in my overall Cardio time count (via UA Record).
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited April 2018
    If you want you can log it, you'll find it in the cardio section under strength training - the calorie burn is small though and not worth logging imo.
  • missh1967
    missh1967 Posts: 661 Member
    I don't even really count it. I lift for an hour max and I take my time. My deficit is all diet and cardio the lifting is so I look good naked

    x2
  • smolmaus
    smolmaus Posts: 442 Member
    I also use the MFP estimate, I get 142kcal for an hour where a 30 minute run gets me 250kcal and I feel equally tired and hungry after both (probably more so after lifting) so I figure it's a low enough estimate to be safe.
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