how many calories do u burn in an hour gym session?

I wear an Orange Theory Fitness HR monitor when I take those classes and it says I burn about 600 for the hour. However, my Apple watch worn at the same time for the same class says around 475-500. I use that as an example because it's the only time I wear two different HR monitors at the same time. Spin class typically equals 450-500 cals for the hour. Lifting, around 100-150 for the hour.

I wear a MyZone HRM and the number of calories burned depends on the workout I'm doing! My gym programme is currently all over body workout - I burn 100 calories in my warm up then work out and see where I've got to. Usually its around the 400 mark in 1.25 hours so I go on the air stepper until I've burned 500 then jog/walk home which kills another 50.

When cycling outside I burn 30-35 cals per mile depending on the terrain. When mountain biking recently I burned 45 per mile!

I think these are pretty accurate tbh but it was very demoralising in the early days of wearing the HRM to realise just how hard I had to work to burn those 500 calories!

LernRach wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

My device estimates that I usually burn two hundred some calories in a 45 minute spin class, or in around 7K of rowing a double rowing shell (takes around 50 minutes of boat movement, some of which is slow during turns and such). I work pretty hard, usually.

This estimate is substantially less now that I weigh in the low 130s, vs. when I weighed in the low 180s (high 300s to low 400s was the calorie estimate then, and my fitness level/heart rate response wasn't a huge lot different then vs. now - I'd already been athletically active for about a dozen years while obese).

I don't necessarily believe these calorie estimates literally, because I know the limitations of heart rate devices. However, the estimates are consistent over time, which - combined with solid food logging data and weight loss experience over time - allows me to estimate quite accurately what I can eat to achieve weight maintenance or a certain rate of weight gain/loss.

Other people's experience really doesn't matter; understanding my own data (limitations and all) is sufficient.

Right, in terms of myself, i dont mind if the fitbit is consistently inconsistent, just so I can use as a comparison for myself alone. If that is the case, than maybe it is possible to do a somewhat like for like comparison. So if someone is wearing a device of some form that measures something or other, how many calories are they burning. I seem to be burning about 400-450. This is half cardio, half weights. I am very unfit at the moment and come out bright red, out of breath and sweaty. In my mind, this number makes sense. It does not mean I will eat them all back, or use them as gospel, just as a point of comparison.

This a very good article that you (and everyone else blithely trusting HR measurements to estimate calories) should read: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472

Really. Read it.

OP, here's what I'd suggest you do, if you want better calorie estimates:

* Don't use your Fitbit's estimate for weight training. Compare your Fitbit estimate for the strength training minutes to the MFP cardiovascular exercise database estimate for the same number of minutes of strength training. If - as I expect - MFP's estimate is lower, believe MFP's estimate.

* Being in or out of shape has relatively little impact on your calorie burn for the exact same exercise at the exact same intensity. It isn't more work (in the Physics class sense of "work") when you're unfit, it just feels harder. And, compared to a same-size fit person, it makes your heart beat more often (so it will give you a higher calorie estimate than it gives them, all other characteristics being equal). But the calories, fit or unfit, are about the same for the exact same exercise/intensity, in reality.

* Compare Fitbit's cardio calorie estimates to any other potentially-valid ones you can find (MFP database, specialized online "calculators" (really "estimators" ), exercise machine's estimate. The lowest one is what I'd pay the most attention to, and even that may be overstated.

One of the reasons I use my HRM estimates is that they're usually lower than the other sources. I have reasons to believe they may even be inaccurately low for some things, but I don't care, because it's close enough that I can fine tune via body scale results.

Since you're looking for a general answer, for me, depending on what I'm doing that day, my burn can vary from around 200 calories up to over 700 (the higher end being an almost 2 hour workout mind you).