Calories burned during weight lifting?

alankirmit1704
alankirmit1704 Posts: 8 Member
edited December 23 in Fitness and Exercise
Any good calories burned calculators and or methods to determine how many calories I’m burning during different weight training exercises? This app only calculates cardio and that awesome but I am looking to get a more complete picture of what my calorie deficits is.

Replies

  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,223 Member
    In my experience, the best way to capture total expenditure is to take a "black box" TDEE approach rather than attempting to estimate or record exercise expenditure. Any method I've used for the former overestimates exercise calories and weight loss halts.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    You can log "strength training" under the Cardio tab, and get some calories added. But, like @steveko89 said, I use TDEE method instead.
  • jeffjeff85
    jeffjeff85 Posts: 118 Member
    No, to answer your question there is none.

    Too many variables. Calories are a measure of energy. And you really can't say how many will be burned unless you know the actual force used and the difficulty level of doing it.

    What is heavy for me may not be for you, even though we weigh the same.
    And all else equal, a larger muscle is a stronger muscle, but youd still have to somehow calculate in the difficulty level (like maybe it's a 6 on a 1-10 scale)
    AND the DISTANCE moved ( long legs have.to squat FARTHER than I do).
    AND the recovery time. Even if we 'max out' the same , say on a squat, but you're in better cardiovascular condition so you recover faster .... so what happens is we both put 200 lbs on a squat bar. 1st rep is a 5 out of 10 for both of us. 3rd rep is a 6 for you, but a 7 for me. 6th rep is a 7 for you, but got me wanting to phone home! 10th rep is warming your squat muscles well, but got me failing to complete the lift.....
    SO NO, if somebody said theres a 'formula' to calculate calorie burn I would not believe them.
    Still, strength training is good so do it anyway 😏
  • alankirmit1704
    alankirmit1704 Posts: 8 Member
    Thanks for the insight(s). I hadn’t looked into TDEE / NEAT. I found a few web based calculators and ran my numbers. I guess overal I’ll be sure to follow a caloric deficit based my my NEAT and lowball estimate(s) on weight training.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    alankirmit1704 wrote: »
    Thanks for the insight(s). I hadn’t looked into TDEE / NEAT. I found a few web based calculators and ran my numbers. I guess overal I’ll be sure to follow a caloric deficit based my my NEAT and lowball estimate(s) on weight training.

    Online calculators are a waste of time for lifting weights. Not only does lifting have more variables, but the physiology of lifting is completely different than for cardio-so heart rate based trackers and calculations are useless as well.

    FWIW, the best study I have seen came up with about 320 calories per hour for a “standard” lifting routine—ie a “reps/sets” approach with moderate (8-10 rep) weights and standard recovery intervals.

    That’s as accurate as you will find (or need).
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    Another hand up for the TDEE method here. No need to worry about the burn calculations that way. But, like mentioned above, the online calculator is a guide - you need to look at the data over some time to adjust to fit you.

    I have a FitBit that I turn on when lifting and it gives me a number which I look at out of curiosity, but that's about it!
  • alankirmit1704
    alankirmit1704 Posts: 8 Member
    Steveko-

    This is good. I was just thinking I’ve been feeling a lot better the past two weeks doing what I’m doing (eating unprocessed Foods in calorie tracked portions while hitting the gym). I think I’ll continue on with the suggested 1900 caloric intake and call the gym a caloric deficit safety net. Thanks again for the insights!
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