Strength work outs not burning calories?

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rhinovr
rhinovr Posts: 14 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I love this app and site for the way it keeps track of what it does. I was hoping it would also give credit for strength workouts. I understand that while doing strength workouts you are burning calories, especially if you had done cardio prior to that. So, is there a plan to add some calorie loss to strength exercises?
Currently I just note myself that I am probably above my calorie count loss at these times.

Replies

  • H_Factor
    H_Factor Posts: 1,722 Member
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    you can go under the cardio category and type in strength training to get an estimate.
  • CarrieBeard
    CarrieBeard Posts: 117 Member
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    Good to know. Thankx!
  • BecCham
    BecCham Posts: 1
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    Great tip! :bigsmile:
  • MisterDubs303
    MisterDubs303 Posts: 1,216 Member
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    According to the FAQ, there are just too many factors to consider for MFP to provide the estimate. Using your own research, physical stats, and intensity of the workout, make an estimate and add it to Cardio. I created a different exercise for each of my strength training workouts, that way it's logged even more specifically for me in my diary, ex. "Weight Training - Chest, Triceps, Shoulders"
  • twinlikeme
    twinlikeme Posts: 32 Member
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    A Polar heart rate monitor (I just got the Polar FT4 and LOVE it!) will give you calories lost based upon your weight, height, age, gender. It has a chest strap with a transmitter that transmits to a wrist watch. You can see your heart rate, target heart rate, calories, or even just time and date. If you're strength training, it should still be able to calculate the calories burned.
  • TXredneck2000
    TXredneck2000 Posts: 4
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    Yep, that's right! Just go to the cardio to get an amount. Just remember that it might be off a little bit with the more muscle you have because muscle will burn more cals than just having fat! Which is even better, but it's just a "guesstimate," just keep that in mind. (Just a side note, you should do your cardio AFTER your strength training for 2 reasons: 1. It gives your body time to SLOWLY cool down, 2. It keeps your body burning cals even between activities!)
  • rhinovr
    rhinovr Posts: 14 Member
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    Thanks for the great reply's everybody! I will do the estimate in Cardio section as many have suggested.
    Twinlikeme - great device! You must look like a robot with all those wires!!
    Mister Dubs - is there a way you could send me your created exersises so I can maybe do something similar?
  • Scorpioangel
    Scorpioangel Posts: 951 Member
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    I would get a heart rate monitor to measure this - I just then log them under cardio :)
  • carolinarollergirl
    carolinarollergirl Posts: 63
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    Use the "circuit training" workout under cardio.

    I wear my HRM for crossfit and burn just as many calories strength training for 30 minutes as I would in a 45 minute spin class!
  • jgic2009
    jgic2009 Posts: 531 Member
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    Just keep in mind that entering it as cardio can be quite inaccurate.
  • rhinovr
    rhinovr Posts: 14 Member
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    I found a few websites that do track calories burnt for various weight exercises and I am going to use that to average out a calorie burned per work out day and add it in. I can also track my workouts that way too.

    I think my my fitness pal incorporated this type of information would make this site/app unstoppable.
  • rhinovr
    rhinovr Posts: 14 Member
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    Honestly, I have personally found doing my cardio before my strength workout better as it warms my muscles up and keeps my heart pumping throughout the strength workout. Then I do cool down with some stretching at the very end, and a nice long shower with hot water Im not paying for!
  • bassettpig
    bassettpig Posts: 79 Member
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    Twinlikeme - great device! You must look like a robot with all those wires!!

    To clear up what seems to be a fairly common misconception--there are NO wires involved in wearing a heart rate monitor, no "robot" look, nothing weird at all. The chest strap will go around your chest (if you are female, it will sit just under the edge of your bra). The watch part looks like, well, a WATCH...and that's it. That is all there is to it. The truth is, no one will see anything but the watch and thus other people will never know you are wearing a HRM. As a female, I can say that you totally do not notice the chest strap after the first minute or 2. I don't know if men find it noticeable or not.

    The chest strap picks up your heartbeat and wirelessly sends it to the watch. The watch figures out how many calories you are burning based on the information you entered regarding your gender, age, weight and level of fitness. It may take you a little while to get familiar w/the various settings and so on, but really, anyone of average intelligence and persistence can read the instructions and figure it out (using my 51-year-old not especially techy self as an example!).

    It seems, from reading various postings here and there over a period of time, that some folks don't really have a clue what is involved in a HRM and have an idea that the chest strap is some huge cumbersome thing like a corset, or, like the OP, that it has wires and such coming out of it, and I just wanted to put those ideas to rest in the hopes more people might be moved to give this really useful tool a try.

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