Calories burned- really?!

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MLeigh18
MLeigh18 Posts: 120 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
This morning I went to a new Spin class. The instructor is either new, or boring. Because we really didn't work very hard.

I mean sure, we did jumps, hills, high resistance, sprints, etc.

I don't wear a HRM, yet, so i don't know my actual calorie burn. As we were finishing our ride, the instructor said, "whew! 600 calories gone! poof! just like that!"

I honestly didn't feel like i burned 600 calories. One of my spin instructors seriously kicks my butt the entire 55 minutes. I walk out of her class with weak legs, sweat pouring down my face and hardly able to breathe. Today I got off my bike and thought, "uh.... alright. I'm not even sure i need to wash my hair, did i even break a sweat?" There was maybe like 10 minutes throughout the ride that I was breathing hard, but i wasn't huffing it like i do in my other spin class.

I know the instructor could have been using more resistance than me, but... she was having a regular conversation with one of the women in the class, the entire time. like talking normal, no heavy breath talking type stuff.

So my question is:

Have you ever felt like your workout was a little lame and you didn't burn *that* many calories? While other times your workout is excruciating and you feel like you've burned a zillion? (i'm talking about doing the exact same workout just different days).

I dont feel like i went any easier on resistance, speed, cadence, hills or anything different today than i did in my last spin class. I wasn't more tired, or sore or anything else that could potentially cause me to be slower this morning than Monday morning.

It's just a feeling, i guess. but seriously if I burned 600 calories this morning, that i must really be burning it with the other instructor.

Maybe it's the Christmas music she was playing this morning too.. but i would think i'd burn more calories just through stress and anger from the 1962 version of Frosty the Snowman playing during spin class than I would during Metallica.

I guess what I'm asking really is how do i know? Can i really trust my instructor and MFP that says 50 min of vigorous effort on a bike is really 500+ calories burned? Maybe the bike is just getting easier since i've been doing it for a while now or do i trust my *feelings* that i MAYBE burned 250 calories?

Replies

  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    The more you do an exercise, the more your body gets used to it and the harder it is to get to that same level when you first started.. which is why it is good to mix up exercises every now and then so you don't get too used to something.

    As far as calories burned goes, I mean, in theory you could have burned 600... but if you feel like you burned less, then log less. Or log them all, and don't eat them all.. thats an option too.
  • Pams_Shadow
    Pams_Shadow Posts: 233 Member
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    I know exactly what you mean. I went to a new Cardio Kickboxing class last night and walked out feeling like I hadn't really gotten a good workout. Other classes, I walk out on jelly legs and this time, it was nothing like that. I did all the moves and lasted the whole 60 minutes of class... but I only logged it as 30 minutes. I just didn't feel like I'd burned 900 calories. I'm trusting my feelings over MFP, since I don't think it was a "vigorous" workout.

    Just my opinion!
  • rentrikin
    rentrikin Posts: 104 Member
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    I know what you mean. What surprised me was doing Ripped in 30 and wearing a bodybugg and only burning about 125 calories. She was killing me!
  • athensguy
    athensguy Posts: 550
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    I run some mornings. For instance, I ran for about 69 minutes this morning. The Garmin calculated 985 calories burned for that run. I use the heart rate monitor and try to keep my HR between 140-155 BPM for that type of run. I don't have a problem believing it burned 900+ calories at an average rate of 150 BPM for 69 minutes, even though it wasn't very difficult.
  • MLeigh18
    MLeigh18 Posts: 120 Member
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    I run some mornings. For instance, I ran for about 69 minutes this morning. The Garmin calculated 985 calories burned for that run. I use the heart rate monitor and try to keep my HR between 140-155 BPM for that type of run. I don't have a problem believing it burned 900+ calories at an average rate of 150 BPM for 69 minutes, even though it wasn't very difficult.

    running. ew.

    I'm jealous of those than can run a mile without having to walk at all.

    No it's not that i'm out of shape, I'm just not a runner. And no not everyone was born to run like Christopher McDougall says. He's wrong.

    Running + Me = i'd rather be fat.

    :) but thanks for your input, I wouldn't think keeping your HR at 140-155 for 70 minutes would burn 900 calories, but I supposed that also depends on your age, and weight. I believe my target HR 75% of my max is 178 BPM. That seems low to me. But then again I don't actually know consciously what 178 BPM feels like. Damn it i need a n HRM.
  • Nicola0000
    Nicola0000 Posts: 535 Member
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    You're body does get used to the same exercise. I always wear my HRM so I know for sure. Im my spin class, we have such a wide variety of people that 600 cals - who is that aimed for??

    If you feel like that in a class again, I would inc the resistance even without the instructor telling me. Work as hard as you want to, not what the instructor says.
  • athensguy
    athensguy Posts: 550
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    I run some mornings. For instance, I ran for about 69 minutes this morning. The Garmin calculated 985 calories burned for that run. I use the heart rate monitor and try to keep my HR between 140-155 BPM for that type of run. I don't have a problem believing it burned 900+ calories at an average rate of 150 BPM for 69 minutes, even though it wasn't very difficult.

    running. ew.

    I'm jealous of those than can run a mile without having to walk at all.

    No it's not that i'm out of shape, I'm just not a runner. And no not everyone was born to run like Christopher McDougall says. He's wrong.

    Running + Me = i'd rather be fat.

    :) but thanks for your input, I wouldn't think keeping your HR at 140-155 for 70 minutes would burn 900 calories, but I supposed that also depends on your age, and weight. I believe my target HR 75% of my max is 178 BPM. That seems low to me. But then again I don't actually know consciously what 178 BPM feels like. Damn it i need a n HRM.

    Here's a calculator that seems reasonable.

    http://www.triathlontrainingblog.com/calculators/calories-burned-calculator-based-on-average-heart-rate/

    If I put in my exercise from this morning, estimating a 50 VO2max, I get 951 calories.

    ETA: It seems more like your max heart rate would be 178 rather than 178 being 75% of your max. Most people have a max under 200. You can guesstimate using a formula such as 192 - 0.007 × age^2 (that's age squared). The better way to figure it out is to have a treadmill heart rate test.

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/338405-treadmill-maximum-heart-rate-test/
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
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    "whew! 600 calories gone! poof! just like that!"

    Making a blanket statement like that is just wildly inaccurate! There is no way she could know that.

    I'm 5'9" and weigh somewhere in the mid-to-low 150s. If I did the same workout, at the same intensity level, of my equally fit 5'2", 123 pound friend, I'm probably going to burn a lot more calories than she does - just because I'm taller and heavier. Fitness level, body fat level, size, exertion all factor into the total calories burned.
  • aquapussy
    aquapussy Posts: 112
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    In general the calories burned on MFP seem very inaccurate, I know that is not what you are saying exactly but it is an issue. The calculations don't seem to change based on your starting weight and fitness level. Like at first when I went snowboarding for 3 hours I logged 3 hours of snowboarding, it said I burned 900+ calories! No way, maybe if I was 400 lbs or something. I didn't break a sweat. Also it says on my 7k runs that I burn 600 calories, not a chance.

    Bottom line is just log them based on how you think you did, or get a HRM, or just ignore the calories and do not eat them back.
  • dfulgoni
    dfulgoni Posts: 18 Member
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    Hard to say where everyone's individual calorie burn will be different but, for what it's worth... I'm a cyclist and train with a HR monitor on a regular basis. 600 calories at moderate effort over the course of an hour is pretty reasonable. You're probably burning about double the amount when training at the higher intensity for the same period of time.

    Hope this helps.
  • jenocelot
    jenocelot Posts: 47
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    Sounds to me like she's just trying to sell the class. People of different sizes, muscle percentage, etc. will not burn the same amount of calories. For example the 'general wisdom' in running is 100 cals per mile. As a petite person, I tend to burn about 50-60 cals per mile, and that changes depending on how fast, hills or no hills, all of that. If an instructor can get people believing they've burned 600 cals, while she's not making much effort so the class probably isn't either, many folks are likely to come back.
  • JamesBurkes
    JamesBurkes Posts: 382 Member
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    I burn around 650 calories in a 45 minute RPM (like spinning) workout and 8-900 in an hour.

    Then again, I'm wiped out and KNOW I've worked out! I'm also a 6 ft, 200 lb guy.

    However, I think I could burn 550 calories in an hour just pedalling away on the bike at a not too hard pace. But of course, I'm a lot bigger than you... and as has already been pointed out, such a blanket statement is next to meaningless.
  • Rocnut
    Rocnut Posts: 19
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    This is why I made a point to wear an HRM. I know I've been burning at the very minimum 400 calories per workout lifting weights heavy/'til failure.
  • Sweet_Potato
    Sweet_Potato Posts: 1,119 Member
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    According to MFP and Runkeeper, I burn 89 calories biking to and from work every day. I always felt that number should be higher!

    On the other hand, I sometimes do 90-minute Bikram yoga classes. It's hard to find a calculator for that, but the one MFP people recommended says I burn nearly 800 calories a class! Bikram yoga is tough, but not THAT tough.
  • JennC831
    JennC831 Posts: 631 Member
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    I've worn my HRM (with a chest strap) and the machine I was on (The arc trainer ) picks up the signal as well.. My HR on my watch matched what the machine was saying the whole time but at the end of my 44 min workout my HRM showed 423 calories burned and the machine showed 588... I logged what my HRM showed...

    I've also noticed when I logged in my minutes on MFP just to see what it would show and it was way higher than what my HRM would indicate...
  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,396 Member
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    OP, were you in Laura's class per chance?! LOL. (she's technically excellent but her music is awful-I wear my iPod).

    Anyway, on to your question. I spin several times a week and always wear my HRM. I've been spinning for 6-7 years now and I definitely will have days that I just don't work as hard either because my legs don't have it in them or the instructor just doesn't give a good ride but I see it in my calories burned. I typically burn between 400-450 for a 45 minute class and 550-600 for an hour depending on the ride profile. This morning though we did a HIIT ride and I burned around 475 for the 45 minutes. I'm 5'9, female and weigh 139-ish. Go with how YOU felt not what the instructor said and get yourself a HRM!!!

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