Strength training - burns no calories??

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battert28
battert28 Posts: 1
in Fitness and Exercise
There seems to be no way of adding calories burnt to strength training exercises, but a set of weight training will use energy, wont it???

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  • cba4994
    cba4994 Posts: 147 Member
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    supposedly if you enter weight training under exercise there is an option for it. I have recently started using a polar HRM and I keep it running during my weight training. It definitely burns calories. Good luck :flowerforyou:
  • gumigal82
    gumigal82 Posts: 350
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    Strength training definitely burns calories! It's important for weight loss to have muscle:)
  • DannyMussels
    DannyMussels Posts: 1,842 Member
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    I logged strength training under cardio for months on here, It usually says 150-300cals burned an hour, though I'm pretty sure it's more.

    Are you inputting it correctly?
  • shilohjohn
    shilohjohn Posts: 2
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    This is one of the best calorie counter for exercise web site out there..
  • josavage
    josavage Posts: 472 Member
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    You need to add it under cardio. I wear a HRM and unless I do super sets and/or interval training, it's not a big burn.
  • xcrushx28
    xcrushx28 Posts: 182 Member
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    Yes strength training does burn some additional calories, but no I wouldn't count it on MFP.

    The inputs for exercise on here aren't really accurate for exercising anyways.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    Search "strength training" or "weight training" under cardio and you will get a calorie value. If you log it under the strength section it does not give a value.
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 MFP Moderator
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    There IS an entry for strength training under cardio if you really want to see a burn, but there are so many variables ie how much resting you're doing, how heavy are you lifting, how long of a break between sets etc that the burn is just an estimate.
  • CanuckTracy
    CanuckTracy Posts: 245 Member
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    I was inputting exactly like you...no cals noted..of course we both know that we would burn calories by strength training...from the others below, we should be adding it into cardio --just listed as strength training..
  • glenr79
    glenr79 Posts: 283 Member
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    67% of a person's calories burnt is from what is called their basal metabolic rate. When you do strength training it increases this rate. So when you are just sitting at home or the office, or sleeping you are burning calories. SInce you strength train you will be burning more calories while you sit there doing nothing. So don't worry about not burning that many while you are actually doing it because you burn more when yo aren't doing anything :) people who just do cardio do not lose weight as fast as people who do both :)
  • ohsogoodfitness
    ohsogoodfitness Posts: 32
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    Strength training is awesome. Not only does it burn calories while doing it, but continues to burn calories a day later. It is in a class of it's own. It can burn more calories than cardio, and most of the time it does by a lot! keep at it.
  • Laces_0ut
    Laces_0ut Posts: 3,750 Member
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    sleeping burns calories :)
  • sixswings
    sixswings Posts: 4
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    Here is a some what good web site that give you a bit of a low down on many exercises. I like kettle bells but its not in there so you would have to look on the web to find about an avg. on things not listed. http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc
    And you burn calories not matter what you do even sitting on your butt. Though that's not going to lose your weight.
  • BuildABetterMe
    BuildABetterMe Posts: 39
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    Strength training definitely burns calories! It's important for weight loss to have muscle:)

    ^^^^^ THIS x 1000000!!
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    There IS an entry for strength training under cardio if you really want to see a burn, but there are so many variables ie how much resting you're doing, how heavy are you lifting, how long of a break between sets etc that the burn is just an estimate.

    I kinda like that. When I was following MFP suggestions, it gave me a few extra calories to eat, however, I know that I burned more than what MFP said, so I was safe in not going too far over.
  • alyssamiller77
    alyssamiller77 Posts: 891 Member
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    Yes strength training does burn some additional calories, but no I wouldn't count it on MFP.

    The inputs for exercise on here aren't really accurate for exercising anyways.

    I don't know why you would say this. I burn 500-600 calories an hour when I lift. That's significant enough that I'd want to and do track it. I'm currently eating about a 500-700 calorie surplus to add mass. If I burn off 500 cals and don't add the extra intake to cover it, that would be detrimental to my efforts.

    Now the hard part of course is knowing what you burned or calculating it. MFP calculates very low for me but then I'm doing pretty high intensity workouts and I think there numbers are geared for more average lifting sessions.
  • bpurc22
    bpurc22 Posts: 180 Member
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    I would say use the strength training option because it doesn't exaggerate the calories burned like some other options do...and try to eat back your calories in protein because you need protein to re-build muscle tissue. If you want to burn more calories and fat during strength training, take less time in between sets too.

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