I always think that an hours class of drills is 45 mins drill with 15 minutes watching/ listening/ being drilled upon , keep that in mind when adding it. Also an hours pure rolling/sparring is going to be a lot more burned than an hour drilling.

I made a custom exercise, then used the DB exercises. Basically I figured out my 50 minute class was 10 minutes of calisthenics, 10 minutes of light aerobics, 10 minutes of heavy aerobics, 20 minutes of actual boxing/bagwork. Then I took that total and cut it down to account for rest periods (water breaks) and waiting for instruction. I ended up with 600 calories / hour and I weigh 236lbs.

The site puts just 'kickboxing' at something like 1100 calories an hour for me... I'd gain weight like crazy if I trusted that and ate back my calories.


No HRM though I did check my heart rate a few times in class using the clock. It's really only elevated on heavy bag work and light sparring/training rounds....

I can't wear a hrm at taekwondo, this site always gives me around 700 cals for an hour..but each class is different-sometimes we work harder than others, so I never consider them all calories that I can eat back. Instead of logging my whole class I have started deducting 15 mins to account for the time listening to the instructor/standing in drill lines/grabbing a drink of water, that way I feel it is a little more realistic.

I looked up karate and what I found said 519 calories. I knocked it down to 450 to factor in time standing there, watching and listening and subtly catching my breath.

Jiu Jitsu is a mellower workout, so I put that at 350. I don't sweat in Jiu Jitsu but my muscles ache like crazy afterward. That has to count for something, right?

I count my hour long class as 45 minutes, and even though I use the 700 some odd calorie burn this site shows, I don't eat back the calories. Some days are a heavy burn, some days not so much.

Great post!! I've been wondering the same thing. I ordered my HRM and will attempt to wear it during my 90 minute Jiu Jitsu class. Not sure what the outcome will be :ohwell:

My student (who is on here as BlackbeltJourney) has been wearing one and been burning between 500-700 calories in my classes. Only wish I could get credit for the ones she burns!

In a typical BJJ lesson I use the exercise as is on MFP (its on the cardio list) . I disregard drilling and put in each roll as being 5 minutes. seems to work out fairly well, less rolling based session are around 300cal but our weekly "competition training" which is 90 mins and is a warmup then rolling for the remainder of the session usually brings up around 600-700 cal

I got an HRM. I've been wearing it all day long for a couple of days. On my non-training day my burns from daily actirivies is around 1800 - 2200. On my training day (I normally do 3 hours) my burns range from 3200-3500. So it's about 1400 calories for 3 hours (normally 2 hours kickboxing and an hour BJJ). Not as much as MFP says.

I wore my HRM to my Muay Thai class on the weekend.

Class is 2 hours - i tied the watch around my tank top/bra strap so it wouldn't interfere with the gloves/wraps.

My burn for a 2 hour class = 1054

I have been thinking lately that the MFP application on my phone has been over estimating my calorie burn for exercise. It gave me 900 calories burned for 30 min of BJJ, and 60 min of Muay Thai. I think that might be a bit of an over calculation. With Muay Thai if I am not actively hitting the pads, I am holding the pads. I know this is not as much work as hitting, but still has a good bit of activity.

That does seem high. Unless you're sparring, most classes are not constant activity
Try wearing a HRM to class, if you dare. Just how good are your blocks :-)

I keep up with hr while training at home with hubby, and then I estimate based on how hard I am working when I'm with a group.

I have been thinking lately that the MFP application on my phone has been over estimating my calorie burn for exercise. It gave me 900 calories burned for 30 min of BJJ, and 60 min of Muay Thai. I think that might be a bit of an over calculation. With Muay Thai if I am not actively hitting the pads, I am holding the pads. I know this is not as much work as hitting, but still has a good bit of activity.

That does seem high. Unless you're sparring, most classes are not constant activity
Try wearing a HRM to class, if you dare. Just how good are your blocks :-)

The structure is usually:

10 min rope
10 min shadow boxing
2 rounds @ 7 min(30 second rest between rounds)
15 min hold for partner
2 rounds @ 7 min(30 second rest between rounds)
15 min hold for partner

The only time I am really resting is when I am holding for my partner, and as stated above I really do not consider that resting as I am catching his/her punches and circling with them. Either way I still think MFP over estimates. I have been staying in my competition weight range for both BJJ and Muay Thai using MFP as a guide, so it might not be doing too bad of a job.

I usually do about 3/4s of my time as one of the default martial arts workout on myfitnesspal. Of course if its a less intensive class, I'll clock more. But yeah I'd say clock about 35-45 mins per hour you train.

I once googled it & from there it came up with a site that gives you approx calories burned in different martial arts you're doing so that was how I log it here. Sorry I already forgot the site & the link.