do bigger people burn more calories than thinner people?

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APPLETON29
APPLETON29 Posts: 20 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello,

I am constantly wondering if my calorie count is right after a workout. I have a HRM which is stating big burns, for example after a 60 min cardio workout I have burnt 800 cals?

So basically as I am about 90lbs overweight I was wondering if bigger people burn higher calories than people that aren't that over weight because of there size? or have I just set my HRM up wrong? or am I actually burning that many calories?

Replies

  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
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    Yes!!! When I run for 40 minutes I burn about 300 calories. Also, at the same weight, the fitter you are, less calories you burn.
  • AbsoluteNG
    AbsoluteNG Posts: 1,079 Member
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    Yes and it's obvious why. A 300 pound person is running with 300 pounds on his back compared to a 100 pound lady that only has 100 pounds on her back. However, this issue can be solved by adding weights to your back if you are a lighter person but weights should only be added as you lose pounds so that you don't hurt your joints.
  • twinmom01
    twinmom01 Posts: 854 Member
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    Yes you will see a higher burn the bigger you are in body fat % - as you start to come down on body fat % your burn will be lower...this is why you may see some consistant losses for awhile and then have it start to peter out as far as weight loss...same exercises, same eating and not as much coming off on the scale...
  • Bankman1989
    Bankman1989 Posts: 1,116 Member
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    While it is true that you will burn more calories because you weigh more, there are also other factors. A fit person can normally exercise longer than an obese person. They are also going to cover more area (distance), move faster and have more overall stamina.
  • Bikini27
    Bikini27 Posts: 1,298 Member
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    Yes!!! When I run for 40 minutes I burn about 300 calories. Also, at the same weight, the fitter you are, less calories you burn.

    Yes, I have noticed that the healthier I am the lower my burns (using a HRM) because it takes more effort to get my heart rate to zone. It's a good thing, but slightly annoying ;)
  • sethwdyer
    sethwdyer Posts: 19 Member
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    This is a good site to double check your HRM.

    http://www.braydenwm.com/calburn.htm

    P.S.: I have a friend that just started on here. He weighs about 350 lbs and when he is in his HR Zone for 60 minutes he burns about 2000 calories.
  • eknight69
    eknight69 Posts: 4
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    Here's my question? When I exercise the machines says a certain calorie burn. That is what I think is the true calories I'm burning. I set the machines with my weight and age and then it tells me at the end of my work out how many calories I've burned. Then here's where I get confused...I go to log in my exercise for the day on here (MFP) and it gives me a higher calorie burn than the machines. Is MFP accurate with that? How does MFP determine that that is how many calories you have burned for that amount of time and are the machines wrong then?
  • sebbysmommy
    sebbysmommy Posts: 63 Member
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    Here's my question? When I exercise the machines says a certain calorie burn. That is what I think is the true calories I'm burning. I set the machines with my weight and age and then it tells me at the end of my work out how many calories I've burned. Then here's where I get confused...I go to log in my exercise for the day on here (MFP) and it gives me a higher calorie burn than the machines. Is MFP accurate with that? How does MFP determine that that is how many calories you have burned for that amount of time and are the machines wrong then?
    I have found that MFP always gives me about 100-200 more calories burnt than my HR monitor. The machines at the gym are not the most accurate themselves but would be a better estimate than MFP's. The best most accurate thing to go by is a HR monitor :)
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
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    Here's my question? When I exercise the machines says a certain calorie burn. That is what I think is the true calories I'm burning. I set the machines with my weight and age and then it tells me at the end of my work out how many calories I've burned. Then here's where I get confused...I go to log in my exercise for the day on here (MFP) and it gives me a higher calorie burn than the machines. Is MFP accurate with that? How does MFP determine that that is how many calories you have burned for that amount of time and are the machines wrong then?
    I have found that MFP always gives me about 100-200 more calories burnt than my HR monitor. The machines at the gym are not the most accurate themselves but would be a better estimate than MFP's. The best most accurate thing to go by is a HR monitor :)
    The machine are not good to calculate the calories burn

    Machine < MFP < HRM
  • Ant_M76
    Ant_M76 Posts: 534 Member
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    Yup
  • sebbysmommy
    sebbysmommy Posts: 63 Member
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    Here's my question? When I exercise the machines says a certain calorie burn. That is what I think is the true calories I'm burning. I set the machines with my weight and age and then it tells me at the end of my work out how many calories I've burned. Then here's where I get confused...I go to log in my exercise for the day on here (MFP) and it gives me a higher calorie burn than the machines. Is MFP accurate with that? How does MFP determine that that is how many calories you have burned for that amount of time and are the machines wrong then?
    I have found that MFP always gives me about 100-200 more calories burnt than my HR monitor. The machines at the gym are not the most accurate themselves but would be a better estimate than MFP's. The best most accurate thing to go by is a HR monitor :)
    The machine are not good to calculate the calories burn

    Machine < MFP < HRM

    Normally I would agree but the OP is talking about a machine that takes age, weight, and HR into account. I have found those machines to be within 10-20 calories of my HR monitor, much closer than MFP.
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
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    Yep.
  • mrseelmerfudd
    mrseelmerfudd Posts: 506 Member
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    yup, this is due to the fact it takes more energy for the heavier/bigger person to take part in that activity due to fact they weigh more iykwim.
  • yesthistime
    yesthistime Posts: 2,051 Member
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    Machine < MFP < HRM

    Normally I would agree but the OP is talking about a machine that takes age, weight, and HR into account. I have found those machines to be within 10-20 calories of my HR monitor, much closer than MFP.
    [/quote]

    Agree. When the machine takes stats into account, I find that it gives a more accurate calorie reading than MFP. I think MFP seriously overestimates exercise calories, which is a problem if you eat all of your calories back.
  • APPLETON29
    APPLETON29 Posts: 20 Member
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    This is a good site to double check your HRM.

    http://www.braydenwm.com/calburn.htm

    P.S.: I have a friend that just started on here. He weighs about 350 lbs and when he is in his HR Zone for 60 minutes he burns about 2000 calories.

    Thank you, that's really helpful x
  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
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    Yes you will generally burn more calories than thinner people while doing the same activities at a comparable intensity. However as you start to lose weight, you will start burning less calories than someone at a comparable size who was always that size.
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
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    Machine < MFP < HRM

    Normally I would agree but the OP is talking about a machine that takes age, weight, and HR into account. I have found those machines to be within 10-20 calories of my HR monitor, much closer than MFP.

    Agree. When the machine takes stats into account, I find that it gives a more accurate calorie reading than MFP. I think MFP seriously overestimates exercise calories, which is a problem if you eat all of your calories back.
    [/quote]

    In my experience, even machine that use my infos are not very accurate. I guess it can be for other people
  • Ant_M76
    Ant_M76 Posts: 534 Member
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    However as you start to lose weight, you will start burning less calories than someone at a comparable size who was always that size.

    Really?
  • eknight69
    eknight69 Posts: 4
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    bump
  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
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    However as you start to lose weight, you will start burning less calories than someone at a comparable size who was always that size.

    Really?

    Yes, take a look at this. There are a couple more related articles that can explain the hormonal changes that occur while dieting. Leptin a key contributor.
    Some research has found a similar effect in humans although the studies tend to be very mixed on this (I’ll address why in a later blog post): when you diet down a human being, often you see metabolic rate decreasing far more than you’d expect based on the loss of body weight alone. That is, based on the weight loss, say you expected metabolic rate to drop by 200 calories; but when you measure it it really drops by 300. That extra 100 calories is more than predicted and suggests that the body is ‘adapting’ to the weight loss in an attempt to not only slow further fat loss but also to get bodyweight/body fat back up when food becomes available again.

    There are other adaptations, folks often decrease their activity levels (conserving energy), fat burning goes down and fat storage goes up, appetite often goes up so that people eat more when food is made available. In common parlance, this is often referred to as the ‘starvation response’ and, yes, there is something to it. Unfortunately, it’s basically the price that has to be paid for losing body fat to any significant level. People talk constantly about avoiding the starvation response and things of that nature but the only way to avoid it completely is to never lose fat.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/set-points-settling-points-and-bodyweight-regulation-part-1.html

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