Does strength training burn no calories??

michelleepotter
michelleepotter Posts: 800 Member
edited December 17 in Fitness and Exercise
Why don't we get any credit for calories burned during strength training? Does it really burn no calories to do crunches or push ups?
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Replies

  • adriany9
    adriany9 Posts: 32
    If you go to the cardio database and scroll down you'l see strength training click it and I think it registers calories burned
  • JoshuaL86
    JoshuaL86 Posts: 403 Member
    I wasn't sure about this either, thanks!
  • catjrow3
    catjrow3 Posts: 532 Member
    like above,.... but ... you dont burn that many in comparison to cardio at all during strength training. but... muscle burns fat, so you should do it for sure!
  • jamiesadler
    jamiesadler Posts: 634 Member
    Yes it does but because we all use different weights its not easy to compute. Even a push up is different for everyone since we all weight a different amount.
  • jamiesadler
    jamiesadler Posts: 634 Member
    like above,.... but ... you dont burn that many in comparison to cardio at all during strength training. but... muscle burns fat, so you should do it for sure!

    Strength training continues to burn calories hours after you are done. Cardio does not.
  • elishabeish
    elishabeish Posts: 175 Member
    good question, good answer! yay =)
  • Abells
    Abells Posts: 756 Member
    If you lift correctly you actually burn a lot of calories -- cardio is not your only friend
  • ejacree1010
    ejacree1010 Posts: 20 Member
    I know strength training burns calories but I was wondering the same thing as to why no credit was being issued.
  • atjays
    atjays Posts: 797 Member
    My heart rate gets just as high repping weights as jogging on a treadmill. To say it doesn't burn as many calories is a myth
  • cutchro
    cutchro Posts: 396 Member
    It may not burn many while you are doing it but will continue for a few hours later... and the more muscle the more calories burned period!
  • gmpearson
    gmpearson Posts: 138 Member
    Why don't we get any credit for calories burned during strength training? Does it really burn no calories to do crunches or push ups?

    You need to log your strength training as cardio to get exercise calories added to your daily diary if you want to use them for consumption. As others have stated, weight lifting burns a good amount of calories, and tends to keep on burning up to 48 hours after the session. Best advice I can give is to get yourself a good heart rate monitor that is configurable for your body, and have it calculate your calories that you are burning in a given weight session.

    Greg
  • jaxCarrie
    jaxCarrie Posts: 214 Member
    like everyone says, the long(er) term effects of weight training are great (longer muscle burn) but when I do weights (or pushups/pull ups/etc) I just log it under 'Cardio'...there's Weight Lifting/Weight Training there.
  • teresacc26
    teresacc26 Posts: 91 Member
    wow learn sumthing new everyday...i never wanted to do strength training b/c i figured id jus been making my fat toned and i want to lose not get hard fat lol

    Sounds crazy...and i didnt kno it continues to burn even afterward.....
  • NWCountryGal
    NWCountryGal Posts: 1,992 Member
    I don't think the strength training shows calories burned? I have listed my workout for yesterday and yes it lists what you did but not calories burned?? Denise;)
  • gmpearson
    gmpearson Posts: 138 Member
    I know strength training burns calories but I was wondering the same thing as to why no credit was being issued.

    Log the session as cardio - you'll see the calories added in your diary in MFP.

    Greg
  • SPNLuver83
    SPNLuver83 Posts: 2,050 Member
    It does, but it varies so greatly from person to person that MFP can't accurately calculate. You can enter it under your cardio if you want to include the calories burned.
  • halejr23
    halejr23 Posts: 294
    Depending on the person ... you can burn just as many calories weight training as cardio. I do and I track it by wearing a heart rate monitor. For me, I just log the exercise or work out routine under cardio by name and put my calories burned in from my heart rate monitor.
  • NWCountryGal
    NWCountryGal Posts: 1,992 Member
    Oh, thanks for this, I didn't know there was weight training under cardio;) denise
    like everyone says, the long(er) term effects of weight training are great (longer muscle burn) but when I do weights (or pushups/pull ups/etc) I just log it under 'Cardio'...there's Weight Lifting/Weight Training there.
  • Xaspar
    Xaspar Posts: 726 Member
    The reason that strength training doesn't 'count' here is because there is no way to accurately judge. I may be lifting 10 to 20 pound dumbells while you may be lifting 45 - 50 pound bars, etc. and doing basically the same exercises, but burning different calories, etc. So they allow you to log it to track that you have done it, but they can't 'guess' at what you have actually burned... too many variables.
  • Jme2012
    Jme2012 Posts: 106 Member
    bump
  • Any physical activity burns calories. How many calories burned will vary depending on the type of activity you are doing. I wear a heart rate monitor while doing my strength-training workouts. Certain strength-training activities get my heart rate really going, such as squats and lunges. Others (some of the upper body work) keep me in more of a fat-burning zone. When I do a full hour of strength-training, rotating between exercises that do get my heart rate up and those that only moderately increase my heart rate, I typically burn 400-600 calories. You absolutely do burn calories when you weight train. It's a great way to burn fat since the lower heart rate zones are your fat-burning zones.

    When I enter my strength-training workouts to MFP, I add them as cardiovascular exercises so I can record the burned calories. I am not really concerned with tracking how many reps I did on 15-20 different weight-training activities. That would take too long to enter. It's easier for me to enter a cardiovascular activity titled "Strength-Training, Full Body" with the time and calories burned.
  • rileamoyer
    rileamoyer Posts: 2,412 Member
    After you log your specific exercises (or even if not) you can look up strength training under cardio. The calorie estimates are there and you can over ride them with your actuals or use the estimates.
  • The reason that strength training doesn't 'count' here is because there is no way to accurately judge. I may be lifting 10 to 20 pound dumbells while you may be lifting 45 - 50 pound bars, etc. and doing basically the same exercises, but burning different calories, etc. So they allow you to log it to track that you have done it, but they can't 'guess' at what you have actually burned... too many variables.

    Exactly. The only way to know how many calories you've burned during a strength-training workout is to wear a heart rate monitor that calculates calories. That's what I do.
  • MMarvelous
    MMarvelous Posts: 1,067 Member
    like above,.... but ... you dont burn that many in comparison to cardio at all during strength training. but... muscle burns fat, so you should do it for sure!

    Strength training continues to burn calories hours after you are done. Cardio does not.

    Agree! Do both cardio and strength.
  • heylatimer
    heylatimer Posts: 60 Member
    It would seem a HRM is the only way to accurately measure. Even execution of the routines vary so widely there is no way to create a standard measure.

    Some of the d'bags at the gym spend so much time alternating between staring at themselves in the mirror and making eyes at the cardio bunnies I am sure that even though they spend hours at the gym their burn is less than it would have been sitting on the sofa.
  • gmpearson
    gmpearson Posts: 138 Member
    It would seem a HRM is the only way to accurately measure. Even execution of the routines vary so widely there is no way to create a standard measure.

    Some of the d'bags at the gym spend so much time alternating between staring at themselves in the mirror and making eyes at the cardio bunnies I am sure that even though they spend hours at the gym their burn is less than it would have been sitting on the sofa.

    A customizable HRM is a good measure of cals burned.

    I agree on the people staring in the mirror - they are lifting 10x as much weight as I am, but my avg HR is around 130 during my sessions since I alternate between muscle groups or circuit type activities (med ball, plyo, burpees, etc.). I have ZERO patience, so when I finish a set of 6 reps bench, I run over to the standing ab frame and do ab crunches, then run back and do another set. When I do squats, I run over to the mat and do crunches with a med ball, etc... No downtime. Certainly no mirror - there is time for that at home.

    Greg
  • Schraudt814
    Schraudt814 Posts: 496 Member
    You should definitely do a mix of both...cardio is a huge calorie burner but weight lifting isn't anything to slack off on! I wear my heart rate monitor while I lift, and while it's not quite as high as cardio, I burn plenty of calories. Plus building muscle has added benefits for calorie burning because muscle burns more calories than fat at rest. So while MFP may not count it for the multitude of reasons here, which are good points, have no fear you're still burning the cals!
  • lorenzoinlr
    lorenzoinlr Posts: 338 Member
    I've worn an HRM doing weights but I don't record the calories off it as I don't think they work well for that purpose. HRM-s determine calories burned based on algorithms that associate heart rate with energy expended. That works well when you're doing a constant activity like running but with resistance training you expend effort, then rest and your heart rate stays elevated outside the actual work internals, albeit declining until the next set.

    My HRM says I burn 500+ calories but I record about half that which may be conservative given the post workout calorie burning effects. No science in that, just trial and error with my journal against weight loss.
  • lorenzoinlr
    lorenzoinlr Posts: 338 Member
    It would seem a HRM is the only way to accurately measure. Even execution of the routines vary so widely there is no way to create a standard measure.

    Some of the d'bags at the gym spend so much time alternating between staring at themselves in the mirror and making eyes at the cardio bunnies I am sure that even though they spend hours at the gym their burn is less than it would have been sitting on the sofa.

    A customizable HRM is a good measure of cals burned.

    I agree on the people staring in the mirror - they are lifting 10x as much weight as I am, but my avg HR is around 130 during my sessions since I alternate between muscle groups or circuit type activities (med ball, plyo, burpees, etc.). I have ZERO patience, so when I finish a set of 6 reps bench, I run over to the standing ab frame and do ab crunches, then run back and do another set. When I do squats, I run over to the mat and do crunches with a med ball, etc... No downtime. Certainly no mirror - there is time for that at home.

    Greg

    I agree, crosstraining with little rest between sets is the way I do it too. Way more efficient.
  • michelleepotter
    michelleepotter Posts: 800 Member
    wow learn sumthing new everyday...i never wanted to do strength training b/c i figured id jus been making my fat toned and i want to lose not get hard fat lol

    Sounds crazy...and i didnt kno it continues to burn even afterward.....

    Even if it didn't burn calories, it wouldn't tone your fat or make your fat hard. Strength training is toning and strengthening the muscles. Even if you can't see the muscles yet because there is fat over them, you can still tone them.
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