People who are burning 1000+ calories a day

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  • SteveTries
    SteveTries Posts: 723 Member
    I was at the gym last night and worked out for a full hour. I did a mix of cardio and strength training, but "only" burned about 660 cals. That's according to the "smartkey" system used at my gym. It calculates your calories burned based on your HR, height, age, and weight. Counting all the calories I burned from my average daily activity (I work in an upstairs office without the benefit of an elevator) and the calories from my workout, I probably did burn more than 1,000 cals yesterday.

    Edited to add: I'm 35 years old, 5'4", and 250lbs

    I'm sorry, but I disagree. 1 hour in the gym with a mix of cardio and weights is probably not burning 660 Cals. It might be if you are doing cardio in the 80%-90% max heart rate for 40 mins then really really hitting the weight hard, but even then I'd be skeptical.

    This is the key point. The smartkey system does NOT "calculate" your burn. It "estimates" based on studies done on other people. They may well be pretty close to being accurate for you, but they could actually me massively off.

    I stress this point not to be an arsehole but because over the months I've been here I've met a number of very frustrated people who weren't dropping weight when they thought they were doing everything right and sometimes the answer is in faithfully eating back the calories websites/machines tell them they burnt.
  • tjacksonmd1
    tjacksonmd1 Posts: 1 Member
    One hour spin class, then 75 minutes running.
  • mrmanmeat
    mrmanmeat Posts: 1,968 Member
    I'm NOT one of those folks! However, I think the exercise calories are skewed. I spent several hours picking up sticks and pine cones, and carrying lawn bags to the street, and supposedly I burned over 1000 calories. There's no way, as I wasn't even sweating that hard. I think that the General Gardening must include lifting 50 pound bags of potting soil or something to give out those kind of calorie burns!

    Which is why you shouldn't count stuff like that.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Skiing is the easiest one for me.

    But, some days I'll run for 45 minutes (550-600), then do circuits (another 100). Then walk 5-7 miles (to work, to meetings etc). I can get close to 1k burned on those days.

    Yes, I have a HRM.:smile:
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    I was at the gym last night and worked out for a full hour. I did a mix of cardio and strength training, but "only" burned about 660 cals. That's according to the "smartkey" system used at my gym. It calculates your calories burned based on your HR, height, age, and weight. Counting all the calories I burned from my average daily activity (I work in an upstairs office without the benefit of an elevator) and the calories from my workout, I probably did burn more than 1,000 cals yesterday.

    Edited to add: I'm 35 years old, 5'4", and 250lbs

    I'm sorry, but I disagree. 1 hour in the gym with a mix of cardio and weights is probably not burning 660 Cals. It might be if you are doing cardio in the 80%-90% max heart rate for 40 mins then really really hitting the weight hard, but even then I'd be skeptical.

    This is the key point. The smartkey system does NOT "calculate" your burn. It "estimates" based on studies done on other people. They may well be pretty close to being accurate for you, but they could actually me massively off.

    I stress this point not to be an arsehole but because over the months I've been here I've met a number of very frustrated people who weren't dropping weight when they thought they were doing everything right and sometimes the answer is in faithfully eating back the calories websites/machines tell them they burnt.

    At 35 and 250 pounds, that should be pretty close depending on the body composition.
  • iwillsoonbeslim
    iwillsoonbeslim Posts: 283
    A couple of hours brisk dog walks gets me 750-1000 (more on a good day). Plus if I do a workout or circuit class, I get another 600-800. And if I'm off hillwalking, I clock up 3000+ :)
  • KyleB65
    KyleB65 Posts: 1,196 Member
    I don't regularly exceed 1000 "extra" calories per day but it does happen.

    My main training is in Martial Arts (Capoeira & Jeet Kune Do). These classes can be intense! I have not measured with a heart rate monitor but even with a large margin of error I am confident that I am burning a decent amount of calories per class. I would say that any combat training or sparring will get your heart rate up to the max and keep it there!

    In addition, I have some days where I run or bike, do weights and cool down with some yoga style stretching. On these days the combined calories can exceed 1000.
  • huggiemonster
    huggiemonster Posts: 2
    My cardio session is on a Life Fitness cross trainer/Elliptical trainer. I set it for Hill+ and around the world, which then adjusts resistance to simulate hills. In 40 minutes I can get this to 1000 calories burned.

    Couple of things:

    1: I weigh 115kg. Depending on what you set the weight at on this machine, it adjusts the calories burned. The heavier you are, the more effort it takes to move you, so the machine ups the rate.

    2: I set the resistance to an average of 25. On hills you burn more, but you can only do this for a short period of time. I assume if I set it for a fixed level of 25 then I would go through even more calories, and have no legs left.

    3: Im not entirely sure I believe the machines readout. It does take into account heart rate I believe, and but it is only a basic algorithm used to calculate it. It doesn't take into account your metabolic rates or age at all. So its a limited set of factors, so I wouldn't rely on it.

    4: Not a chance in hell id do it 5 days a week.
  • thekacers
    thekacers Posts: 68
    Are you wearing a HRM when you're getting these numbers? MFP exercise estimates are not correct, in fact, they measure much higher than a HRM. I realize an HRM is also an estimate, however I trust that number over what MFP says a general burn is.

    Are you using a HRM?If so, which one?
  • auroranflash
    auroranflash Posts: 3,569 Member
    It's interesting to read all your examples and see that it is plausible. Thanks. I am always a little skeptical when I see a huge calorie burn posted on a friend's feed, but I figure that if they're over-estimating and eating back their calories, they'll plateau and figure it out for themselves.

    I know when I go swimming, I'm ready to eat a house when I'm done. Maybe I'm one of those crazy calorie burners too. ;]
  • kilojoule
    kilojoule Posts: 74
    i commute 60 miles a day via bicycle which nets me 2000 calories (verified by powertap) mfp has it well over 3k which is a big overestimate. Tues and Thursday i do a very hard group ride (hammerfest full of cat1-3's) that is about another 1k...i hit the gym 3 times a week but i lift heavy weights and do not deduct for that but i do jog there 20min round trip for an extra 200k

    this saturday im riding a century which will burn north of 3500 calories heh but ill eat about half back on the ride.

    hope this helps...diary is open if you want to see someone that eats like a horse and still ends the day in a calorie deficit haha
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
    A few thoughts on calorie burns:

    1. Anything from a machine at the gym is wrong by a large percentage. MFP is originally off too.

    2. I use a HRM with a chest strap (FT7) to determine my burn. But I use it with the understanding that it might be off too. Keep in mind all we're doing here is estimating anyway. However, the only time I have not been successful using the FT7 with MFP is when I don't follow the nutrition plan. In other words, the errors are mine, not the FT7. Also, remember to back out the calories you would have burned anyway for your exercise duruation. After manually entering my HRM calories into MFP for a few months, MFP adjusted the ratios on those activities.

    3. Do not compare your calories burns to someone else. Every person has a different weight and body composition. Your calorie burn is as unique as you are.

    4. Do not develop your fitness plan around what burns the most calories. Determine what your fitness goals are, and come with a plan to reach those goals while taking into account activities that you enjoy. If the ONLY reason you want to be a runner is it "burns a ton of calories", you'll either find something else to like about running, or you'll stop running.
  • klbaierwalter
    klbaierwalter Posts: 308 Member
    I get my calories burned from my HRM. I have one that has a cheststrap, so it calculates based on heart rate and weight. I get on the ellipticals at the gym and my calories burned from my HRM are always higher than what the elliptical says, but the elliptical only asks for your heart rate, not your weight. And I do most of the cardio without even touches those heart rate strips. I normally burn over 1000/day. I do cardio and weight training daily. But I definitely agree that the numbers on MFP are normally way off for me. Sometimes they're a lot lower than what I actually burned, and then sometimes, they are crazy high, compared to my HRM.
  • KC4800
    KC4800 Posts: 140 Member
    I get on a road bike, and ride between 30 and 60 miles in 2 to 4 hours. Thats 1000 to 2000+ calories, depending on the hill climbs.
  • kilojoule
    kilojoule Posts: 74
    i will agree many way overestimate - i see it daily and have tried to help a couple of cyclist but in the end i just closely monitor my own numbers
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    I'm going all out each time. Circuit cardio drills. Circuit lifting drills. If I get on the treadmill, I don't go slower than 6.0, and I do the hills workout. You'll feel that. I have a sequence of things I do in one of my small blogs. Good luck!

    ^^^ Largely the same here. I get an hour to exercise daily during the week (lunch break). Family obligations pretty much eliminate exercise at any other time during the week - I COULD get up before 5AM and do something, or work out after 9PM, but both are just miserable for me.

    So I hustle it to the workout room when lunch starts, get on a machine, get my heart rate up as high as I can at a reasonable warmup pace, then concentrate on keeping my heartrate as high as I can sustain it for the remainder of a 45-50 minute workout, cool down briefly and stretch, shower, and hustle back to my desk.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    .

    4. Do not develop your fitness plan around what burns the most calories. Determine what your fitness goals are, and come with a plan to reach those goals while taking into account activities that you enjoy. If the ONLY reason you want to be a runner is it "burns a ton of calories", you'll either find something else to like about running, or you'll stop running.

    This is perfect right here. If you don't enjoy what you are doing, it won't work forever. It is too hard to stay motivated to do something you don't like, just to get a calorie burn. I want to be able to run long distances again. I have been adding interval training to get my endurance up so I can add distance and speed. I want to do this, it just happens to burn a lot of calories for me right now. Find activities that you like, that you will keep doing.
  • SteveTries
    SteveTries Posts: 723 Member
    A few thoughts on calorie burns:

    1. Anything from a machine at the gym is wrong by a large percentage. MFP is originally off too.

    2. I use a HRM with a chest strap (FT7) to determine my burn. But I use it with the understanding that it might be off too. Keep in mind all we're doing here is estimating anyway. However, the only time I have not been successful using the FT7 with MFP is when I don't follow the nutrition plan. In other words, the errors are mine, not the FT7. Also, remember to back out the calories you would have burned anyway for your exercise duruation. After manually entering my HRM calories into MFP for a few months, MFP adjusted the ratios on those activities.

    3. Do not compare your calories burns to someone else. Every person has a different weight and body composition. Your calorie burn is as unique as you are.

    4. Do not develop your fitness plan around what burns the most calories. Determine what your fitness goals are, and come with a plan to reach those goals while taking into account activities that you enjoy. If the ONLY reason you want to be a runner is it "burns a ton of calories", you'll either find something else to like about running, or you'll stop running.

    ^this guy talks a lot of sense
  • hsnider29
    hsnider29 Posts: 394 Member
    i used to p90 and turbofire and never burned anywhere near 1000 calories. i took up zumba and BAM i'm averaging 1000 calories burned per 60 minute class. make sure you have a GOOD hrm and it is set to your specs.

    I only burn between 400-500 calories at Zumba according to my HRM. Jealous!
  • mrsnathanandrew
    mrsnathanandrew Posts: 631 Member
    .

    4. Do not develop your fitness plan around what burns the most calories. Determine what your fitness goals are, and come with a plan to reach those goals while taking into account activities that you enjoy. If the ONLY reason you want to be a runner is it "burns a ton of calories", you'll either find something else to like about running, or you'll stop running.

    This is perfect right here. If you don't enjoy what you are doing, it won't work forever. It is too hard to stay motivated to do something you don't like, just to get a calorie burn. I want to be able to run long distances again. I have been adding interval training to get my endurance up so I can add distance and speed. I want to do this, it just happens to burn a lot of calories for me right now. Find activities that you like, that you will keep doing.

    I love what I do, it wasn't until I started using my hrm that I noticed that what I love happens to burn a lot of calories for me.

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