Logging weight lifting calories

moe5474
moe5474 Posts: 162
edited December 19 in Fitness and Exercise
Does anyone log weight lifting calories? MFP doesn't count any, but I know weight training raises your body's metabolism.

So if I train hard (lifting til failure) for about 30 minutes, is it safe to log 100 calories burned?? Stats are below for ref

26 yo female
5'9
148 lbs
23% bf

Replies

  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
    Use the entry for cicuit training for general weightlifting (in the cardio section). If you are doing actual hard circuit training, that entry is too low.

    The strength training entry is comically low unless your weightlifting time consists primariy of lollygagging with a few isolation exercises thrown in.

    Even using a HRM will miss very low. It poorly captures the anaerobic energy expenditure and totally misses the calorie burn of recovery, which is significant.
  • TonyL68
    TonyL68 Posts: 133 Member
    It's so hard to generalize because there are so many variables unaccounted for: how much weight/effort, how much rest between reps and sets, etc.

    When I started out on MFP, I used the estimates here. You can find them under the cardio section. I think it's 150 calories for 30 minutes.

    After a month, I got tired of guessing and bought a heart rate monitor. My actual calorie burn is a lot higher than the estimate.

    So, for accuracy I would use a HRM if possible. If not, then look for weight lifting under the cardio exercises.
  • moe5474
    moe5474 Posts: 162
    hhhhmmm I guess I'm so worried about overestimating, that I'm going really low. Maybe I'll just get a HRM and use that :)
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,010 Member
    HRM is not good for measuring lifting workouts.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
    Lifting is so difficult to estimate, I would probably leave it out of your calorie allocation entirely. 100 calories for 30 minutes doesn't seem unreasonable, but even when I was lifting heavy I didn't add any calories burned in my workout log.
  • jcstanton
    jcstanton Posts: 1,849 Member
    Use the entry for cicuit training for general weightlifting (in the cardio section). If you are doing actual hard circuit training, that entry is too low.

    The strength training entry is comically low unless your weightlifting time consists primariy of lollygagging with a few isolation exercises thrown in.

    Even using a HRM will miss very low. It poorly captures the anaerobic energy expenditure and totally misses the calorie burn of recovery, which is significant.

    ^^This. I'm 5'4" 250lbs. I lift a moderate (for me) amount of weight @ 2 sets 15 reps each (see yesterday's exercise log in my diary). I also put some cardio segments throughout to keep my HR up in the 155-165 range. I can't be exactly sure how many calories I'm burning, but, based on the level of exertion and hunger post workout, I'd guesstimate that between the cardio and the weight lifting, I'm burning at least 500-600 calories every time I do that workout. The whole workout is about an hour. Of course, I'm alot heavier than you, so it stands to reason that I'll burn more calories.
  • Spanaval
    Spanaval Posts: 1,200 Member
    If you're lifting heavy (low reps, high weights), there is no good way to estimate burn. I'd just eat maintenance for that day, or eat at a small deficit (say, 10%).
  • moe5474
    moe5474 Posts: 162
    If you're lifting heavy (low reps, high weights), there is no good way to estimate burn. I'd just eat maintenance for that day, or eat at a small deficit (say, 10%).

    That's the thing...I'm not jumping around all over the place with light weights, but rather am lifting heavy for 6-8 reps.
  • LBachynsky
    LBachynsky Posts: 64
    I log about 250 calories when I lift. I do 10 sets of 5 to failure. 4 days a week.
  • Spanaval
    Spanaval Posts: 1,200 Member
    I log about 250 calories when I lift. I do 10 sets of 5 to failure. 4 days a week.

    10 sets seem like a lot.
  • Mikeypostle
    Mikeypostle Posts: 1
    Mapmyrun.com has a decent estimator when it comes to calories burned from a particular weightlifting exercise/time spent lifting.

    It would be supremely beneficial if MFP could do the same, as the tool here is very helpful in terms of accountability.
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