Massage Therapy calories burned....help!

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anakinlover
anakinlover Posts: 109
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey everyone...as a massage therapist, I am curious as to how many calories are burned per hour of massage. I have checked multiple sites and their numbers seem extremely high...Is anyone out there a therapist, too? or does anyone know where I can find a trusted site on calorie burning? Thanks for the help! :flowerforyou:
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Replies

  • girlruns
    girlruns Posts: 344
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    Is massage therapy your full time job?
  • jonsie3488
    jonsie3488 Posts: 12 Member
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    I am an LMT as well, and I always wonder this too! It's a pretty strenuous job, but I've never logged any cals burned for it because I figure it can just be extra help to my calories I burn in workouts. I don't want to overestimate the burn and eat it back.
  • anakinlover
    anakinlover Posts: 109
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    I am a therapist, however; I also teach massage therapy at a local business and technical school. I would not say I do it full time, but I do it often.
  • anakinlover
    anakinlover Posts: 109
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    Me, too. I know it depends on the length and depth of the massage...not to mention the amount of work that needs to be done...Sometimes it is very rigorous..
  • Bearface115
    Bearface115 Posts: 574 Member
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    I ama Massage Therapist in training and i calclated it. for a 1 hr massage it's 244 calories (from my HRM) BUT im a traveling massage therapist in training, so my friends nad family who want it, i lugg around my table and with my HRM dragging it back and forth it was close to 400 calories lost, i was suprised, but ya know, it's a strenuous job which means more on ur feel and better workout for us :-)
  • anakinlover
    anakinlover Posts: 109
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    Thank you very much!
  • VialOfDreams
    VialOfDreams Posts: 217
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    I ama Massage Therapist in training and i calclated it. for a 1 hr massage it's 244 calories (from my HRM) BUT im a traveling massage therapist in training, so my friends nad family who want it, i lugg around my table and with my HRM dragging it back and forth it was close to 400 calories lost, i was suprised, but ya know, it's a strenuous job which means more on ur feel and better workout for us :-)

    Oh wow! That is amazing!
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
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    I use the following METs compendium to do calorie burns.

    http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/tools/docs/documents_compendium.pdf

    Multiply the MET level (4.0 for massage) by your weight in kilograms and you get a calorie burn per hour.
  • gillleeman
    gillleeman Posts: 397 Member
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    I'll look at that Tonya thanks. I've been estimating about 300 cals for 45 mins massage.
  • hannahderr
    hannahderr Posts: 4
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    awesome!! can i now count these calories on this site??! bc that would give me so many more calories that i can eat lol!! you know me- anakinlover :0)
  • Therapist_mama
    Therapist_mama Posts: 135 Member
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    I too am a Massage Therapist and I so appreciate you posting this question, cause I had the question run across my mind today and because I found your post I know have my answer! I do not work very often as I am an independent contractor and a stay at home mom.....so when I get a client and I work I feel the burn for sure....so I figured for me since it is not a daily thing I can count it as exercise. I have to say though that when I calculated the MET by my weight in kilograms I was surprised to see how high the calorie expenditure was. I decided to only eat back 1/2 of those calories.

    Again thanks for posting this question!

    Best to you in your journey,:flowerforyou:
    Ruth:heart:
  • STARG1RL
    STARG1RL Posts: 44 Member
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    Google: "calories burned doing massage" Several different links...
  • deadstarsunburn
    deadstarsunburn Posts: 1,337 Member
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    If it's your regular everyday job than I would suggest you simply up your activity level. That would probably be most beneficial to your weight loss.
  • will010574
    will010574 Posts: 761 Member
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    Can I get a massage?
  • STARG1RL
    STARG1RL Posts: 44 Member
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    Can I get a massage?

    Lol! Me next... I haven't had a massage in months :frown:
  • rachldee
    rachldee Posts: 1
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    I too am an LMT, and from what I've read I've figured 200 calories per hour as a loose figure between my deep tissue and relaxation sessions. But it's SO FREAKIN' HARD to figure out if we are eating too few vs. too many calories! THIS part of it has been very frustrating. So this week I've started adding massage to cardio and see what happens. I have a feeling that 1200 calories per day for my height and weight just isn't enough???
  • Flygirl214
    Flygirl214 Posts: 33 Member
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    This is awesome info! I'm a massage therapist too. I know it is work and I do 6 hours per day sometimes. That is lovely! I think this is a good thing for me! Whoot Whoot
  • GiiaSoCrazii
    GiiaSoCrazii Posts: 66 Member
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    Thanks so much for this post. I am currently in school to become a LMT and I was wondering how I should calculate that in..or if I should at all...very helpful info
  • NicoleThomas77
    NicoleThomas77 Posts: 3
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    I'm a licensed massage therapist, of 12 yrs. I've always wondered how many calories I burn while giving massages, but every site I check gives me different answers. Kind of frustrating!
  • anakinlover
    anakinlover Posts: 109
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    It truly is. I understand that the calorie burn may be hard to pinpoint to an exact measurement. The burn would depend on technique, pace, depth, client...etc. Yet just a loose guestimate would be great. I doubt anyone who is not an MT realizes how physically demanding it really is.

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