Weight Lifting and Calorie Burning

Posts: 12,412
6/6/12 9:17 A

Weight lifting doesn't burn all that many calories directly - after all, even a 20-30 minute workout only involves a few dozen reps.

The calorie burning effect is indirect. One well known study (which I can't find the link to at the moment) put the effect of a 12 week program of lifting at about 150 calories per day (even on rest days), with about 50 calories coming from increased muscle mass, and 100 calories from making existing muscle mass more metabolically active.'

But you can't attribute this to a specific strength workout - it is really the effect of an ongoing program of regular training on your overall metabolism.

HRM's are calibrated for aerobic exercise, and will not produce accurate results for anerobic strength exercise (a different bio-chemical process).

But it is unlikely that 150 calories is producing an 'undereating' plateau on their own - this is more likely to occur through a combination of an extensive cardio schedule combined with minimal intake.

You may find the Plateau Busters series of articles of interest www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_artic
les.asp?id=516

M@L

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6/6/12 6:50 A

Ruth, I used to get a warning on my fitness page about not eating enough calories when I exceeded my goal each week. I am not sure if it was prompted by my WT or cardio or both, which I logged each day with my nutrition. It would be at the bottom of the fitness page in red. The message stated that not eating enough could negatively effect weight loss.

One of the things I read about plateaus was that sometimes you need to trick your body by eating more. I did this by eating at the high range of my calories a couple days in a row and then going back down to the lower end...or by having a cheat day once a week. I am not sure if this is myth or fact, as I don't remember the source. I know I felt better when I did it.

The other thing that I have read and have seen is that your body gets used to your workout and it needs to be increased or changed after awhile in order to get results. So after a couple of months of doing the same cardio, I have increased my level and minutes. I upped it by 15 minutes (45) and I began to lose again. My weight loss has been trial and error in trying to figure out what works for my body. Good luck there is so much info out there hopefully you will find which works for you!

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6/5/12 2:37 P

Thanks, Heather. I've read all that stuff before, but the reminders are good.

Also, for those who are interested I have found a couple of good articles and blog posts that talk at least in part about calories that are burned during weight training. One thing to note is that there are a number of (more recent?) studies that make some claims about the calorie-burn benefit of weight training that goes beyond the traditional "it will help you in the long run because muscle burns fat more efficiently" statement.

Anyway, here's a link to a blog post that I enjoyed: www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/02/01/what-b
urns-more-calories-cardio-intervals-or
-weight-training/. It's written by a fitness enthusiast who makes no claims to be an expert, but he also seems to have done his homework.

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6/5/12 2:31 P

If you suspect you might be eating too little, try eating more, and see if that helps. It shouldn't take a whole lot, unless you're seriously burning a lot (and at 30 minutes 3 X a week, I'm going to wager you're not) it's not going to be a super huge difference in calories.

Here's some articles that may help you in your question to figure out what's up with your plateau:

Sparkpeople Plateau busters series: www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_artic
les.asp?id=516

Why no calorie burn for strength here: www.sparkpeople.com/community/ask_the_expe
rts.asp?q=49

HRMs and strength: www.sparkpeople.com/community/ask_the_expe
rts.asp?q=75

And lastly, the estimates for if you're an active person (this may help you figure out how much more you might need to eat) may help you estimate how much more to eat.
www.sparkpeople.com/community/ask_the_expe
rts.asp?q=86

I think that rather than trying to do the math on your strength's calorie burn, you may do better simply experimenting with your intake. Start adding 100 calories to your upper and lower ends of your range, and see if something shakes loose!

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Posts: 6,053
6/5/12 1:11 P

Twp [points to consider. First there is no accurate rate to measure calories from weight or resistance training since when done at proper intensity you will have what is popularly called an "after burn" effect or excess post exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) which can last for up to 24 to 36 hours following a workout. Oxygen consumption is the only accurate way to measure calorie burn and it can only be done in a laboratory setting.

Second point, the numbers between our toes on a scale measure nothing but the force of gravity on us at a given moment in time and can vary even within the same day due to multiple variables.Since muscle is denser than fatty tissue you can shrink and weigh the same making measurements a more accurate assessment tool to chart progress.

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6/5/12 12:57 P

Most people don't count it. I wear my heart rate monitor the whole time I'm at the gym. I'm not going to take it off just to lift. I count my entire workout as my training session.

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6/5/12 12:55 P

Maggie:

The plateau comment is a bit of an aside: I simply am in a plateau, and am trying to diagnose the problem. One theory is that I'm not eating enough. And the place to find the extra calories I should be eating would have to be in my weight lifting routine, since I am taking everything else into account on a regular basis.

It is not quite as simple as "if you are burning more than you have accounted for ... you would be losing weight". One thing in particular that can lead to plateaus and/or difficulty in losing weight is if we are not eating enough, given how many calories we are burning. That's why there is a lower limit to the target that your nutrition tracker provides. It is just as important for weight loss to be eating *enough* as it is to be not eating too much.

So I want to make sure I'm accounting for the calories I am burning through my entire workout, and not just my cardio.

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6/5/12 12:45 P

I don't count the calories from weight training. Just cardio minutes. I lift 4 to 5 times a week for about 45 minutes, I know that my fitness page reflects my workout and I assume that my calorie intake takes this in to account as does my cardio minutes and calories. I am not sure why you think this why you have hit a plateau. If you are burning more than you have accounted for it would be the opposite you would be losing weight. Right??? or am I not understanding your post?

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6/5/12 12:30 P

Yes, it will burn calories, but it's just too difficult to gauge how an individual is accomplishing their lifting regiment. I also lift 3 times per week but for about 1 hour each time. My calorie deficit from my cardio always has me more in the 1 lb per week loss if that. But due to my lifting, I've averaged 1.4 lbs per week. So I know I am getting a benefit of weight loss(along with better fitness) with weight lifting. But I don't worry about trying to put a number to it. I just work with what is close enough in calorie intake and cardio to ensure that I am carrying a deficit.

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6/5/12 12:14 P

There are websites with calculators and articles and whatnot that claim that weight lifting can in fact burn a significant amount of calories. Not as much per hour as the same intensity of cardio, but it could still be 200+ calories for just a half hour workout. And that's a significant number.

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6/5/12 12:01 P

It's not really all that possible to accurately determine calories burned during lifting. I think it's actually pretty minimal, the real benefit comes from the recovery process and the fact that you're maintaining lean muscle rather than losing it which helps your metabolism.

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6/5/12 11:54 A

Apologies if this question has been asked multiple times already: my time is limited and my cursory search didn't turn up anything useful.

I am trying to figure out (approximately) how many calories I am burning while I do my weight training. I lift a minimum of 3 times a week these days (typically for 25-30 minutes a session), and I have found myself stuck in a weight-loss plateau. One of my theories is that I haven't been calculating my calories properly because I haven't been accounting for the calories I burn while lifting.

But I don't know how to actually calculate what I'm burning.

I know that my weight and the intensity of my workout make a difference, and no doubt the amount of muscle I actually have makes a difference, too, along with my age and gender and whatnot.

Ideally, I'd like to have a formula of some sort that I can use to help me sort this out. Do we have this anywhere? Or does anyone have the information I need to figure it out?

Any help you can offer would be much appreciated!