Anyone have any idea how many calories on avarage you burn with heavy intense lifting for around an hour? For example doin heavy swuats 4x5,some sumo deads after that 2x10 also relatively heavy,another leg exercise,sabs 4 sets and calves 3 sets. Just an example but you get the point.
Surprisingly, depressingly few. Most likely, not enough to bother counting.
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Really? I was always under the impression it burns a ton. I sweat a heck lot and get out of breath and stuff when lifting heavy with a bit higher volume,and its not like i dont have endurance.
Not if (as described) youâre doing heavy, low-rep sets with long rest breaks. Think of it in terms of the time spent actually lifting (ie, actively moving weight)âa âone hourâ workout probably comprises a total of <5 minutes actual work. Canât burn many calories in 5 minutes.
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Iâve found some equations based on METs that are actually close to what my fitbit shows. I think it tries to account for the total burn including what happens the rest of the day. Itâs higher than I thought but seems to fall in line with my net calories for the day.
Moderate effort is 4.5 METs.
@skinnydeadliftgod, youâll have to Google the equation. It accounts for body weight and some other factors.
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Nope. Lifting, itself, doesnât burn many calories like the guys are saying. It starts metabolic processes that lead to building muscle which leads to fat loss.
Unless your programming is something fat loss/conditioning-specific like complexes that cram a ton of volume in minimal time, like 30+ reps per minute from of a handful of exercises giant-set together, or Girondaâs 8x8 with strict 15-seconds rest. But even then, the biggest fat loss factor isnât the calories burned while lifting, itâs the âafterburnâ from an increased metabolic rate that lasts after training.
I sweat sitting in my car when itâs 90 degrees out. Sweating is not a reliable indicator of fat burning.
I get out of breath after closing my mouth and nose waiting for my dogâs gnarly farts to dissipate. Being winded is not a reliable indicator of fat burning.
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Agreed with everyone here, heavy lifting session doesnât burn as many calories as most think. With proper nutrition and recovery, youâll build muscle, and over time can increase your metabolic rate, leading to more fat burning over time, but the lifting session itself wonât burn many calories. As @Chris_Colucci said, the sweating and getting out of breath isnât an indication of fat burning. Keep in mind your question is about fat burning specifically. Lifting heavy weights is of course taxing on the body and hard work, but in regards to fat burning alone or calorie expenditure, it isnât as much as youâd think. Youâd likely burn more calories in a 20 min HIIT or complex session than you would in an hour of lifting heavy with typical longer rest periods.
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The energy expenditure is in the recovery from lifting, not the actual lifting.
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you sweat water and minerals. you breathe out carbon dioxide. Neither of these things are calories leaving your body.
The main calorie-burning benefit of weight training is altering your body composition, losing fat and building muscle. It takes more calories throughout the day to support a more muscular person. So itâs not the time youâre actually in the gym, but rather the rest of the day that youâll be burning more calories.
Also, I just saw Skyz beat me to it. Still posting anyway.
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Yeah no i didnt mean that the sweat and breath was the calories getting out of my body,i just thought it might be symptoms of calories being burned. The after burn effect was actually something i was thinking could have a big effect on daily caloric expendature but not quite sure how mucj.
Oxygen consumption does relate to caloric expenditure but the only way I know to figure that number is in a lab.
Also, I sat an article in Time magazine (or something similar) that when fat is burned, most of it is expelled from the body through breathing.
This doesnât really apply to your question; itâs just a bunch of trivia lol
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If calorie burning is a concern throw 10 minutes of moderate intensity treadmill or crosstrainer work in at the end of your sessions, unless youâve obliterated yourself on the iron that shouldnât be unachievable.
No im trying to lean bulk and thought if maybe my workouts are making it harder or sth,just wanted to make sure.
Actually, lifting heavy burns a surprising amount of calories and lifting in general is a lot more aerobically taxing than most people realize.
âAvoiding Cardio Could Be Holding You Backâ by Nuckols goes in depth.
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If Greg says it im in. The guy is one of the most reliable sources of information in the fitness industry.
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Actually, these are, in fact, exactly indicators of âcaloriesâ leaving your body.
C6H12O6 + 6O2 â> 6H2O + 6CO2 + heat (or energy)
I put calories in quotes because calories are a unit of energy, but H2O and CO2 are of course products of combusting fuel because your body needs this energy based on what you are doing. Being out of breathe and sweating by physical exertion most certainly are indicators of in uptick in calorie burning. That said, as has been alluded to, you might not be able to quantitate the exact calorie expenditure of an activity by a perceived level of sweat/breathe as other factors are in play. (sorry, my chemist self is coming through).
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yea thanks dude. I know that, I also took high school chemistry, lol. The overall point was that weight lifting isnât going to burn a ton of calories.
Except he didnât really say it. If his info is correct (and that is an if. Heâs a smart dude for sure, but I canât see the full text he referenced to double-check his claims), look at what he actually does say:
âif you deadlift 175kg for a set of 8, you burn ~25 calories. If you deadlift 87.5 for a set of 8, youâd only burn about 12.5 calories. If you deadlift 350kg for a set of 8, youâd burn about 50 calories.â
I wouldnât say thatâs a âsurprising amountâ of calories relative to the work done. Deadlift 770 pounds for a set of 8 or walk on an incline treadmill for about 5 minutes⊠burn the same number of calories.
So, again, the calories burned during lifting are essentially a non-issue.
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Bringing this back up because I see people posting they are burning a lot of calories lifting.
