Does anyone have a somewhat reliable way to estimate how many calories are burned during various weight lifting exercises? All my cardio routines come with calorie counters, which I take with a grain of salt - but I use them as a rough guideline to know what I'm burning. Is there a source of information for what gets burned when lifting?

On a related note, I find the Harris-Benedict formula to predict my calorie needs to be pretty accurate; I'd like to make sure I'm accounting for everything, so I can get an even better understanding for what I need & use calorie-wise.

Thanks for the help.

I have never seen a good estimator. Without getting very detailed it would be a crap shoot. One person's 30 minute routine may involve 8 low rep sets, and another's may involve 15 higher rep sets with less rest time. All I can say is that most people won't burn that many (it's about the only reasonable consensus I can find on weight lifting calorie expenditure).

Maybe somebody has a good one? Really what would be needed would be something where you could plug in the reps and weight and excercise, and then at least you could have an exact amount of energy physically expelled to move the weight. It wouldn't include any energy used to cool the body and what not, but it would be interesting.

There are too many variables to predict it accurately. I would say around 100 to 110 for every 10 minutes. That's 10 to 11 per minute. So, just do 9 x the number of minutes you workout.

10 x 10 = 100 11 x 10 = 110
10 x 20 = 200
10 x 30 = 300 11 x 30 = 330
10 x 40 = 400
10 x 50 = 500
10 x 60 = 600 11 x 60 = 660

That might be a little low, but I'd rather be lower than higher in my estimations.

I'd guess to accurately get it, you'd need time under tension and what % of max exertion you would be at. Then, you'd need a possibly lower number during rest periods.

There is probably already a study somewhere.

There are too many variables to predict it accurately. I would say around 100 to 110 for every 10 minutes. That's 10 to 11 per minute. So, just do 9 x the number of minutes you workout.

10 x 10 = 100 11 x 10 = 110
10 x 20 = 200
10 x 30 = 300 11 x 30 = 330
10 x 40 = 400
10 x 50 = 500
10 x 60 = 600 11 x 60 = 660

That might be a little low, but I'd rather be lower than higher in my estimations.

Thanks, I had a feeling there were just far too many variables to make an estimate. I guess getting into the right ballpark is better than nothing. I think an estimate within +/- 50% of the "real" number is pushing the limits of how accurate I can expect to be. All the different electronic readouts on the cardio machines give a nice-looking number for calories burned, but I make a completely unsubstantiated claim that they are probably no more than +/- 15% accurate.

I've tried to estimate within the ballpark of my calories burned lifting, by how long I'm in the gym, time actually doing work versus time resting, and comparing how "spent" I feel to how spent I feel after my cardio sessions. It's just one method, but I'd say a 45-minute lifting session includes ~15-20 minutes of non-rest (actual work); my 20-minute HIIT routine burns ~250-300 Cals, and leaves me more spent than my lifting; so I'd guess 200-250Cals for my weight lifting routine.

So, it's lower than your estimate of 405 for 45 minutes, but admittedly mine's a complete WAG (wild-assed guess).

i think weight lifting is much like HIIT training, its more about the calories you burn after the training
although, i would imagine i burn tons more calories on a leg day, or back + bi day, than a shoulders + traps day! :)

i think weight lifting is much like HIIT training, its more about the calories you burn after the training
although, i would imagine i burn tons more calories on a leg day, or back + bi day, than a shoulders + traps day! :)

Throw in some heavy Olympic lifts that have a lot of focus on shoulder and traps and I guarantee you'll feel differently.

You need some rubber coated weights though and at the least a cement floor if not one with rubber on it as well.

The full verious of fit day predicts for me at 144lbs that 1 hour of vigorous lifting is about 400 calories expended. Light lifting it says 203. I think that is an "accurate" figure for me based on how I feel after it compared to cardio. So in 45 mins of hard lifting Id say 300ish is probably the max unless you are doing really really high intensity with little rest (but who could do that for 45 mins?).

DeafNgari, when you checked fit day to see what 1 hour of vigorous lifting was and it said 400, do you think fit day took into account the time spent in between sets? If you add up the time in an hour lifting session the weights are in your hands I doubt it would be more than 10 or 15 minutes. Maybe a vigorous lifting sesh would be more like 100 calories? who knows how they calculate it though.

DeafNgari, when you checked fit day to see what 1 hour of vigorous lifting was and it said 400, do you think fit day took into account the time spent in between sets? If you add up the time in an hour lifting session the weights are in your hands I doubt it would be more than 10 or 15 minutes. Maybe a vigorous lifting sesh would be more like 100 calories? who knows how they calculate it though.

I would stake the farm on the fact that in one hour of lifting I am burning way more than 100 calories... as at my weight I burn about 60/hour just sitting around motionless. I think 400 for an hour at my weight is an approriate figure.

The full verious of fit day predicts for me at 144lbs that 1 hour of vigorous lifting is about 400 calories expended. Light lifting it says 203. I think that is an "accurate" figure for me based on how I feel after it compared to cardio. So in 45 mins of hard lifting Id say 300ish is probably the max unless you are doing really really high intensity with little rest (but who could do that for 45 mins?).


I agree. I use the fitday weightlifting numbers and I think they're pretty accurate.

During my 40 minutes of weight training, my heart rate rarely goes below 115 -120, much like that of a cardio day, in which I burn about 400 cals per hour.

IIRC Lyle McDonald says that after a heavy weightlifting session your metabolic rate can be cranked up for 48 hrs. and up to 700 calories burned, including that needed for muscle repair. This is on top of the calories burned during the workout.

Would a heart rate monitor provide an accurate calorie count for weightlifting?

I never wear the monitor strap during weightlifting, but I've always been curious. Some exercises send my heartrate through the roof -- in particular for me the straight bar curl, for some reason. :d_eek: