How Many Calories Does Weight Training Burn?
How many calories are burned during weight training? Is it 100, 300, 500 calories, or more? There have been hundreds on studies done on this stuff. The number of calories burned when you lift weights depends on multiple factors, including your age, gender, weight, workout intensity, duration, and rest periods. You can expect to burn anywhere between 200 and 400 calories per hour.
Does Weight Training Burn Calories?
If you’re passionate about weight training and bodybuilding, you probably know that this form of exercise burns more calories in the long run than cardio training. When you lift weights, you keep burning calories for up to 36 hours after your workout. A study conducted by Alwyn Cosgrove, a popular fitness expert, has proven this theory about weight training and fat loss. The subjects were divided into three groups:
- Diet and aerobics
- Diet, aerobics, and resistance training
- Diet only
Those in the first group lost 15.6 pounds in 12 weeks. They did aerobic exercises three times a week and followed a healthy diet. The subjects in the third group (diet only) lost 14.6 pounds in 12 weeks. Those in the third group (diet, aerobics and weight training) lost 21.1 pounds, which is 35 % and 44% more than aerobic and diet only groups.
These numbers show that the addition of aerobic exercises didn’t cause any significant fat loss over dieting alone. At the same time, the addition of weight training has dramatically increased fat loss. So how many calories does weight training burn?
The truth is that most people, especially women, do aerobic exercises their entire life without getting any significant results. This form of physical activity is better than nothing, but it doesn’t help you too much either. If you want real results on long-term, focus on weight training and cardio. What you eat can make or break your progress.
Mixing cardio and strength training is the most effective way to burn fat.
How Many Calories Do You Burn When Lifting Weights?
The amount of calories you burn when lifting weights depends on:
- Workout duration
- Workout intensity
- Age
- Gender
- Weight
- Fitness level
- Body fat vs. lean mass
- Heart rate
- Rest times
- How much you are lifting
- Muscles trained
The more intense the workout, the more calories you’ll burn. As you lose weight, you’ll burn fewer calories. Vigorous weight lifting can burn up to 400 calories per hour.
A guy doing a full body circuit with short rest periods and compound movements will burn more calories than one who only training his shoulders or legs using isolation movements and longer rest periods. If you train at low intensity and take long rests between sets, you’ll burn about 250 calories per hour.
Heart Rate and Calories Burned
By keeping your heart rate high, you can burn more calories. If you want to lose weight, you should work out at 75% to 85% of your maximum heart rate. In general, you can achieve these numbers when exercising at high intensity. When you lift weights, your target heart rate should be between 50 and 60% of your maximum heart rate. To exceed these numbers, focus on high-intensity cardio training.
Don’t rely too much on heart rate monitors and other activity trackers that measure steps, calories, or distance. These gadgets can only give you a rough estimate of the workload and calories burned.
There are quite a few variables that make it hard to determine exactly how many calories you burn when lifting weights. Most people burn between seven and nine calories per minute on average.
In addition to burning fat, resistance training builds muscle and increases strength. It also boosts your metabolism, strengthens your immune system, and gives you more energy. What other reasons do you need to start lifting weights?
