What is your average calorie burn when you workout?

[DeanneW3]

Hi everyone! I am curious to know where other people end up who use a device to track their calorie burn during a workout. I am feeling frustrated because on some of the dvds they will say they are burning x number of calories and it seems like mine is no where close to theirs. Do you burn less calories the more fit you are or I am doing something wrong? My history is this: 39 years old, 125 lbs, I use a polar chest band with the wrist watch. It seems like in an hour of hard cardio or circuit training I average around 250-300, according to the hrm. Just curious to know if I am in with everyone else or if I need to ramp it up even more. I do have a body bugg that I have never gotten it out of the box. I really don't want to wear it all the time, just when I workout. Do you ahve the body bugg all the time? Thanks in advance for any advice I may get on this subject also.
Have a great night!

[ncl]

I think that's called advertising...ha. No, I think someone heavier might get more of a burn. If I do all out cardio for an hour, the most I can ever get is 400 calories, usually more in the 300 calorie range. If I do a one hour circuit or weight workout, it'll be in the 200-300 cal range, closer to 300 for a good circuit and closer to 200 for a weights workout.

I am 43, 5'4" and 130 lbs.

[Kellie]

My average is usually 300 to 500 for 30 minutes to an hour. Weight lifting is on the lower end of that; circuit, higher, and high intensity cardio with some tabata will be in the 500 range. When I ride my bike for a couple of hours and get in between 30 to 40 miles I'll burn 1000 to 1200.

I'm 50, 5'9 and 140 lbs.

[roleez]

Keep in mind that the more you weigh, the more calories you burn. Since you are only 125 pounds, you are probably going to end up burning on the lower end of calories.

I do wear my BodyBugg all the time and love it, just wish it weren't so obnoxious looking - people ask me what it is all the time & I just have to explain it's a fancy pedometer. The BodyBugg tends to underestimate the calorie burn for strength training workouts as opposed to my heart rate monitor. I think since it can't actually measure the heart rate, even though it measures all sorts of other things. My kettlebell workouts were some of the highest calorie burners according to my HR monitor but not so much with the BodyBugg, so I guess you have to take it all with a grain of salt.

[Cafelattee]

I have a polar heart rate calorie counter

I'm 42 at 5'3" and weight is 130

Turbo Fire 55 EZ with 10 min stretch 515 calories
TF 45 with 10 min stretch 450 calories
Turbo Fire 30 no stretch 300 calories

Cathe High Step Challenge ( time saver 50 min) 400 calories (this is a circuit workouts so I just don't burn as many calories in the same time frame but get killer muscles

On average I'll burn 500 calories for pure cardio hour and less if its circuit workouts

I also will only burn about 300 calories if I do a 45 min weight only workout

I like beach body but the 1000 calories a hour burn you would have to be really over weight or a man

Cause the more healthy you get the lower your weight the less you will burn a hour

When I started Turbo Jam (the easier turbo fire) I could burn 430 calories doing a 40 min Cardio party 1 cause I was out of shape and over weight. I did that dvd about 6 months ago (I was already doing turbo fire round 3) I just wanted to do it cause I like the music. I only burned 300 calories. My body is just more efficient now. I don't have the excess weight. My heart is very conditions from all those dang HITT workouts LOL

[bfls]

The "1000 calories an hour" claims are definitely advertising. I have a polar HRM too and I don't get anywhere near that amount. Calorie burn is a function of your weight and your heart rate but there are many different formulas out there and all are approximations.

The calculator http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/Calories.html gives me numbers that are close to what I get from my HRM.

I'm 47, 5'5" (165cm) and weigh 150 lbs (68kg). My calorie burns are roughly

• up to 450 for intense cardio (think Cathe's IMax2)
• 350 to 400 for more moderate cardio or an intense circuit (think a Christi step workout or Mike Donavanik's Extreme Burn)
• 300 to 350 for more moderate circuit/AWT (think Jari Love's Get Extremely Ripped 1000)
• 250 to 300 for straight strength training (e.g. Cathe's Power Hour)

[DeanneW3]

Thanks everyone! This makes me feel like I am in a normal range at least! NIce to know where other people are at with this.

[carres1973]

The only workout I have ever burned around 1,000 calories doing is PlyoX. I don't even have a clue why because, while doing it, I didn't feel I was working any harder than other workouts. I would say it is because my HRM wasn't working properly, but it was two or three times. Weird!

Carrie

[slysam]

Even though rationally I know that all burn numbers are just estimates, and it is different for different people (especially different sized, age, and gendered people) I still sometimes feel a little discouraged by this. My calorie burns according to my heart rate monitor are pretty low compared to a lot that I see other people post on the different diet/exercise tracking forums/apps I've used over the past few years. If I am lucky I can burn almost 500 calories in a very vigorous one hour, but usually for an hour it is more like 200-300 calories. Though calorie burn should, in my opinion, be seen as an extra perk of exercise not the main reason. Fixating on it too much can result in choosing too much high impact, vigorous cardio and avoiding other beneficial activities.

But an interesting example, in the ACE kettle bell study, their participants ranged in calorie burn from 8.75 to 17.85 calories a minute! And the participants average heart rate for the workout ranged from 128 bpm to 180 bpm. (http://www.acefitness.org/getfit/research.aspx) This variation came from a fairly small sample, copied from the report: "10 volunteers, male and female, ages 29 to 46 years, all of whom were experienced in kettlebell training." So with this data, someone could create a one hour kettlebell circuit workout and say it burns more than 1000 calories an hour *standard disclaimer, results may vary by the individual..." Even though of the 10 testers, the lowest burn would be more like 525 for an hour, and probably lower still with a larger population. (And they didn't do these exercises for an hour anyway).

[donnadc]

I read somewhere that the 'average' 150lb women burns approx. 100 calories per 15 minutes of moderate exercise.
When I wore a HRM (years ago) that seemed to correlate with my readings.