Whether you're trying to lose weight or maintain your sculpted physique, knowing precisely how many calories you're burning is crucial. Treadmill and cardio machines make it easy by doing the calculations for you, but you'll need to pull out a calculator and do a little math when it comes to weightlifting. You may be surprised to see how many calories you can burn pumping iron. Exactly how many depends on several factors, including the length of rest periods between exercises, the intensity of lifting, and your body weight.
Step 1
Estimate the metabolic equivalent of your particular style of weightlifting. The MET is essentially the amount of energy you burn doing a particular activity. In general, weightlifting has an MET of 3.0 to 6.0. The higher your intensity and the shorter your rest periods, the higher up on that scale you will be.
Step 2
Estimate an MET value for yourself. Plug it into the following formula: Body weight x METs = calories burned hourly.
Step 3
Convert your body weight in pounds to kilograms using the following formula: Body weight in pounds / 2.2. For example: If you weigh 150 lbs., divide 150 by 2.2 to come up with 68.18 kg. Round to the nearest whole number.
Step 4
Plug in your body weight in kilograms to the formula you have written down. For a 150-lb. athlete working out at the highest weightlifting METs level of 6.0, the formula would look like this: 68 x 6.0 = 408. This athlete burns 408 calories during an hour of weight training.
Tips and Warnings
- Use the most current body weight measurement that you have for yourself.
- Always double-check your math to avoid making errors.
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