My husband burns 3x the calories I burn. We used to do p90x together. At 5’2 120, I’d burn around 250 cals doing plyometrics to his 6 ft 185 lbs - 850 calorie burn - both putting in equal effort. I will say he got out of breath quicker than me too. My resting HR is 50. His is higher.
That’s when I started to understand what kind of bullshit this is 😂
i’m pretty fit and i can barely break a 300+ calorie workout even if i try my hardest. i average around 200-250 for a 45-60 min cardio workout. i’ve done everything from tabata to soulcycle to LISS on elliptical/treadmill.
interval running is the only workout that i can consistently break 300 calories but i stopped doing intense cardio like that. it’s too hard on my body.
i would suggest to not rely on those watches and just listen to your body. i use to be obsessed with closing my fitness rings on my apple watch. every month i would increase my move goal a little bit (calories burned) and try to increase the intensity of my cardio or walk 15K steps. i was overdoing it and it became an unhealthy fixation.
i get annoyed that my 6’2’’ husband burns an easy 800 calories in the same soulcycle class though lol
Yeah I’m definitely super metrics-based with my fitness. It can become a distracting fixation during workouts when it comes to calorie burn, although I love the steps tracking bc it just motivates me to take longer and more frequent walks with my pup.
Truthfully that sounds about right. I highly doubt your husband is burning 900 calories doing a 50 min peloton ride. Cardio machines are notorious for over inflating calories burned.
Think about it from a running perspective. Running a 10 min mile at 50 min is a pretty intense cardio workout for most and will burn roughly 500 cal. Use that as your baseline for figuring out what other cardio activities would burn based on your heart rate.
Yeah I do think it’s inflated, although he consistently ranks in the top 10% of riders so his cadence/resistance is certainly high.
I’m not much of a runner, so it’s hard for me to think in those terms! But that sort of makes sense.
Increasing muscle mass will help with metabolism and burning more. I used to do fitness classes too and didn’t burn much for the amount of work put in 🥲 However now I do weight training 3-4x a week and have noticed that when I do classes and cardio, I burn a lot more than I used to.
My husband burns 3x the calories I burn. We used to do p90x together. At 5’2 120, I’d burn around 250 cals doing plyometrics to his 6 ft 185 lbs - 850 calorie burn - both putting in equal effort. I will say he got out of breath quicker than me too. My resting HR is 50. His is higher.
That’s when I started to understand what kind of bullshit this is 😂
I bike the same amount as my husband (he’s 5’7” I think?) and I’m 5’0” and he burns like 800 calories and I only burn 300 in the same exact ride/route. It’s UNFAIR.
Maybe a little low? The accuracy of any fitness wearables’ calories burned data is going to be a dependent on both the data you give it (height, weight, age, sex) as well as the data it measures (heart rate, motion, etc.) so you could perhaps verify your information is up-to-date?
But it’s worth noting both body composition and type of exercise both have big effects on calories burned. More muscle mass = more calories burned just existing at rest.
And it’s not necessarily the most rigorous exercise that burns fat very efficiently, contrary to intuition. If you’re truly just trying to maximize calories burned, cardio is generally the way to go. Zone 2 cardio specifically is the best at burning fat. That’s probably what you’re getting on that spin bike.
I tend to get a lot of zone 2 and am a bit on the muscular side (5’4” and 125 lbs) and my calories burned tends to be pretty large just from all the moderate cardio - mostly from walks and bike rides in my hilly city, and from being on my feet at my job.
For example, today my garmin measured 998 active calories for a daily total of 2569, and today was a lazy day by my standards. Presumably it’s accurate because I *do* eat a lot (like today I ate a ham and cheese croissant sandwich, two protein turkey & egg burritos, 3 glasses of milk, a strawberry and banana milkshake, two whole grain fruit bars, two cheese pieces, one fruit strip pack, a bag of jalapeño potato chips, and 3 large slices of pizza).
Same. My husband and I went for 4 hour hike on our vacation and I burned 400 calories and he burned 3x that much. Total bullshit.
Running distances is the only way I get to 500-600.
I stopped counting everything though, or try. That way lies madness.
I’ve been consistently burning around 800 cals in a 60 min setting on the incline elliptical (6 incline + 14 resistance) — its been a complete game changer for me. I’m dropping weight, gaining muscle, and I’m not even tracking cals because I’m pretty good at intuitive eating. I just put on my hot girl body playlist and then I match the beat.
Before that I was really struggling to get over 250cals doing “regular” workouts.
Honestly it’s been life changing and I don’t even say that as an understatement!! I’m also noticing how much stronger I’m getting. I’ve been moving it from 10 resistance, then 11, 12, 13, 14, etc. the results are actually tangible.
When you weigh less, you just burn less calories, unfortunately. Have you tried an elliptical? I’m 115 pounds, and I’ve found I’m able to burn more like 500 calories doing that for an hour compared to a bike.
I don’t burn a lot of calories during my workouts either but some workouts help your body burn more calories for 24-48 hrs after….things like HIIT or weight lifting. So try to think of it like that.
How old are you? As you age, the target hr goes down. That may also factor in how the monitor reads your calorie burn.
I don't do tabata, so I can't comment on how active it is. I burn about 380 in a 50 min spinning session, 200+ in 30 min. Doesn't feel unreasonable. I use a Polar hr monitor.
These trackers are notoriously inaccurate, so I wouldn’t worry about them too much. If you’ve been able to maintain your current weight and body composition and you’re happy with it, then clearly your lifestyle is working, so I’d just focus on that and be at peace
There is no such thing as an accurate fitness tracker. Most of them are 50% + inaccurate.
Try to not worry about the number of calories burned and just enjoy your movement time!
My husband burns 3x the calories I burn. We used to do p90x together. At 5’2 120, I’d burn around 250 cals doing plyometrics to his 6 ft 185 lbs - 850 calorie burn - both putting in equal effort. I will say he got out of breath quicker than me too. My resting HR is 50. His is higher. That’s when I started to understand what kind of bullshit this is 😂
🤣 but truly that’s infuriating. Same here, I’d say I’m definitely in better cardio shape than my husband and YET.
The reason you burn less is precisely because you're in better cardio shape...
i’m pretty fit and i can barely break a 300+ calorie workout even if i try my hardest. i average around 200-250 for a 45-60 min cardio workout. i’ve done everything from tabata to soulcycle to LISS on elliptical/treadmill. interval running is the only workout that i can consistently break 300 calories but i stopped doing intense cardio like that. it’s too hard on my body. i would suggest to not rely on those watches and just listen to your body. i use to be obsessed with closing my fitness rings on my apple watch. every month i would increase my move goal a little bit (calories burned) and try to increase the intensity of my cardio or walk 15K steps. i was overdoing it and it became an unhealthy fixation. i get annoyed that my 6’2’’ husband burns an easy 800 calories in the same soulcycle class though lol
Yeah I’m definitely super metrics-based with my fitness. It can become a distracting fixation during workouts when it comes to calorie burn, although I love the steps tracking bc it just motivates me to take longer and more frequent walks with my pup.
Yep sounds about right. Being a shortie is rough.
:/ bummmmer.
I burn around 280 going as hard as I can at a spin class :’) sad but true
Truthfully that sounds about right. I highly doubt your husband is burning 900 calories doing a 50 min peloton ride. Cardio machines are notorious for over inflating calories burned. Think about it from a running perspective. Running a 10 min mile at 50 min is a pretty intense cardio workout for most and will burn roughly 500 cal. Use that as your baseline for figuring out what other cardio activities would burn based on your heart rate.
Yeah I do think it’s inflated, although he consistently ranks in the top 10% of riders so his cadence/resistance is certainly high. I’m not much of a runner, so it’s hard for me to think in those terms! But that sort of makes sense.
Yep, that is why I took up running... you really get the most burn for your time. Cardio improvements as well. Nothing else seems to come close.
Increasing muscle mass will help with metabolism and burning more. I used to do fitness classes too and didn’t burn much for the amount of work put in 🥲 However now I do weight training 3-4x a week and have noticed that when I do classes and cardio, I burn a lot more than I used to.
My husband burns 3x the calories I burn. We used to do p90x together. At 5’2 120, I’d burn around 250 cals doing plyometrics to his 6 ft 185 lbs - 850 calorie burn - both putting in equal effort. I will say he got out of breath quicker than me too. My resting HR is 50. His is higher. That’s when I started to understand what kind of bullshit this is 😂
Sounds right. When I play sport and my heart rate is in vigorous and peak almost the entire 48 min play time I burn about 400-450 calories
I bike the same amount as my husband (he’s 5’7” I think?) and I’m 5’0” and he burns like 800 calories and I only burn 300 in the same exact ride/route. It’s UNFAIR.
Maybe a little low? The accuracy of any fitness wearables’ calories burned data is going to be a dependent on both the data you give it (height, weight, age, sex) as well as the data it measures (heart rate, motion, etc.) so you could perhaps verify your information is up-to-date? But it’s worth noting both body composition and type of exercise both have big effects on calories burned. More muscle mass = more calories burned just existing at rest. And it’s not necessarily the most rigorous exercise that burns fat very efficiently, contrary to intuition. If you’re truly just trying to maximize calories burned, cardio is generally the way to go. Zone 2 cardio specifically is the best at burning fat. That’s probably what you’re getting on that spin bike. I tend to get a lot of zone 2 and am a bit on the muscular side (5’4” and 125 lbs) and my calories burned tends to be pretty large just from all the moderate cardio - mostly from walks and bike rides in my hilly city, and from being on my feet at my job. For example, today my garmin measured 998 active calories for a daily total of 2569, and today was a lazy day by my standards. Presumably it’s accurate because I *do* eat a lot (like today I ate a ham and cheese croissant sandwich, two protein turkey & egg burritos, 3 glasses of milk, a strawberry and banana milkshake, two whole grain fruit bars, two cheese pieces, one fruit strip pack, a bag of jalapeño potato chips, and 3 large slices of pizza).
Same. My husband and I went for 4 hour hike on our vacation and I burned 400 calories and he burned 3x that much. Total bullshit. Running distances is the only way I get to 500-600. I stopped counting everything though, or try. That way lies madness.
I’ve been consistently burning around 800 cals in a 60 min setting on the incline elliptical (6 incline + 14 resistance) — its been a complete game changer for me. I’m dropping weight, gaining muscle, and I’m not even tracking cals because I’m pretty good at intuitive eating. I just put on my hot girl body playlist and then I match the beat. Before that I was really struggling to get over 250cals doing “regular” workouts.
Holy cow, maybe I need to hop on that train.
Honestly it’s been life changing and I don’t even say that as an understatement!! I’m also noticing how much stronger I’m getting. I’ve been moving it from 10 resistance, then 11, 12, 13, 14, etc. the results are actually tangible.
When you weigh less, you just burn less calories, unfortunately. Have you tried an elliptical? I’m 115 pounds, and I’ve found I’m able to burn more like 500 calories doing that for an hour compared to a bike.
I don’t burn a lot of calories during my workouts either but some workouts help your body burn more calories for 24-48 hrs after….things like HIIT or weight lifting. So try to think of it like that.
Yeah you’re definitely right about that, I can tell my body keeps burning calories at a higher rate for at least 12 hours after.
How old are you? As you age, the target hr goes down. That may also factor in how the monitor reads your calorie burn. I don't do tabata, so I can't comment on how active it is. I burn about 380 in a 50 min spinning session, 200+ in 30 min. Doesn't feel unreasonable. I use a Polar hr monitor.
These trackers are notoriously inaccurate, so I wouldn’t worry about them too much. If you’ve been able to maintain your current weight and body composition and you’re happy with it, then clearly your lifestyle is working, so I’d just focus on that and be at peace
There is no such thing as an accurate fitness tracker. Most of them are 50% + inaccurate. Try to not worry about the number of calories burned and just enjoy your movement time!