Your weight and workout duration have the biggest impact on how many calories you burn lifting weights.
For example a 200 pound person lifting weights for one hour will burn about 570 calories, while a 130 pound person lifting free weights for 30 minutes will burn about 185 calories.
Use the calculator below to estimate your calories burned weight lifting and/or performing other body weight workouts.
Calories Burned Weight Lifting & Bodyweight Workout Calculator
The calories burned weight lifting & bodyweight workout calculator will give you a personal estimate of how many calories you burned based on average metabolic rates.
The calorie calculator uses your weight, minutes spent working out and the types of workouts performed.
- Enter your weight
- Enter the duration of your entire workout
- Select all the activities in your workout
The calculator assumes an even distribution of workout activities, that is if you select a workout with pushups, situps and weight lifting, it assumes an even division of your workout between each.
The resistance / free weight workout is assumed to be multiple reps of weights between 60% to 80% of your 1 rep max.
Calories burned weight lifting can run into hundreds of calories per workout. If you’re using resistance weights, free weights or your own body weight, lifting heavy things (combined with a health diet) is a solid proven path to weight loss and great muscle tone. For more on this, read how many calories do I need to gain muscle?
How Many Calories Does Weight Lifting Burn?
Weight lifting is an excellent way to burn calories and lose fat. Not only does weight lifting build physical strength and sculpt your body, but it helps build confidence and pride in yourself too. To balance your diet and exercise regimen, it’s a good idea to calculate how many calories you are burning with each workout.
Weight lifting will burn a similar number of calories to the calories burned running and calories burned skiing.
A 200lb person lifting weights for a 60-minute workout will burn around 570 calories
Calisthenics Workouts
Calisthenics are body weight based exercises, which work to strengthen your body using nothing more than your own body weight and a few items like a pull up bar.
For example some common body weight exercises are:
- Pushup
- Lunges
- Squats
- Jumping Jacks
- Pull ups
- Situps
- Crunches
- Planks
How Many Calories Do Pushups, Squats, Jumping Jacks Pull Ups, Situps and crunches or planks burn Burn?
Calories burned during individual activities may be low, however weight based workouts continue to burn extra calories after the activity is completed.
This means when calculating calories for a workout involving things like weight lifting or pushups etc, it’s much better to look at the whole workout to get an estimate of calorie burn, rather than specific spot activities.
A 200lb person doing a 60 minute body weight workout involving planks, pull ups, squats, lunges and pushups will burn around 595 calories.
How Many Calories Do You Burn Lifting Weights?
Many factors go into how many calories you burn while lifting weights. According to Medical News Today, lifting weights for 30 minutes burns between 90 and 126 calories depending on your body weight. They also state that vigorous weight lifting can increase the calories burned by nearly double.
You should also consider what kind of weight lifting you are doing. Are you using free weights/ resistance? Or are you using calisthenics? Calisthenics is exercised using your body weight as the resistance force. Exercises like push-ups and pull-ups are calisthenic exercises.
How Many Calories Do You Burn Lifting Weights for 10 Minutes?
Using the calculator, you can find a personal estimate of how many calories you are burning per workout based on the type of weight lifting you are doing, your current weight, and how long your workout is.
How Many Calories Do You Burn Lifting Weights for 30 Minutes?
45-Minute Gym Workout Calories Burned
A 45-minute workout free lifting weights will burn around 429 calories. Adding 15 minutes to the previous estimate with the same assumptions nearly doubles the calories burned. The calculator also assumes that you are lifting between 60% and 80% of your rep max when you are free lifting.
How Many Calories Do I Burn Lifting Weights for an Hour?
Workout Factors That Affect How Many Calories You Burn Lifting Weights
How to Burn More Calories Lifting Weights
According to a 2011 study, some of the best ways to increase the calories you burn with a workout are decreasing the weight but increasing the reps, increasing the number of muscles you work with each exercise, and using circuits in your workout.
Decreasing the weight but increasing the reps can dramatically increase the number of calories you burn in your workout. These work because the body burns the energy you take in through food. Still, it’s important to remember that lifting too light weights is possible and will cut the effectiveness of your workout.
There are two ways to work your muscles; one is to isolate the muscle and work that one muscle. The other is to work multiple muscles at the same time. We recommend using exercises that work multiple muscles simultaneously rather than isolating one muscle. This will help you burn more calories because multiple muscles are burning calories simultaneously without exhausting yourself as quickly.
Using circuits in your workout will help you burn more calories as well. This cuts down on rest times between each exercise without overworking each muscle. You get a more holistic workout while maximizing the calories you burn by performing a circuit.
The Benefits of Lifting Weights
Lifting Weights Every Day
NBC News warns against overworking your body at the gym. This doesn’t just apply to individual workouts but to your week-to-week workouts as well. It’s tempting to lift weights every day, but your muscles need to rest and recover from the strain you put your muscles through during your workouts.
Studies show that excessive exercise can actually harm the body. To get the results you want, you will only need to work out a few times a week rather than every day. You don’t need to go overboard to see your body and confidence results.
It’s also important to note that seeing your weight change may take a little longer than you may expect, so keep up your hard work and believe in yourself. This is because while you are burning fat, you’re also replacing it with muscle, which can cancel each other out.
Are There Weight Lifting Benefits for Ladies?
Weight lifting can be just as helpful to women as men, but your exercise circuits and expectations should adjust to your body. Women may not see results as quickly as men because their bodies metabolize calories and fat differently. They are also slower to achieve muscle gain. However, that is not to say that women shouldn’t or can’t lift weights.
The benefits of weight lifting for women are similar to men. Cardiovascular health improves, muscle growth and strength improve, metabolism speeds up, and body fat decreases when women workout with weight training.
Disadvantages of Weight Training
Some disadvantages of weight training, according to OnlyMyHealth.com, include needing equipment, risk of injury, and the lower rate of calorie burning compared to aerobic exercise.
Unlike a jogger, weight lifting requires weights and a safe place to lift them. Traveling may make it challenging to keep to a regular workout schedule if free lifting. However, you can always use calisthenics such as push-ups and sit-ups to supplement your workout when away from your gym.
There is also a slight risk of injury when lifting weights, especially when you start. Not knowing your limits can increase the chance of overworking yourself or straining a muscle by going too hard too fast. Bad form can be just as damaging as dropping the weights on yourself.
Weight lifting also burns slightly fewer calories than aerobic exercise like running or swimming. However, this can be offset by adjusting your workout. Many experts will recommend doing both to maximize the benefits of both types of exercise.
Does Lifting Weights Burn Fat?
Do Lifting Weights Burn Fat Faster Than Cardio?
What About Lifting Weights While Fat?
While you build muscle mass, you will burn more calories as you work out, but it will still burn off if you have excess body fat. It may take longer, and your burned calories will not be as high if you had less body fat, but lifting weights will help you lose weight and build strength.
Conclusion
- The number of calories you burn will depend on your weight, the exercises you do, your workout duration, and how heavy and how many reps you do.
- You can burn more calories by adjusting your workout to include circuits, exercises that work more than one muscle, decreasing weight, and increasing your reps.
- Lifting weights is beneficial, though progress will not look the same for everyone, especially women.
- Be sure to give yourself rest and recovery time; otherwise, you risk injury and overworked muscles.
- There are a few disadvantages to lifting weights, but they can be offset or avoided with proper care for yourself and workout adjustments to your body, ability, and goals.
- Lifting weights burns fat faster than cardio despite lower calorie burning rates. Weight lifting also burns fat and calories for longer than cardio workouts.
