Does Strength Training Burn Calories?

Strength training is an integral part of a comprehensive fitness program, along with cardiovascular exercise, flexibility and mobility, proper nutrition, and rest and recovery. Many people think strength training is only needed for building muscle strength and hypertrophy, and cardiovascular exercise is for burning calories and strengthening the heart. But does strength training also burn calories? You bet!

Calorie burning is definitely not the exclusive domain of endless amounts of cardio. Any exercise that raises your heart rate will burn calories, and that includes strength training. There are plenty of ways to maximize your calorie burn and get the most benefits in an efficient manner.

Below, we’ll dig into exactly how strength training burns calories, including: 

• Understanding how calorie burn works

• Does strength training burn calories?

• How many calories does strength training burn?

• Cardio vs. strength training: Calories burned

• How to maximize your calorie burn with strength training

• 5 common myths about strength training and calorie burn 

Understanding how calorie burn works

Everything we do, from sleeping to the most rigorous exercise, burns calories. Some activities burn more calories than others, but everything we do uses energy from calorie burning. There are three main processes our bodies use to burn calories: 

1. Basal metabolic rate

2. Digesting food and storing nutrients

3. Activity

Our basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of calories we need at rest for basic body functions like breathing and circulating our blood. While everybody is slightly different, your BMR accounts for approximately 75% of your calorie burn. Digesting and storing the food you eat takes about 10%, and the remaining is burned through activity. In addition to exercise, this includes everything from brushing your teeth to walking up the stairs to loading the dishwasher. Even deep breathing can burn calories by increasing your resting metabolic rate (RMR), the amount of energy your body burns at rest. 

Activity, and specifically exercise, is the calorie-burning method we have the most control over. The more active you are, the more calories you burn. When we take in food and drink, our body stores it to use as energy. When we engage in physical activity, we break down the stored energy to help power our activities.

Does strength training burn calories?

As we’ve already learned, every type of activity we do from the smallest and simplest activities to the most rigorous activities, requires energy. We get that energy in the form of calorie burn. So, yes, strength training exercise definitely burns calories. 

It’s even been shown that strength training can boost your metabolism for up to several hours after your workout, essentially creating an afterburn effect. This is called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). And it means that the boost in calorie burn we get during a strength workout continues even after the workout is complete.  

How many calories does strength training burn?

Like anything when it comes to the human body, the basic systems are the same for everybody, but we’re all a little different and unique. So, the exact amount of calories strength training burns is different for everyone and can depend on several factors. For example:

• The duration of the workout: In general, the longer the workout, the more calories you’ll burn.

• The intensity of the workout: The more intense the workout, the more calories you’ll burn.

• Your current body weight: More often than not, heavier individuals burn more calories than their lighter weight counterparts.

• Your current fitness level: Muscle tissue burns more calories than other body tissues, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. But the more adapted you are to a particular physical activity, the more efficient your body becomes, so in some cases you may burn fewer calories than a beginner doing the same activity.

Cardio vs. strength training: Calories burned

Strength training and cardio or aerobic exercise are two very different types of activity. Both are important components of a fitness routine that should also include flexibility and mobility training, rest and recovery, and good nutrition. All of these components contribute different benefits to your overall health and fitness. That being said, if your schedule is tight and you need to maximize your exercise time to burn more calories, is cardio or strength training the better bet?

Studies show that calorie for calorie, you’ll burn more during 30 minutes of moderately intense cardio versus 30 minutes of strength training. However, strength training will increase your muscle mass over time, and the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even at rest. Strength training can boost your basal metabolic rate, which will support increased calorie burn.

Cardio exercise is also important for lung and heart health, lowering blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol, and reducing your risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. Strength training is important for building strong bones, muscular strength, reducing the risk of falls, and improving posture and mobility. 

How to maximize your calorie burn with strength training

If you want to get the most out of your strength training routine and reach your goals quickly, there are some strategies you can use to burn more calories with strength training: 

1. Frequency

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends adults get at least two days of resistance exercise a week. This minimum is a good starting point, but increasing the frequency can help boost the intensity. Strength training three to four times a week will increase your calorie burn, as well as all the other benefits you get from a consistent strength training program.

2. Intensity

Keeping the intensity of your strength workout high will help you burn more calories. Some ways you can adjust the intensity of a workout are increasing the weight, your number of reps, or your total sets. You can also decrease your rest time between sets or incorporate strength training techniques like supersets or drop sets.

3. Compound exercises

Compound exercises are strength moves that use multiple muscle groups at once. Involving as many muscles as possible in each exercise will increase the intensity of the exercise and your overall workout. Some compound moves to consider adding to your routine include squats, reverse lunges, bench presses, and overhead shoulder presses.

5 common myths about strength training and calorie burn

Strength training is often misunderstood when it comes to calorie burn, leading to myths that can hold people back from maximizing their workouts, such as: 

1. Myth: Light weights and high reps burn more calories

Completing more repetitions could mean a longer workout, so you may burn more calories initially. However, making your workout more intense with moderate to heavy weights will build more muscle and help you burn more calories over the long term by boosting your basal metabolic rate.

2. Myth: No pain, no gain

The idea that a workout has to be painful just for it to be effective is outdated. Pain during a workout is a sign of injury and an indication that you need to stop and reconsider what you’re doing. Temporary muscle fatigue and soreness while you exercise is normal, but pain is not.

3. Myth: If you don’t sweat, it’s not worth it

The average sweat rate for most adults is a range of about 0.5 to 2.0 liters per hour. Everyone’s sweat reaction is different and is based on a number of factors so this is not something you should use to determine the intensity or effectiveness of your workout. 

4. Myth: Exercise allows you to eat whatever you want

Unfortunately, your tough workout doesn’t give you the greenlight to binge on nachos and sugary soda. Even the most intense strength training will only produce benefits when accompanied by proper nutrition. You don’t need to be super-strict, but you also don’t want to undo your hard-earned calorie burn by being lax with your food choices. 

5. Myth: Cardio is the best way to burn calories

As mentioned earlier, you may burn more calories in a cardio workout versus the same amount of time strength training, but the lifting workout will build muscle tissue that will have you burn calories for longer and elevate your BMR. 

Get started with strength training today!

Strength training has a whole host of benefits for your health, including stronger muscles, stronger bones, better balance, better mobility, better posture, reduced risk of falls, and boosted metabolism through improved basal metabolic rate. 

If burning calories is a priority for you, strength training can accomplish that, too. If you’re looking for a way to incorporate strength training into your home fitness routine, Hydrow’s extensive library of workouts include strength training and rowing workouts led by world-class Athletes. And if you’re interested in a full-body workout routine, a Hydrow rowing machine works 86% of your muscles in a single stroke. 

Learn more about the benefits of rowing and a Hydrow rowing machine today!