Workout 120728: Exercise Calories

Third Saturday in a row!  I'm really enjoying my new Saturday morning routine.  I like getting up and out of the house at the start of the weekend.  Now if I could just manage it on a schedule.  Each week we've been a little later to the gym.  Bean is headed to a class, so the time is more relevant than I'd like it to be on a Saturday morning.  However, that class is what is getting me in there, so we pretty much need to make it on time.  The lesson I learned this morning?  If you want to be at the gym at 9:15am, start cooking breakfast before 8am.  Let's see how I can apply it next week.

Today's workout:

15 min Treadmill - Hill level 4
3 Sets Each:

10 squats with 10 lb weight
5 Bridge Kickouts
40 Jump Ropes (60 - 75 sec)
10 Bicep Curls with 5 lb weight
10 Tricep Extensions with 5 lb weight (each side)
10 Walking Lunges (5 steps each side)
20 Knee Lifts

10 Crunches
10 Reverse Curls
Stretch

Between the jumping rope and lunges I was pretty exhausted.  I'm thrilled with how much I got done.  It was also strangely satisfying to feel sweat trickling down my ears.  Proof that I'm working hard and making progress.  I like the affirmation.

Earlier this week I added a goal to eat 1/2 my exercise calories.  Before going hog wild, I want to get a more accurate count of what those calories are.  I know the cardio machines in the gym are useless for giving real totals.  Also MFP can only guesstimate because it doesn't have your heart rate during the workout.  Really I need to wear a heart rate monitor.  Lucky for me, one of my co-workers happened to have a Timex that she's no longer using.   Today was my first workout wearing it.

Circuit Training, which is what I consider these style workouts, comes to about 400 calories burned for 30 minutes according to MFP.  The heart rate monitor had a different answer.  As I stepped on the treadmill I started it.  After switching it off during my stretching, it told me that my average heart rate was 145bpm and I burned 812 calories in 45 minutes!!!!  Wow!

That said, I am not planning to eat 406 extra calories today.  Yesterday I went overboard with dinner so I'm working off an overage anyway.  I'm also not sure that I believe the HRM yet.  812's a pretty impressive number.  At least it is to me.  I'm excited to play with the numbers more this week and see how they look taking exercise into account.  Plus I love having a new tool.  I've never been a gadget person (despite years of working in the tech field), but that appears to be changing.  At least I don't have to worry about being bored with MFP.  I'm having too much fun with all these numbers.  :)

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It's time for Stop By Saturday again!  This week's question - What is your favorite event to watch during the Summer Olympics?  For me it would have to be gymnastics.  In recent years I've added swimming to my list but I've been watching gymnastics (women's) since I was a little girl.  There is something about it I just love.  Also, I love to see the sport the host country adds.  Sometimes they are really interesting.

Check out the other blogs in Stop By Saturdays: