In recent years, wearable tech has become a staple in our fitness routines. Many of us sport Apple Watches, Fitbits, or other gadgets that track our daily activities, including the calories we burn during workouts. While these devices offer insights into our physical health, they can also mislead us, especially when we use them to measure the success of our resistance training sessions solely by the calories burned.
The Limitations of Calorie Tracking Devices
Tracking calories during a cardio workout might seem straightforward, but it’s a different story with resistance training. It’s tempting to correlate the effectiveness of a workout with the number of calories burned. However, this approach is flawed. Resistance training offers benefits that go beyond calorie expenditure, including increased strength, improved exercise technique, and enhanced endurance. Moreover, an overemphasis on calories can push you to rush through your workouts, increasing the risk of injury.
Feeling disappointed because you didn’t burn “enough” calories is common, yet many factors influence calorie burn, such as age, sex, muscle mass, and fitness level. It’s noteworthy that individuals with more muscle mass typically burn more calories.
The Real Benefits of Resistance Training Beyond Calories
Building muscle is an efficient way to increase calorie burn throughout the day. Maintaining muscle requires a significant amount of energy. For instance, gaining just one pound of muscle can help you burn an additional 50 calories daily. This adds up to 18,000 more calories burned annually. Imagine the impact of adding 4-5lbs of muscle!
Relying on wearable tech for workout satisfaction or as a measure of success can be misleading, as these devices often offer inaccurate data. The true measure of a workout’s effectiveness is the effort you put in. A strong effort guarantees satisfaction and encourages consistency—the cornerstone of achieving lasting results.
The Role of Muscle Mass in Calorie Burning
Understanding the importance of muscle mass in calorie burning and overall health can shift our focus from merely counting calories to enhancing physical strength and capabilities. This perspective encourages a more balanced approach to fitness, where the goal is to improve health and well-being rather than fixating on numbers.
In Conclusion:
Let’s not allow wearable technology to dictate our workout satisfaction or our perceptions of success. By focusing on the effort and the holistic benefits of our workouts, we can achieve greater health and satisfaction in our fitness journeys. Remember, consistency is key to seeing results, not the numbers on a device.
