Metabolic Equations for Anaerobic Exercise?

Question

I know several metabolic equations for estimating VO2 (and therefore calories burned) for steady state exercise, but how is VO2 and caloric expenditure estimated through exercises like power lifting and explosive exercise, like burpees?

This being said, what are the METs (metabolic equivalents) for such exercises? All METs I have seen are for physical activity, not for specific exercises.

I would like to know the caloric value of different exercises to estimate whether or not one is over-training.

My current formal education is heavily focused on health vs performance.

There are a few MET charts around that list powerlifting as a general category, but not for individual lifts. For Burpess and similar, I don't think they've ever broken them down individually, I've always just used the figures for various intensities of calisthenics. — JohnP, Jan 09 '14 at 19:18
related: http://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/18730/calories-burn-rate-calculation-scientific-studies?rq=1 — arober11, Jun 02 '15 at 07:54
related: Calories burn rate calculation — scientific studies — arober11, Jul 03 '15 at 19:51
related: Is it possible to measure calorie burn from heart rate alone? — arober11, Jul 03 '15 at 20:16

arober11 · Answer 1 · 2016-03-25T00:20:47.947

The following formula should allow you to convert between MET, vVo2Max, VO2Max, KCal/min:

MET           = vVO2Max 
              =  VO2Max   / 3.5
             ~= kCalBurnt / (bodyMassKg * timePerformingHours)

Kcal/Min     ~= 5 * bodyMassKg * VO2 / 1000

VO2          ~= (currentHeartRate / MaxHeartRate) * VO2Max

MaxHeartRate ~= 210 - (0.8 * ageYears)

Note: The 5 calories / min constant, assumes just carbohydrates are being converted, over a short period. If the exercise is sustained aerobically for a period this value drops to 4.86 to reflect a mix of fats and carbohydrates are being converted into energy.

A number of sites have MET estimates for specific activities eg.

So just use the formula above to estimate the calories spent performing a particular exercise eg. If you spend 6 mins on an Elliptical trainer (moderate effort), which has been assigned a MET score of 5.0, and you weigh 80Kg, you'dend up with:

KCalBurnt = MET * bodyMassKg * timePerformingHours
          = 5.0 * 80 * 0.1 
          = 40 KCal

Similarly if you do 50 push-up in a min, that raises your heart rate from 60 to 150 BMP, and rest for 2 mins, in which time your heart rate drops back down to 90, after the first min, and to a resting 60 by the end of 2 mins, you'd have spent approximately 37 KCal in the 3 mins, as:

AverageHR  = (60 + 150 + 90 + 60) / 3 = 120 BMP  

MaxHR      = 210 - (0.8 * 40 years) = 178 BMP

VO2max    ~= 46 litres (from a Fitness test)

VO2       ~= (120 / 178) * 46 = 31 litres

bodyMassKg = 80 Kg

Kcal/Min  ~= 5 * 80 * 31 / 1000 = 12.4 * 3  = 37.2 KCal

The ACMS equations may also be of interest:

Arm Ergometry VO2 = (3 * workRateWatts) / bodyMassKg + 3.5

Leg Ergometry: VO2 = (1.8 * workRateWatts) / bodyMassKg + 7

Stepping: VO2 = (0.2 * (steps in a Min)) + 1.33 * (1.8 * stepHeightMeters * (stepsInAMin)) + 3.5

Walking: VO2 = (0.1 * metersWalkedInAMin) + (1.8 * metersWalkedInAMin) * (fractionalGrade) + 3.5

Running: VO2 = (0.2 * metersRunInAMin) + (0.9 * metersRunInAMin) * (fractionalGrade) + 3.5

Issue is the anaerobic phase of any exercise lasts no more than the 40 secs, essentially the time it takes your body to consume ATP already present in your muscle tissue. From that point on Oxygen is required to release the energy stored in the sugars and fats in your body, via the Citric acid cycle. — arober11, Apr 01 '15 at 13:07
Also potentially of interest an article that indicates the average body has approximately 8 sec worth of ATP available at any point: RULES OF THE AMATEUR UNPRO CYCLIST, also that the body can for a limited period, inneficiently convet glucose to ATP via anaerobic respiration. This anaerobic conversion is 1/9 as efficient at releasing energy from glucose as aerobic respiration and results in lactic acid. — arober11, Apr 03 '15 at 00:16
Finally either this article on Energy Pathways or chapter 3 of Nutrition for Health, Fitness, & Sport, 7/e may congain what you want. — arober11, Apr 03 '15 at 01:02
@arober11 Can you please post the source of the first 4 formula? — Ramy Al Zuhouri, Jun 18 '18 at 11:21
Wikipedia has the sources cited, eg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VVO2max#Determining_vVO2max_from_VO2max — arober11, Jun 19 '18 at 18:01

Metabolic Equations for Anaerobic Exercise?

1 Answers1

Linked