How to use
- Choose Metric or Imperial and enter your body weight.
- Pick an activity. The 40 options come from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. You can also enter your own MET value.
- Enter the duration in minutes, or tap a popular workout.
- See the calories burned, the burn per hour and how it compares with other activities.
How calories burned are calculated
Calories (kcal) = MET × body weight (kg) × time (hours)
- A MET (metabolic equivalent) compares an activity with resting. The Compendium defines 1 MET as 1 kcal per kg per hour, or 3.5 mL of oxygen per kg per minute.
- Each activity has a published MET value and a 5-digit code. Brisk walking (code 17200) is 4.8 METs: nearly five times your resting burn.
- In pounds, we first convert: 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg.
Examples
- 70 kg, brisk walk, 30 minutes: 4.8 × 70 × 0.5 = 168 kcal (703 kJ).
- 154 lb, running at 6 mph, 1 hour: 154 lb is 69.85 kg, so 9.3 × 69.85 × 1 = 650 kcal.
- 80 kg, cycling at 12–13.9 mph, 45 minutes: 8.0 × 80 × 0.75 = 480 kcal.
Calories burned in 30 minutes
| Activity (Compendium code) | METs | 60 kg (132 lb) | 80 kg (176 lb) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yoga, Hatha (02150) | 2.3 | 69 | 92 |
| Cleaning the house (05030) | 3.3 | 99 | 132 |
| Weight training, 8–15 reps (02054) | 3.5 | 105 | 140 |
| Walking, moderate pace (17190) | 3.8 | 114 | 152 |
| Walking, brisk (17200) | 4.8 | 144 | 192 |
| Swimming laps, slow (18240) | 5.8 | 174 | 232 |
| Tennis, moderate effort (15675) | 6.8 | 204 | 272 |
| Cycling, 12–13.9 mph (01030) | 8.0 | 240 | 320 |
| Running, 6 mph (12050) | 9.3 | 279 | 372 |
| HIIT, vigorous (02214) | 11.0 | 330 | 440 |
How accurate is it?
The Compendium lists typical values. Real energy use varies with age, sex, height, weight and body composition, so treat the result as an estimate.
- The values are for adults aged 19 to 59. For people 60 and over, whose resting metabolism is lower, the Compendium publishes separate Older Adult values.
- They are not meant for people with conditions that change energy use, such as heart failure, COPD or pregnancy.
Why other calculators give different numbers
Some calculators use (MET × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200) per minute. That counts each MET as 1.05 kcal/kg/h, so results are 5% higher: 684 kcal instead of 651 for 70 kg running at 6 mph for an hour. We follow the Compendium.
Others still use 2011 Compendium values. In the 2024 update, brisk walking rose from 4.3 to 4.8 METs and running at 6 mph fell from 9.8 to 9.3.
The total includes the energy you would burn anyway. The “extra over sitting quietly” line subtracts 1 MET: 133 kcal for the 30-minute brisk walk above.
To see how these calories fit into your whole day, use the calorie calculator. For running speeds and paces, try the pace calculator.