Calories Burned Calculator
A calories burned calculator estimates how much energy an activity may use based on your body weight, workout duration, and MET value, which is a standard measure of exercise intensity. It is useful when you want a quick planning estimate for walks, runs, cycling sessions, gym circuits, or other workouts without building the equation by hand. Enter your weight in kilograms, choose a MET value that matches the activity, enter the number of minutes, and the tool returns an estimated calorie total plus the implied hourly burn rate. That estimate can help with exercise logging and routine comparison, but it should be treated as a range-based planning number rather than a precise measure of what your body burned on a given day.
Quick answer
The calculator uses the standard MET method, where higher MET values represent more intense activity and therefore a higher calorie estimate per hour.
What this tells you
- •The calculator uses the standard MET method, where higher MET values represent more intense activity and therefore a higher calorie estimate per hour.
- •Body weight matters because the formula assumes a heavier body usually requires more energy to perform the same task at the same MET level.
- •Duration matters in a straight line, so doubling the workout time doubles the calorie estimate when weight and MET stay the same.
- •The result is only as good as the MET choice, which means selecting a realistic activity intensity is just as important as entering the right time.
- •Use the output to compare sessions, set rough exercise targets, or review habits over time, not to judge fitness, health status, or medical needs.
How to Use
- 11. Enter your body weight in kilograms. If you usually think in pounds, convert to kilograms first so the formula matches the tool exactly.
- 22. Choose the MET value that best fits the activity you actually performed. A relaxed walk, brisk run, and hard interval workout should not use the same MET number.
- 33. Enter the duration in minutes for the active part of the session. If your workout included long pauses, use only the time spent moving at roughly that intensity.
- 44. Click Calculate to see estimated calories burned and the matching calories-per-hour pace for the values you entered.
- 55. Compare a few realistic scenarios if you are unsure about intensity. Running the calculator with a lower and higher MET can show a more honest range than pretending one exact number fits every session.
How It Works
Formula
Calories Burned = MET x Weight (kg) x Duration (hours)This calculator follows the formula used in the source code: calories burned equals MET multiplied by body weight in kilograms multiplied by activity duration in hours. MET stands for metabolic equivalent of task, where 1 MET is roughly resting energy use and larger values represent harder effort. Duration is converted from minutes to hours by dividing by 60 before the multiplication happens. For example, 45 minutes becomes 0.75 hours. The same logic also gives the calories-per-hour figure, which is simply MET multiplied by body weight. The method assumes the activity stayed at about the same intensity for the entered time, so it is most useful for steady sessions or for average intensity across a mixed workout.
Calculation note: values are processed in the order shown above, using the current input units.
Worked Examples
Moderate cardio estimate
First convert 45 minutes to 0.75 hours. Then multiply 7 x 70 x 0.75 to get 367.5. This also means the implied hourly burn rate is 490 calories per hour at the same intensity and body weight.
Brisk walking session
Thirty minutes is 0.5 hours. Using the calculator formula, 3.5 x 82 x 0.5 = 143.5. This is a practical example of how a moderate MET value can still add up over regular daily walks.
Short run with higher intensity
Twenty minutes is one third of an hour. Multiply 8.3 x 60 x 0.3333... and the estimate comes to 166 calories when rounded to the tool's normal two-decimal logic. Short sessions can still produce meaningful calorie totals when the MET value is high.
Longer gym circuit
Ninety minutes converts to 1.5 hours. Then 5 x 95 x 1.5 = 712.5. This example shows how duration can drive the estimate upward even when the MET value is moderate rather than very high.
Vigorous jump rope interval block
Fifteen minutes is 0.25 hours. Multiply 10 x 68 x 0.25 and the estimate is 170. This kind of example is useful for comparing dense, hard efforts against longer lower-intensity sessions.
Lunch-break swim logged in a tracking app
Dana weighs 64 kg and swims freestyle laps at a light to moderate pace for 30 minutes before heading back to her desk. She enters 5.8 as the MET, the value in the table below for that pace. The calculator works out 5.8 x 64 x 0.5 = 185.6 calories and an hourly rate of 5.8 x 64 = 371.2. Her watch reported a higher figure that day, which is expected: wearables combine heart rate and motion data with their own formulas, while this page uses the fixed MET convention. The 185.6 also includes the 32 calories her body would have used sitting quietly for the same half hour (1 MET x 64 kg x 0.5 hours), so the extra cost of the swim itself is closer to 154.
MET values to enter for common activities
Pick the row closest to the pace you actually held, enter its MET in the form, and compare your result with the 70 kg columns. The calculator uses whatever MET you type, so these rows are a starting point rather than a fixed menu.
| Activity | MET to enter | Calories in 30 minutes at 70 kg | Calories per hour at 70 kg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sitting quietly | 1.3 | 45.5 | 91 |
| Yoga, Hatha | 2.5 | 87.5 | 175 |
| Walking, 3.0 mph on level ground | 3.5 | 122.5 | 245 |
| Resistance training, 8 to 15 reps per set | 3.5 | 122.5 | 245 |
| Walking, 3.5 mph, brisk | 4.3 | 150.5 | 301 |
| Circuit training, moderate effort | 4.3 | 150.5 | 301 |
| Elliptical trainer, moderate effort | 5.0 | 175 | 350 |
| Swimming laps, freestyle, light to moderate | 5.8 | 203 | 406 |
| Hiking, cross country | 6.0 | 210 | 420 |
| Bicycling, 12 to 13.9 mph | 8.0 | 280 | 560 |
| Running, 5 mph (12 minutes per mile) | 8.3 | 290.5 | 581 |
| Running, 6 mph (10 minutes per mile) | 9.8 | 343 | 686 |
| Rope jumping, moderate pace | 11.8 | 413 | 826 |
MET values are this page's own selections, rounded to one decimal, following the convention of the Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al., 2011, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise), which lists hundreds of finer-grained activity entries. Calorie columns are computed with the formula above: MET x 70 kg x 0.5 hours, and MET x 70 kg.
What a MET is and why body weight changes the number
One MET is the energy your body uses sitting at rest, defined by convention as an oxygen uptake of 3.5 milliliters per kilogram of body weight per minute, which works out to about 1 kilocalorie per kilogram per hour. An activity rated 4 METs costs about four times resting energy for as long as you keep it up. The Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al., 2011, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise) assigns MET values to hundreds of activities, and most calorie calculators, including this one, work from that convention.
Body weight scales the result because a MET is defined per kilogram. A 90 kg runner and a 60 kg runner holding the same 8.3 METs for 30 minutes get 373.5 and 249 calories, a 50% gap from weight alone. Moving a heavier body costs more energy in walking, running, climbing, and most weight-bearing exercise, which is why the formula multiplies by weight instead of adding a fixed amount.
Intensity ranges give you a sanity check on the MET you enter. Light activity sits below 3 METs, moderate activity runs from 3 to just under 6 METs, and vigorous activity starts at 6 METs, the ranges used in the Compendium and in the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (2nd edition, 2018). If you can hold a conversation comfortably, you are probably under 6 METs. If you can only manage a few words at a time, a vigorous value is the honest choice.
Two conventions exist for turning METs into calories, and they differ by exactly 5%. This calculator uses 1 MET = 1 kcal per kg per hour. The per-minute form, kcal per minute = MET x 3.5 x kg / 200, gives 1.05 kcal per kg per hour at 1 MET, so Dana's 30-minute swim above comes to 194.88 calories under that form instead of 185.6. Neither version is more correct for one person. The Compendium's authors caution that its MET values do not adjust for body mass, adiposity, age, sex, movement efficiency, or environment, so they describe the energy cost of an activity for a population, and Byrne et al. (2005, Journal of Applied Physiology) measured resting oxygen use well below the 3.5 figure in many adults, especially those with more body fat. Expect your real burn to sit somewhere around the estimate, and expect a wearable to show a different number again.
Common mistakes
- Picking a MET value that sounds impressive instead of one that matches the actual pace, terrain, and effort of the workout.
- Entering total session time when a large share of that time was spent resting, stretching, or waiting between sets.
- Using pounds as though they were kilograms, which can inflate the estimate sharply and make the result unusable.
- Comparing one calculator result to another without checking whether both tools use the same MET assumption or the same unit system.
- Treating a calorie estimate as proof of fat loss, workout quality, or daily energy needs without considering food intake, recovery, and total activity.
- Assuming interval sessions stay at one exact intensity for the whole workout even when the effort changed a lot from minute to minute.
Limitations
This calculator applies one MET value across the whole entered duration and converts it at 1 kcal per kg per hour. It does not measure heart rate, oxygen use, body composition, movement efficiency, terrain, temperature, load carried, medications, or medical conditions. The Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al., 2011, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise) states that its MET values are population averages that do not adjust for body mass, adiposity, age, sex, fitness, or environment, which means the same workout can cost one person noticeably more or less than the table suggests. Byrne et al. (2005, Journal of Applied Physiology) measured resting oxygen use in adults and found it averaged well below the 3.5 mL per kg per minute that defines 1 MET, with the largest gap in people with more body fat, so standard MET conversions tend to overstate the cost of activity for them. The number already includes resting energy use, so the calories burned above what you would have used sitting still are lower than the headline figure by about 1 MET x weight x hours. The alternative per-minute convention (MET x 3.5 x kg / 200) runs 5% higher than this tool. Wearables and gym machines use their own sensors and formulas, so expect their estimates to differ, sometimes by a wide margin. Treat the result as a planning estimate and check it against your weight trend over several weeks rather than against a single session.
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