Calories burned by an activity from its MET value in the Compendium of Physical Activities, your body weight and the time spent.
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At 70 kg, 30 min of “walking, 3.5 mph, brisk” (4.3 MET) uses about 151 kcal, of which 116 kcal is above what you would burn at rest.
2011 Compendium code 17200: Walking, 3.5 mph, brisk = 4.3 MET.
1 MET = 1 kcal per kg per hour (Compendium definition). Displayed to the nearest kcal, rounded half-up.
Calories burned = MET × body weight in kg × hours. A MET (metabolic equivalent) is the energy cost of an activity as a multiple of resting, defined as 1 kcal per kg per hour or 3.5 mL of oxygen per kg per minute, and the values here come from the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities. The result is also given in kilojoules, as calories above resting (MET − 1), and by the MET × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200 per-minute rule, which gives 5 % more.
People use it to log workouts and compare activities. A 70 kg person walking briskly at 3.5 mph (4.3 MET) for 30 minutes uses about 151 kcal, 116 kcal of it above resting; running at 6 mph for the same time uses 343 kcal.
MET values are averages measured in adults, so individual costs vary with fitness, technique and terrain. The resting value of 1 kcal per kg per hour is a convention: Byrne and colleagues (2005) measured an average of 0.84 in 769 adults.
Multiply the activity's MET value by body weight in kilograms and by hours: kcal = MET × kg × h. Brisk walking at 3.5 mph is 4.3 MET, so 30 minutes at 70 kg uses 4.3 × 70 × 0.5 = 150.5 kcal. The result is an adult average for that activity, not a measurement.
One MET is the energy used sitting at rest, set by convention at 1 kcal per kg per hour, or 3.5 mL of oxygen per kg per minute (Compendium unit conversions). An activity's MET value is its cost as a multiple of that.
The US Physical Activity Guidelines class 3.0–5.9 MET as moderate and 6 or more as vigorous. Brisk walking at 4.3 MET is moderate; running at 6 mph, 9.8 MET, is vigorous.
For a 70 kg person, 30 minutes of an activity uses MET × 35 kcal. Values from the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities:
Energy scales with weight and time, so the same 30-minute brisk walk at 90 kg is 193.5 kcal. Per mile, a 70 kg person uses about 86 kcal walking at 3.5 mph and 114 kcal running at 6 mph.
MET × kg × h is a gross figure: it includes the 1 MET you would burn sitting still. Subtract that one MET to get what the activity added: (4.3 − 1) × 70 × 0.5 = 115.5 kcal for the brisk walk, against 35 kcal of resting energy.
Use the above-resting figure when you add exercise to a daily total that already counts resting energy, such as a BMR estimate. Adding the gross figure counts that resting half hour twice.
The per-minute rule, MET × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200, gives 158.0 kcal for the same walk. It takes 3.5 mL of oxygen per kg per minute at 5 kcal per liter of oxygen, which is 1.05 kcal per kg per hour instead of the Compendium's 1.
Both are conventions, so pick one and use it for every log you compare.
To convert to kilojoules, multiply by 4.184: 150.5 kcal is 629.7 kJ.
MET values are averages measured in adults, so your own cost moves with fitness, technique, terrain and body composition.
The resting value behind every MET is itself a convention. Byrne and colleagues (2005) measured an average of 0.84 kcal per kg per hour in 769 adults, so the standard 1 kcal overstated their average resting energy by about 20%.
The 2024 Adult Compendium revised 176 MET values as new measurements appeared, so an online table can differ from the 2011 values above. If you enter your own MET value, note which edition or study it came from.
Values are shown to one decimal place.
| Scenario | Gross estimate (kcal) | Above-rest estimate (kcal) |
|---|---|---|
| Default | 150.5 | 115.5 |
| Running example | 343.0 | 308.0 |
| Rest convention | 80.0 | 0.0 |
At exactly 1 MET the gross figure is one hour of rest for 80 kg, so nothing is left above resting.
Checked against: 9.8 MET (2011 Compendium code 12050) × 70 kg × 0.5 h = 343 kcal; × 4.184 kJ/kcal
Checked against: 4.3 MET (code 17200) × 68.0388555 kg × 0.75 h = 219.4253 kcal
Checked against: Compendium definition 1 MET = 1 kcal/kg/h → 80 kcal, 0 above rest; the 3.5 × 80 / 200 × 60 rule gives 84 kcal
Checked against: 10.0 MET (code 01040) × 69.8532 kg × 1.5 h; net uses 9.0 MET
Multiply the activity's MET value by body weight in kilograms and by time in hours. Running at 6 mph is 9.8 MET in the 2011 Compendium, so a 70 kg runner uses 9.8 × 70 × 0.5 = 343 kcal in 30 minutes. The per-minute form, MET × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200, gives 5 % more because it takes 3.5 mL of oxygen per kg per minute at 5 kcal per litre of oxygen.
A metabolic equivalent is the energy used sitting at rest, conventionally 1 kcal per kg per hour or 3.5 mL of oxygen per kg per minute, and an activity's MET value is its cost as a multiple of that. The US Physical Activity Guidelines class 3.0–5.9 MET as moderate and 6 or more as vigorous, so brisk walking at 4.3 MET is moderate and running at 6 mph (9.8 MET) is vigorous.
About 4.3 kcal per kg of body weight per hour at a brisk 3.5 mph (Compendium code 17200), or 3.5 kcal at 2.8–3.2 mph. A 70 kg person walking briskly for 30 minutes uses about 151 kcal, 116 kcal of it above resting. A mile at 3.5 mph takes about 17 minutes, which works out at roughly 86 kcal per mile for that person.
MET values are group averages, and the resting value behind them is a convention. Byrne and colleagues (2005) measured resting energy use in 769 adults and found an average of 0.84 kcal per kg per hour, so the standard 1 kcal figure overstated rest by 20 %. Fitness, technique and terrain also change the cost, and the 2024 Adult Compendium revised 176 MET values as new measurements appeared.
For information only, not medical advice. These formulas describe populations, not you; talk to a clinician before acting on a result.
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