# Calories burned calculator

> Calories burned by an activity from its MET value in the Compendium of Physical Activities, your body weight and the time spent.

Interactive version: https://www.calcopenly.com/health/calories-burned-calculator
Subject: Health and fitness calculators

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.

## Inputs

- **Activity** (options: Walking, 2.8–3.2 mph, moderate pace, Walking, 3.5 mph, brisk, Walking, 4.0 mph, very brisk, Hiking, cross country, Jogging, general, Running, 5 mph (12 min/mile), Running, 6 mph (10 min/mile), Running, 7 mph (8.5 min/mile), Running, 8 mph (7.5 min/mile), Running, 9 mph (6.5 min/mile), Running, 10 mph (6 min/mile), Cycling, under 10 mph, leisure, Cycling, 12–13.9 mph, moderate, Cycling, 14–15.9 mph, vigorous, Stationary bike, general, Swimming laps, freestyle, slow, Swimming laps, freestyle, fast, Elliptical trainer, moderate, Rowing machine, moderate, Circuit training, vigorous, Weight lifting, power or bodybuilding, vigorous, Weight training, multiple exercises, 8–15 reps, Yoga, Hatha, Pilates, general, Aerobic dance, general, Jumping rope, moderate (100–120 skips/min), Tennis, general, Basketball, general, Soccer, casual, Golf, general, Gardening, general, moderate, Sitting quietly, watching TV, Other — enter a MET value)
- **MET value**: Look up the activity at pacompendium.com
- **Weight**
- **Duration**: Minutes, or h:mm

## Results

- Calories burned (kcal) — main result
- Energy in kilojoules (kJ)
- Above resting (MET − 1) (kcal)
- Rate (kcal/h)
- By the MET × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200 rule (kcal)
- MET value used

## Formula

$$
\text{kcal} = \text{MET} \times \text{mass (kg)} \times \text{time (h)}
$$

## Worked examples

### Running 6 mph for 30 minutes at 70 kg

- Activity: Running, 6 mph (10 min/mile)
- Weight: 70 kg
- Duration: 30
- **Calories burned: 343 kcal**
- **Energy in kilojoules: 1,435 kJ**
- **Rate: 686 kcal/h**
- Checked against: Python 3.8 decimal: 9.8 MET (2011 Compendium code 12050) × 70 kg × 0.5 h = 343 kcal; × 4.184 kJ/kcal

### Brisk walk 45 minutes at 150 lb

- Activity: Walking, 3.5 mph, brisk
- Weight: 150 lb
- Duration: 45
- **Calories burned: 219 kcal**
- Checked against: Python 3.8 decimal: 4.3 MET (code 17200) × 68.0388555 kg × 0.75 h = 219.4253 kcal

### Edge: 1 MET for an hour is resting

- Activity: Other — enter a MET value
- MET value: 1
- Weight: 80 kg
- Duration: 60
- **Calories burned: 80 kcal**
- **Above resting (MET − 1): 0 kcal**
- **By the MET × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200 rule: 84 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

### Cycling 14–15.9 mph for 1:30 at 11 st

- Activity: Cycling, 14–15.9 mph, vigorous
- Weight: 11 st
- Duration: 1:30
- **Calories burned: 1,048 kcal**
- **Above resting (MET − 1): 943 kcal**
- Checked against: Python 3.8 decimal: 10.0 MET (code 01040) × 69.8532 kg × 1.5 h; net uses 9.0 MET

## Questions

### How do you calculate calories burned from METs?

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.

### What is a MET in exercise?

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.

### How many calories does walking burn?

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.

### Why might the real calorie burn differ from the MET estimate?

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.

### How accurate is the calories burned calculator?

Accuracy depends on your inputs and the method's assumptions. Decimal arithmetic uses 50 significant digits, but estimates, numerical methods and source data can be less precise; the displayed rounding does not remove those limits. It is checked against 4 worked examples whose answers come from independent sources; for example, “Running 6 mph for 30 minutes at 70 kg” is checked against Python 3.8 decimal: 9.8 MET (2011 Compendium code 12050) × 70 kg × 0.5 h = 343 kcal; × 4.184 kJ/kcal.

### Where does the method come from?

Ainsworth BE et al. 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities: a second update of codes and MET values. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2011;43(8):1575–1581; 2011 Compendium activity table (supplementary digital content 1); Compendium of Physical Activities — unit conversions (1 MET = 1 kcal/kg/h = 3.5 mL/kg/min).

## Sources

- [Ainsworth BE et al. 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities: a second update of codes and MET values. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2011;43(8):1575–1581](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21681120/)
- [2011 Compendium activity table (supplementary digital content 1)](https://cdn-links.lww.com/permalink/mss/a/mss_43_8_2011_06_13_ainsworth_202093_sdc1.pdf)
- [Compendium of Physical Activities — unit conversions (1 MET = 1 kcal/kg/h = 3.5 mL/kg/min)](https://pacompendium.com/unite-conversions/)