Calories Burned Calculator
Calories burned walking, running, cycling, swimming, lifting and 120+ other activities, from 2024 Compendium MET values, your weight and minutes.
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About this toolWhat is the Calories Burned Calculator?
The Calories Burned Calculator estimates the energy you used during an activity from three things: its MET value, your body weight and how long you did it. Search a list of more than 120 activities, from walking speeds and running paces to swimming strokes, gym classes, team sports, housework and gardening. Every MET value comes from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities, and each entry shows its Compendium code and original description so you can check it.
The result shows total calories, the share above what you would have burned resting, calories per hour, and how long it would take to reach a calorie goal if you set one. A comparison bar chart puts the same minutes of eight common activities side by side. An optional switch personalises the estimate with your own resting metabolic rate instead of the textbook 3.5 mL of oxygen per kilogram per minute.
The calculation runs in your browser and updates as you type.
- More than 120 activities with 2024 Compendium codes and MET values
- Search across names, descriptions and codes
- Total and above-resting calories, per minute and per hour
- Time needed to reach a calorie goal
- Optional Harris-Benedict personalisation
- Comparison chart for the same duration
How to use the Calories Burned Calculator
- Type part of an activity name in the search box, or scroll the grouped list, and click the closest match. Choose Custom MET value if you have a figure from another source.
- Enter your body weight in kg or lb and the minutes you were actually active.
- Optionally enter a calorie goal to see how many minutes it would take.
- Turn on Personalise and add sex, age and height to use your own resting metabolic rate.
- Read total calories, calories above resting, the hourly rate and the comparison chart.
Worked examples
Brisk walk
Input
Walking, brisk (3.5 to 3.9 mph), 4.8 MET; 70 kg; 30 minutes
Output
176 kcal total, 140 kcal above resting
4.8 × 3.5 × 70 / 200 = 5.88 kcal per minute. The resting share is 1 MET, so 36.75 kcal of the total would have been burned anyway.
Running at 10 minutes per mile
Input
Running, 6 mph (10 min/mile), 9.3 MET; 70 kg; 30 minutes; goal 300 kcal
Output
342 kcal; 300 kcal takes 26 minutes
At the same weight, running at this pace burns about twice as much per minute as brisk walking.
Personalised estimate
Input
Same run, female, 35 years, 60 kg, 165 cm, Personalise on
Output
266 kcal instead of 293 kcal
Her Harris-Benedict resting rate is 1,370 kcal a day, lower than the 1,512 kcal implied by 3.5 mL/kg/min at 60 kg, so the corrected figure is about 9% lower.
Background and insight
A MET (metabolic equivalent of task) is the energy cost of an activity divided by the energy cost of sitting quietly. One MET is defined as 3.5 mL of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. Burning a litre of oxygen releases about 5 kcal, so calories per minute = MET × 3.5 × weight in kg / 200. Brisk walking at 4.8 MET for 30 minutes at 70 kg works out to 4.8 × 3.5 × 70 / 200 × 30 = 176 kcal.
The Compendium of Physical Activities was first published by Barbara Ainsworth and colleagues in 1993 and updated in 2000 and 2011. The 2024 Adult Compendium, led by Stephen Herrmann and published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science, lists 1,114 activities across 22 headings, of which 912 are based on measured data. It removed measurements from adults aged 60 and over, who now have their own Older Adult Compendium, and changed 176 existing values.
Because the 3.5 mL/kg/min baseline overstates resting metabolism for many people, especially women, older adults and people with higher body fat, the Compendium team recommends correcting METs with a predicted resting rate from the Harris-Benedict equation. The personalise switch does this: it multiplies the MET by your own resting calories per minute. The difference is often 5 to 15%.
Common use cases
Logging workouts
Get a sensible figure for an activity your watch does not track, such as rowing, yard work or a dance class.
Comparing options
See whether 30 minutes of swimming, cycling or a brisk walk fits your plan better.
Planning a calorie deficit
Estimate how much extra activity would cover part of a deficit instead of eating less.
Checking app or machine numbers
Treadmill and elliptical displays often overestimate; compare them with the Compendium value.
Tips and limitations
- Enter only the minutes you were moving. A 60-minute tennis session might include 35 minutes of actual play.
- Choose the most specific entry. "Running, 6 mph" is more reliable than "Running, general".
- Use the "above resting" figure when adding exercise to a daily calorie budget, because your resting burn is already in your TDEE.
- Expect individual errors of 20% or more. Fitness, efficiency, terrain and temperature all change the real cost.
- MET values in the 2024 Adult Compendium apply to adults aged roughly 19 to 59. Older adults should expect lower values.
Frequently asked questions
How are calories burned calculated?
Calories = MET × 3.5 × body weight in kg / 200 × minutes. The MET value describes how hard the activity is relative to rest. A 70 kg person running at 9.3 MET for 30 minutes burns about 342 kcal.
How many calories does walking 10,000 steps burn?
Roughly 300 to 500 kcal for most adults, depending on weight and pace. Ten thousand steps is about 7 to 8 km and takes 80 to 100 minutes at a moderate 3 mph pace (3.8 MET). At 70 kg that is about 370 to 470 kcal in total.
What does MET mean in exercise?
Metabolic equivalent of task. One MET is the energy you use sitting still, defined as 3.5 mL of oxygen per kg per minute. An activity rated 6 MET uses six times that. Under 3 MET is light, 3 to 5.9 is moderate and 6 or more is vigorous.
Why does my fitness watch show different calories?
Watches combine heart rate, movement and their own models, and accuracy varies widely between brands and activities. Studies of wrist devices often find calorie errors of 20 to 40%. Neither number is exact; use one source consistently.
Should I eat back the calories I burn exercising?
If your calorie target was set from a sedentary TDEE, eating back part of the above-resting figure is reasonable. If you already chose an active multiplier, the exercise is counted once and eating it back counts it twice.
Which activity burns the most calories per hour?
In the Compendium, all-out efforts top the list: running at 14 mph is 23 MET and elite cross-country ski racing at 12 to 16 mph is 16 MET. Among activities most people can sustain for an hour, running, cycling over 14 mph, rowing hard and swimming laps at a fast pace all sit between 9 and 12 MET.
Where do the MET values come from?
From the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities by Herrmann and colleagues, Journal of Sport and Health Science, volume 13, pages 6 to 12, with full tables at pacompendium.com. Each activity here shows its five-digit Compendium code.
Is there an in-depth guide to the Calories Burned Calculator?
Yes. “Training Numbers Explained: Pace, Heart Rate Zones, 1RM and METs” covers the background, how it works, common pitfalls and worked examples. Read the full guide.
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