Calories Burned Calculator

Calculate calories burned during exercise and daily activities using MET values — just enter your weight, activity, and duration

Calories Burned

Select an activity, enter your weight and duration, then click Calculate.

Common MET Values Reference
ActivityMETCal/hr (70 kg)
Sleeping0.963
Sitting (desk work)1.5105
Walking (3 mph)3.5245
Walking briskly (4 mph)5.0350
Jogging (5 mph)8.0560
Running (8 mph)11.5805
Cycling (moderate)8.0560
Swimming (moderate)6.0420
Weight training5.0350
Yoga3.0210

Frequently Asked Questions

Calories burned is calculated using MET values (Metabolic Equivalent of Task): Calories = MET × weight (kg) × time (hours). MET represents the intensity of an activity relative to rest. A MET of 1 = resting metabolism. Higher MET = more calories per minute.

Heavier people burn more calories for the same activity because more energy is required to move a larger body mass. This is why the MET formula multiplies by body weight. A 100 kg person burns roughly 43% more calories jogging than a 70 kg person.

MET-based calculations provide a good estimate but actual calorie burn varies by fitness level, age, muscle mass, exercise intensity, and individual metabolism. Heart rate monitors and wearables that track heart rate provide more personalised estimates. Use this as a guide, not an exact figure.

High-intensity activities burn the most calories: running (MET 11.5), jump rope (MET 12.3), rowing vigorously (MET 12), and cross-country skiing (MET 9.5). For a 70 kg person, vigorous running burns about 800+ calories per hour. However, lower-intensity activities sustained longer can also achieve high total burns.

A calorie deficit of 500–750 calories per day typically leads to about 0.5–0.7 kg of weight loss per week. This can be achieved through a combination of diet and exercise. Always aim for sustainable, gradual weight loss rather than extreme deficits.

MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task — a unit that expresses how much energy an activity requires relative to sitting at rest (MET = 1). A MET of 2 means the activity burns twice the calories of sitting; a MET of 10 means ten times. MET values are compiled in the Compendium of Physical Activities, a standardised research database covering hundreds of activities from gardening (MET ~3.5) to vigorous running (MET ~11.5). They are measured using oxygen consumption in laboratory studies.

Walking 10,000 steps at a moderate pace covers roughly 7–8 km and burns approximately 280–400 kcal for a person weighing 70 kg. A heavier person (90 kg) may burn 360–500 kcal for the same walk, while a lighter person (55 kg) burns considerably less. Running 10,000 steps burns significantly more because the MET value for running is 2–3 times higher than walking. Use the steps-to-calories calculator for a more personalised estimate.

Body weight is directly proportional to calorie burn during physical activity because more energy is needed to move a heavier body. The MET formula — Calories = MET × weight (kg) × time (hours) — shows this relationship explicitly. A person weighing 100 kg burns roughly 43% more calories doing the same activity for the same duration as a 70 kg person. This also means that as you lose weight, your calorie burn per session gradually decreases, which can slow further weight loss progress.

Studies show that consumer fitness trackers (smartwatches, fitness bands) have a calorie burn error rate of 15–40%, even from leading brands. Heart rate-based trackers are more accurate than step-count-only devices, but both struggle with activities like cycling, weightlifting, or swimming. MET-based calculators like this one provide a reasonable estimate for steady-state aerobic activities. For the most accurate measurement, metabolic testing in a clinical or sports lab is required. Treat all estimates as useful guides, not exact figures.

Gross calories burned is the total energy expended during an activity, including the calories you would have burned anyway at rest (your BMR contribution). Net calories burned subtracts the resting metabolic calories, representing only the extra burn due to exercise. For example, a 70 kg person jogging for 30 minutes burns roughly 350 gross kcal, but only about 280 net kcal above resting. Most calorie burn calculators report gross calories — keep this in mind when tracking exercise against your daily calorie goal.

About This Calories Burned Calculator

This free Calories Burned Calculator uses standardised MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) values from the Compendium of Physical Activities to estimate energy expenditure. Select your activity, enter your body weight and duration to get a precise calorie estimate. Results include calories per minute and equivalent food comparisons.

Standards & References

Related Health Tools

BMR Calculator
Calorie Intake
Steps to Calories
Macro Calculator

Related Articles

View all articles
Why Your Exercise Calorie Estimates Are Systematically Too High — NEAT Compensation, Dose-Response, and the Muscle Mass Advantage

Why Your Exercise Calorie Estimates Are Systematically Too High — NEAT Compensation, Dose-Response, and the Muscle Mass Advantage

Adding up exercise calorie estimates to calculate weekly expenditure overstates the benefit by 30-50% — because NEAT drops on exercise days, appetite partially compensates, and training efficiency improves. Here's the dose-response relationship between volume and actual burn, why MET values have a ±20-30% accuracy ceiling, the long-term resting metabolism boost from added muscle (13-22 kcal/kg/day), and why fasted exercise doesn't reliably burn more fat over 24 hours.

Jul 1, 2026
Why a "200-Calorie" Strength Session Burns More Than a "200-Calorie" Run — The 24-48 Hour Muscle Repair Effect

Why a "200-Calorie" Strength Session Burns More Than a "200-Calorie" Run — The 24-48 Hour Muscle Repair Effect

Cardio burns calories during the session; strength training continues burning calories for 24-48 hours afterward as muscle fibers repair — and long-term muscle gain increases resting metabolism permanently. Here's what skeletal muscle actually costs at rest (6-10 kcal/kg/day), why muscle protein turnover after resistance training adds 100-300 kcal over the following day, and why the "1 kcal/kg/km" running rule is more reliable than MET values for estimating running calorie cost.

Jun 23, 2026
Why Your Fitness Tracker and a MET-Based Calculator Disagree About Calories Burned — and Which to Trust

Why Your Fitness Tracker and a MET-Based Calculator Disagree About Calories Burned — and Which to Trust

Your fitness tracker says 450 calories; a MET-based calculator says 320 — for the "same" workout. Both are estimates, but estimating differently: MET values are population averages applied to your weight, while wearables use proprietary heart-rate-based algorithms applied to your measured physiology. Here's why neither is "the truth," why resistance training shows larger discrepancies than steady-state cardio, and why consistency of method matters more than which method.

Jun 19, 2026
EPOC, the "Afterburn Effect," and HIIT vs Steady-State: Separating Research from Marketing

EPOC, the "Afterburn Effect," and HIIT vs Steady-State: Separating Research from Marketing

EPOC ("afterburn") adds approximately 6-15% to a workout's calorie burn — real, but smaller than fitness marketing implies. Here's what EPOC actually measures, why HIIT's real advantage is time efficiency rather than metabolic magic, how HIIT and steady-state compare for fat loss, and how resistance training's EPOC differs from cardio's.

Jun 13, 2026
MET Values, RPE, and Heart Rate Zones: How Exercise Scientists Measure Intensity

MET Values, RPE, and Heart Rate Zones: How Exercise Scientists Measure Intensity

METs let you compare any physical activity in a single number. Here's the full MET scale with specific values, the calorie calculation formula, RPE scales and the talk test, heart rate zones explained, and why fitness level makes the same workout burn fewer calories over time.

Jun 9, 2026