Calories Burned Calculator
Calculate calories burned during exercise and daily activities using MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) values.
What Is a Calories Burned Calculator?
Understanding how many calories you burn during physical activity is essential for managing your weight, planning your nutrition, and designing effective exercise programmes. Every activity — from sleeping to sprinting — requires energy, and the amount varies dramatically depending on the type, intensity, and duration of the activity, as well as your body weight. A heavier person burns more calories performing the same activity because more energy is required to move more mass.
The Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) system, maintained by the Compendium of Physical Activities, is the standard scientific method for quantifying the energy cost of physical activities. One MET represents the energy expenditure at rest, approximately 3.5 ml of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute, or roughly 1 calorie per kilogram per hour. An activity with a MET value of 5 means it requires five times the energy of sitting quietly. The Compendium, originally published by Ainsworth et al. in 1993 and regularly updated, catalogues MET values for over 800 activities.
This calculator uses MET values from the Compendium to estimate calorie expenditure for a wide range of activities, from walking and cycling to sports, household tasks, and occupational work. While the MET system provides a well-validated estimate, individual calorie burn can vary by 10-20% based on fitness level, movement efficiency, environmental conditions, and genetics. For the most accurate tracking, combine this calculator with a heart rate monitor, which can account for your individual exercise intensity.
How Do You Use This Calories Burned Calculator?
Select an activity, enter your body weight and the duration of the activity. The calculator uses MET values from the Compendium of Physical Activities to estimate calories burned.
- Enter your body weight in kilograms or pounds.
- Select an activity from the list or search by name (activities are grouped by category).
- Enter the duration of the activity in minutes.
- Click calculate to see the estimated calories burned.
- Optionally add multiple activities to see the total for an entire day or workout session.
- Compare different activities to find the most efficient options for your fitness goals.
How Does the Calories Burned Calculator Formula Work?
The formula used: Calories Burned = MET * Body Weight (kg) * Duration (hours)
The calorie calculation uses the MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) value assigned to each activity by the Compendium of Physical Activities, combined with your body weight and activity duration.
Calories Burned = MET * Body Weight (kg) * Duration (hours)
For example, running at 8 km/h has a MET value of 8.3, meaning it burns 8.3 times more energy than sitting at rest. A 70 kg person running for 1 hour would burn approximately 8.3 * 70 * 1 = 581 calories. This formula assumes a resting metabolic rate of approximately 1 kcal/kg/hour. The result represents total calories burned including the resting component, not just the additional calories from the activity.
What Are Some Example Calculations?
A 70 kg person running at 8 km/h (MET 8.3) for 30 minutes: Calories = 8.3 * 70 * 0.5 = 290.5 kcal.
A 65 kg person walks briskly (5.6 km/h, MET 3.6) for 45 minutes.
Calories = MET * Weight * Duration = 3.6 * 65 * (45/60) = 3.6 * 65 * 0.75 = 175.5 kcal.
Approximately 176 calories burned during a 45-minute brisk walk.
An 80 kg person cycles at moderate effort (19-22 km/h, MET 8.0) for 60 minutes.
Calories = 8.0 * 80 * 1.0 = 640 kcal.
Approximately 640 calories burned during one hour of moderate cycling.
A 55 kg person does yoga (Hatha, MET 2.5) for 90 minutes.
Calories = 2.5 * 55 * (90/60) = 2.5 * 55 * 1.5 = 206.25 kcal.
Approximately 206 calories burned during a 90-minute Hatha yoga session.
When Should You Use a Calories Burned Calculator?
Use the calories burned calculator when you need to estimate the energy expenditure of your workouts, daily activities, or physical labour. This information is essential for creating a calorie budget — if your goal is fat loss, you need to ensure your total expenditure exceeds your intake, and knowing how many calories your exercise burns helps you plan your diet accordingly. It is equally useful for those trying to gain weight, as it helps determine how much additional food is needed to compensate for activity.
This calculator is also valuable for comparing the efficiency of different exercises. If you have limited time, you can identify which activities burn the most calories per minute. It helps personal trainers design programmes for clients, supports sports nutritionists in planning meal plans for athletes, and gives casual exercisers a better understanding of the energy impact of their daily movement — including non-exercise activities like housework, gardening, and walking that contribute significantly to total daily expenditure.
What Do These Terms Mean?
What Are the Best Tips to Know?
- Remember that non-exercise activities (walking, housework, fidgeting) can account for 15-30% of your total daily calorie burn — do not focus only on formal workouts.
- Higher-intensity activities burn more calories per minute, but moderate activities performed for longer durations can match or exceed total burn.
- Your actual calorie burn decreases as you become fitter and more efficient at an activity — increase intensity or duration to maintain the same expenditure.
- Post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) means you continue burning extra calories for hours after intense exercise — this is not included in the MET calculation.
- Use the calculator alongside a food diary to maintain awareness of your energy balance over days and weeks.
What Mistakes Should You Avoid?
- Double-counting calories by eating back all exercise calories when using a food tracking app that also accounts for activity — this often leads to overeating.
- Overestimating exercise duration by including warm-up, rest periods, and transitions at the same intensity as the peak activity.
- Assuming calorie burn displayed on gym machines is accurate — most machines overestimate by 15-30% compared to MET-based calculations.
- Ignoring body weight in comparisons — a heavier person will always burn more calories doing the same activity, so direct comparisons between individuals are misleading.
Frequently Asked Questions
How accurate are MET-based calorie calculations?
MET values are well-validated population averages with a typical accuracy of plus or minus 10-20% for individuals. Factors like fitness level, movement efficiency, environmental conditions, and individual metabolism cause variation. For most practical purposes, MET calculations provide useful estimates for planning nutrition and exercise.
Why do heavier people burn more calories?
Moving a heavier body requires more energy. The calorie burn formula is directly proportional to body weight — a 90 kg person burns approximately 29% more calories than a 70 kg person doing the same activity for the same duration. This is why weight loss can slow over time as you weigh less.
Do I burn more calories exercising in the cold?
Cold exposure can increase calorie burn, but the effect during exercise is modest unless you are shivering. The body burns extra calories to maintain core temperature, but vigorous exercise generates significant heat that offsets this effect. Cold-water swimming is a notable exception where the calorie cost is substantially higher.
What is the most efficient exercise for burning calories?
Running, cycling at high intensity, swimming, and rowing are among the highest calorie-burning activities (MET values of 8-14+). However, the best exercise for you is one you enjoy and will do consistently. A moderate activity performed regularly outperforms an intense activity done sporadically.
Should I eat back the calories I burn during exercise?
It depends on your goal. For weight loss, eating back all exercise calories often erases your deficit because calorie estimates are imperfect. A common approach is to eat back 50-75% of estimated exercise calories. For maintenance or muscle gain, replacing exercise calories is important to avoid unintended weight loss.
Does muscle burn more calories than fat at rest?
Yes, but the difference is smaller than commonly claimed. One kilogram of muscle burns approximately 13 calories per day at rest, compared to about 4.5 calories for one kilogram of fat. Gaining 5 kg of muscle increases resting metabolism by roughly 40-65 calories per day — meaningful over time but modest day to day.
How do fitness trackers estimate calories burned?
Fitness trackers use a combination of heart rate data, accelerometer readings, and personal information (age, weight, height, gender) to estimate calorie expenditure using proprietary algorithms. Their accuracy varies by brand and activity type but is generally within 10-30% of actual expenditure for steady-state activities and less accurate for strength training.
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