This calculator estimates how many calories you burn doing almost any activity — walking, running, cycling, swimming, weight training, sports, housework and more. Each activity carries a standard MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) value drawn from the Compendium of Physical Activities. Enter your body weight and how long you exercised, and you get the total calories burned plus per-minute and per-hour rates.
How it works
A MET expresses how intense an activity is relative to sitting still: 1 MET ≈ 3.5 mL of oxygen per kilogram per minute. The tool uses the Compendium energy-expenditure formula:
kcal per minute = (MET × 3.5 × body mass in kg) ÷ 200
The total is that rate multiplied by your minutes of activity. Weight entered in pounds is converted to kilograms first (× 0.45359237). Because the formula scales with body mass, a heavier person burns more calories for the same activity and duration.
Example
A 70 kg person runs at 10 km/h (MET 9.8) for 30 minutes:
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Per minute | (9.8 × 3.5 × 70) ÷ 200 | 12.0 kcal/min |
| Total (30 min) | 12.0 × 30 | ~360 kcal |
| Per hour | 12.0 × 60 | ~721 kcal/hour |
So that half-hour run burns roughly 360 calories.
These are population estimates and individual results vary with fitness, terrain and intensity. Everything runs locally in your browser — your details are never uploaded.
Comparing activities: MET values in context
MET values make it possible to compare the energy cost of very different activities on the same scale. Some representative values from the Compendium of Physical Activities:
| Activity | MET | Approx. kcal/hour (70 kg person) |
|---|---|---|
| Slow walking (3 km/h) | 2.8 | ~294 |
| Brisk walking (5.5 km/h) | 4.3 | ~451 |
| Cycling (moderate) | 6.8 | ~714 |
| Running (10 km/h) | 9.8 | ~1,029 |
| Swimming (vigorous) | 10.0 | ~1,050 |
| Jumping rope | 11.8 | ~1,239 |
| Yoga | 2.5 | ~263 |
| Weight training (moderate) | 5.0 | ~525 |
The ratio between slow walking and jumping rope is roughly 4-to-1 in calorie burn per minute. This illustrates why intensity matters so much for exercise efficiency: a 20-minute jump-rope session burns as many calories as about 80 minutes of slow walking.
Limitations of MET-based estimates
MET values are population averages, and individual burn rates vary considerably depending on:
- Fitness level. A well-trained runner is metabolically more efficient and burns fewer calories per kilometre than an untrained person doing the same pace.
- Terrain and conditions. Running uphill, cycling into a headwind, or swimming in open water increases the actual energy cost above the flat-calm reference condition used to assign the MET.
- Body composition. The formula uses total body mass, but muscle tissue is metabolically more active than fat at rest. Two people of the same weight with different muscle-to-fat ratios will have different resting metabolic rates, which the formula does not capture.
- Actual exercise intensity. A “moderate cycling” session can range from a leisurely spin to a near-maximum effort depending on the individual. MET-based estimates assume a standard effort for the label — actual effort may diverge.
For these reasons, MET-based calorie estimates are best used as a directional guide for comparing activities, planning training volumes, or tracking rough trends over time — not as precise fuel-intake targets.
Connecting the result to your total daily energy needs
The calories shown here are the energy cost of the activity itself, not your total daily calorie burn. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) — the energy your body uses at complete rest — typically accounts for 60–70% of total daily energy expenditure. The calories from exercise are added on top of that. If you want to see how an activity fits into your full daily energy budget, use this result alongside a TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) calculator that also estimates BMR and non-exercise activity.