Exercise Calorie Burn (MET) Calculator
Pick an activity (walking, running, cycling, swimming, gym work, sports or everyday tasks), enter your body weight and how long you did it, and the calculator returns an estimate of the calories you burned. MET values come from the international 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities; the formula is just: kcal = MET × weight(kg) × hours.
Please enter a valid number
Estimated burn
162 kcal
MET value
5.0
Intensity
Moderate
3–5.9 METs — you can talk but not sing (WHO definition).
Same activity, other durations
| Duration | Calories (kcal) |
|---|---|
| 15 min | — |
| 30 min | — |
| 45 min | — |
| 60 min | — |
Estimate uses MET × body weight × time. Individual burn can differ by ±15%. Source: 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities.
Formula
kcal = MET × body weight (kg) × duration (hours)
- · 1 MET ≈ the energy used sitting quietly = 1 kcal·kg⁻¹·h⁻¹ ≈ 3.5 mL O₂·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹ (Ainsworth 1993).
- · MET values are taken from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities (Herrmann SD, Willis EA, Ainsworth BE et al.), covering 28 common activities across 7 groups.
- · Intensity bands follow WHO / US CDC / ACSM convention: < 3 MET light, 3–5.9 moderate, ≥ 6 vigorous.
- · WHO adult guideline: 150–300 min/week of moderate-intensity activity OR 75–150 min/week of vigorous, or any equivalent combination.
- · The MET formula assumes a healthy adult in steady-state exercise; individual variance from age, body fat, efficiency and fitness can run ±15 %.
- · Output includes the resting metabolic component; for "extra" burn over rest, subtract one MET-hour of BMR for each activity hour.
- · Accuracy drops at the extremes — very low or very high body weight, and very hot or cold environments — because the linear MET model breaks down.
Frequently asked
What exactly is a MET and how does it relate to calories?
A MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) was defined by exercise physiologists in the 1980s as the oxygen cost of sitting quietly: 3.5 mL O₂·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹. A handy shortcut is 1 MET ≈ 1 kcal·kg⁻¹·h⁻¹. So a 70 kg person doing 1 MET worth of activity for an hour burns ≈ 70 kcal; 30 min of jogging at 8 MET burns 8 × 70 × 0.5 = 280 kcal. The unit lets you compare otherwise incomparable activities (stair climbing vs jumping rope vs swimming) on one scale.
Why do the calories here differ from what my Garmin or Apple Watch shows?
Two reasons. First, this tool uses one fixed MET value and assumes steady-state effort, while wrist devices estimate energy expenditure from heart rate in real time — bursty intervals push their reading up. Second, wrist devices also factor in VO₂max, age and sex, while the MET formula only uses body weight. Published validation studies put the two within 10–20 % of each other, so treat them as different methods producing ballpark numbers. The MET estimate is the more reproducible reference; the HR-based watch number may be closer to reality during intervals.
How many calories must I burn to lose 1 pound of fat? How much daily exercise is enough?
The classic rule of thumb is ≈ 3,500 kcal per pound (0.45 kg) of body fat, so a half-kg-per-week loss implies a 500 kcal/day deficit. Exercise is just one lever: a 70 kg person doing 30 min of brisk walking (5 MET) burns ≈ 175 kcal; an hour of jogging (7 MET) burns ≈ 490 kcal. Research (Hall 2013 and others) consistently shows exercise alone is a slow way to lose weight — combining it with calorie control is the mainstream strategy. The WHO target of ≥ 150 min/week of moderate activity is about health, not necessarily weight loss.
Why do the MET values here differ from some other websites?
Two MET tables dominate the calculator world: the 2011 Ainsworth Compendium (revised) and the 2024 Adult Compendium. We use the 2024 edition because it remeasured most activities using modern whole-room and indirect calorimetry. Running and cycling values are essentially unchanged from the 2011 table, but some housework and low-intensity activities are slightly lower. Sites still on the 1993 first edition will read a touch differently — none is "wrong," they just used different samples and methods. We display the MET value next to each activity so you can cross-check.
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