Calories Burned Calculator: MET Values for 60 Activities
Estimate the calories an activity burns from its MET value, your weight in kg or lb and the duration. Search 60 activities from the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities, each with its code, or enter your own MET. Runs in your browser; nothing is sent.
Enter your weight and how long you were active to see the calories burned.
About the Calories Burned Calculator
The Calories Burned Calculator estimates how much energy an activity uses from three things: how hard the activity is, how much you weigh and how long you keep it up. Pick one of 60 common activities, from sleeping and slow walking to running at 10 mph and swimming butterfly, or type in your own MET value. Enter your weight in kilograms or pounds and the duration in hours and minutes, and the page shows the total kilocalories burned and the rate per minute.
The activities and their MET values come from the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities, the reference list that exercise scientists use to compare activities. Each activity in the list shows its five-digit Compendium code, so you can look it up in the original tables. You can search the list by any word, such as "swim", "walking" or "tennis", or by the code itself.
This is an estimate, not medical advice. MET values are averages measured in groups of adults, so the energy you actually use depends on your fitness, body composition, technique, the terrain and the weather.
How to estimate calories burned
Steps
- Search for your activity and choose it from the list, or choose Enter a MET value if you know the MET of your activity.
- Enter your body weight and choose kilograms or pounds.
- Enter how long you were active in hours and minutes.
- Read the total kilocalories, the kilocalories per minute and the MET value used.
What a MET is
A MET, or metabolic equivalent of task, compares the energy cost of an activity with sitting quietly. Sitting at rest is about 1 MET; an activity of 4 MET uses about four times as much energy as resting. The Compendium treats 1 MET as roughly 1 kilocalorie per kilogram of body weight per hour, which is the convention this calculator follows.
The formula
Weights in pounds are converted with the exact factor 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg before the formula is applied.
Worked examples
- Running at 6 mph (code 12050, 9.8 MET), 70 kg, 30 minutes: 9.8 × 70 × 0.5 = 343 kcal, or about 11.4 kcal a minute.
- Brisk walking at 3.5 mph (code 17200, 4.3 MET), 154 lb, 1 hour: 154 lb is 69.85 kg, so 4.3 × 69.85 × 1 ≈ 300 kcal.
- Hatha yoga (code 02150, 2.5 MET), 60 kg, 45 minutes: 2.5 × 60 × 0.75 = 112.5 kcal.
Limits of the estimate
The figure includes the energy you would have used at rest anyway, so it is the gross cost of the activity, not the extra calories on top of resting. The 1 kcal per kilogram per hour convention is based on an average resting rate; people who are older, shorter or heavier than average often burn somewhat less than the formula suggests. Use the number to compare activities and plan a week, not as an exact count.
Privacy
Nothing is uploaded; the calculation runs in your browser and never leaves your device. Your weight and activities are not saved.
Related tools
Work out how many calories you need each day with the Calorie Calculator, check your weight against your height with the BMI Calculator, or switch between kilograms, pounds and stones with the Mass Converter.
Sources
- Ainsworth BE, Haskell WL, Herrmann SD, et al. 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities: a second update of codes and MET values. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 2011;43(8):1575–1581.
- Jetté M, Sidney K, Blümchen G. Metabolic equivalents (METs) in exercise testing, exercise prescription, and evaluation of functional capacity. Clinical Cardiology 1990;13(8):555–565.
Open-source credits
The calculations are implemented in-house in TypeScript. They follow the published MET method of the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities, and no third-party code or proprietary table is used.
Frequently asked questions
How are calories burned calculated?
The calculator multiplies the activity's MET value by your body weight in kilograms and the duration in hours. By the convention of the Compendium of Physical Activities, 1 MET is about 1 kcal per kilogram per hour, so 30 minutes of running at 6 mph (9.8 MET) for a 70 kg person is 9.8 × 70 × 0.5 = 343 kcal.
Where do the MET values come from?
From the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities by Ainsworth and colleagues, the standard reference list of activity energy costs. Each activity on the page shows its five-digit Compendium code so you can find it in the original tables.
Does the total include the calories I would burn anyway?
Yes. The MET method gives the gross energy cost of the activity, which includes your resting metabolism for that time. To estimate only the extra calories, subtract 1 MET from the activity's value before calculating.
Why is my fitness watch giving a different number?
Watches combine heart rate, movement and their own models, while this page uses average MET values measured in groups of adults. Fitness, body composition, technique, terrain and weather all change the real figure, so both are estimates.
Can I use my own MET value?
Yes. Choose Enter a MET value and type any value from 0.5 to 25, for example one from a newer Compendium or from a laboratory test.