🏃 Calories Burned Calculator
Estimate the energy cost of any activity using published MET values from the Compendium of Physical Activities, scaled to your body weight and the time you spent.
MET values, and what they can and cannot tell you
A MET, or metabolic equivalent of task, is a multiple of your resting metabolic rate. One MET is roughly what you burn sitting still, about 1 kilocalorie per kilogram of body weight per hour. An activity rated at 6 METs costs six times that.
calories per minute = MET × 3.5 × weight(kg) / 200
The 3.5 is millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute at rest, and the 200 converts oxygen consumption to kilocalories. The MET values themselves come from the Compendium of Physical Activities, a research catalogue that has measured hundreds of activities since 1993.
Body weight does most of the work
| Weight | Calories burned |
|---|---|
| 55 kg | 260 |
| 65 kg | 307 |
| 75 kg | 354 |
| 85 kg | 402 |
| 95 kg | 449 |
The same session burns 73% more for a 95 kg person than for a 55 kg one, because moving more mass costs more energy. This is also why calorie burn falls as you lose weight: the identical workout gets cheaper, which is one of the less obvious reasons weight loss decelerates.
Gross versus net burn
A MET calculation gives gross energy cost, which includes the calories you would have burned anyway just by existing during that hour. For a 75 kg person, resting costs about 59 calories over 45 minutes, so a 354-calorie run represents roughly 295 calories of additional burn. The distinction matters if you are adding exercise calories onto a maintenance figure that already assumed you were alive.
Most fitness trackers and gym machines report gross calories and overestimate on top of that, frequently by 20% to 30%. If you eat back what your watch reports, you may be eating back calories that were never spent.
Common MET values
| Activity | MET |
|---|---|
| Walking slowly, 3 km/h | 2.0 |
| Walking briskly, 5.5 km/h | 3.5 |
| Weight training, moderate | 3.5 |
| Cycling, leisurely | 4.0 |
| Pilates | 5.0 |
| Swimming, moderate | 5.8 |
| Running, 8 km/h | 6.0 |
| Basketball, casual | 6.5 |
| HIIT or circuit training | 7.3 |
| Cycling, 20–25 km/h | 8.0 |
| Running, 12 km/h | 9.8 |
Afterburn is smaller than advertised
Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, the raised metabolic rate following hard training, is real but modest. For most sessions it adds 6% to 15% of the workout's own cost, so a 400-calorie session might add 25 to 60 calories afterwards. It is largest after genuinely intense interval or heavy resistance work and negligible after a steady walk.
A worked example
A 75 kg person doing 45 minutes of vigorous weight training at MET 6.0 burns 6.0 × 3.5 × 75 / 200 = 7.9 calories a minute, so 354 calories gross and about 295 net. Swapping to 45 minutes of running at 12 km/h, MET 9.8, gives 579 gross. The difference, 225 calories, is roughly a banana and a coffee with milk.
This page explains published formulas and population averages. It is general information, not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or a registered dietitian before changing how you eat or train.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How accurate are calories burned estimates?
MET-based estimates are within about 15% to 25% for typical activities, which is better than most wearables manage. They cannot account for your fitness level, efficiency, terrain or technique, all of which matter. Treat the number as a reasonable average rather than a measurement.
Why does my fitness tracker show a different number?
Trackers estimate from heart rate and movement, and the algorithms are proprietary and generally optimistic. Studies comparing consumer devices to indirect calorimetry commonly find errors of 20% to 90% for energy expenditure, with heart rate itself being much more accurate.
Do I burn more calories if I am heavier?
Yes, substantially. Energy cost scales roughly with body mass for weight-bearing activities, so a 95 kg person burns about 73% more than a 55 kg person doing the identical session. It also means the same workout burns less as you lose weight.
Does lifting weights burn fewer calories than cardio?
During the session, usually yes, because the work is intermittent. Over weeks the comparison shifts: resistance training preserves and builds muscle, which raises resting expenditure slightly and, more importantly, protects lean mass during a deficit.
What is EPOC or the afterburn effect?
The elevated metabolic rate after exercise as the body restores itself. It adds roughly 6% to 15% of the session's calories for intense work and very little for easy work. It is frequently exaggerated in marketing for high-intensity classes.
Should I subtract my resting calories?
If you are adding exercise on top of a TDEE figure that already assumed a sedentary day, yes, subtract the resting portion to avoid counting it twice. If you are using the activity multiplier in the TDEE calculator, your training is already included and you should not add exercise calories separately at all.