Calories burned calculator (by activity)

To estimate calories burned, multiply the activity's MET value by your weight in kg and the time in hours. Thirty minutes of brisk walking (4.8 MET) at 70 kg is 4.8 × 70 × 0.5 = 168 kcal, of which about 133 kcal is extra on top of what you'd have burned sitting down. This calculator does that sum for more than 60 everyday activities using values from the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities.

What a MET is

A MET (metabolic equivalent) compares an activity's energy cost with sitting still. The Compendium of Physical Activities defines 1 MET as 1 kcal per kg of body weight per hour, roughly the energy cost of sitting quietly, or 3.5 ml of oxygen per kg per minute. So an activity rated 4.8 MET uses about 4.8 times your resting energy.

Every value in this tool comes from the 2024 Adult Compendium (Herrmann and colleagues, Journal of Sport and Health Science), the third update of a list researchers have used since 1993. It covers 1,114 activities. Each has a five-digit code, shown under the activity picker, so you can look it up yourself. Where the Compendium has no entry for something (kabaddi, for example), it isn't in the list, rather than us guessing.

The formula

The 2011 Compendium paper recommends one equation, which is the default here:

kcal = MET × weight (kg) × duration (hours)

Many exercise textbooks use an oxygen-based version instead: kcal per minute = MET × 3.5 × weight (kg) ÷ 200. It works out about 5% higher, which is well inside the error of any MET estimate. Pick whichever matches the numbers you're comparing against.

Total vs net calories

The total includes the 1 MET your body would have burned anyway. If you're adding exercise calories to a daily food budget, the net figure is the honest one: net kcal = (MET − 1) × kg × hours. For 30 minutes of brisk walking at 70 kg that's 3.8 × 70 × 0.5 = 133 kcal. The gap matters most for light activities. Hatha yoga at 2.3 MET burns about 81 kcal in 30 minutes at 70 kg, but only about 46 kcal more than sitting.

Worked examples (70 kg, 30 minutes)

Weight changes the result in direct proportion. The same 30 minutes of brisk walking is 120 kcal at 50 kg and 216 kcal at 90 kg.

How to read your result

• Total kcal is the gross estimate for the session.
• Net kcal above resting is the extra burn from the exercise itself. Use this one if you track food against a target from the calorie calculator, and see BMR vs TDEE for how resting and activity calories fit together.
• kcal per 10 minutes makes it easy to compare activities or plan a session.
• Rotis puts the number in food terms. A medium phulka made from about 30 g of whole wheat atta is roughly 95 kcal, since IFCT 2017 lists atta at about 320 kcal per 100 g. The Indian food calorie chart has sizes and swaps.

A useful reality check: 30 minutes of brisk walking is a bit under two rotis. Exercise is great for health and fitness, but for weight loss your eating does most of the work. The guide to calorie deficit and maintenance calories shows how to set a sensible target.

Why your real number may differ

The Compendium lists average costs for adults. Its own authors say it wasn't developed to give the precise energy cost of an activity for an individual, and that the cost varies with body weight and fat, age, fitness, sex, technique and conditions such as heat. A few specific points:

• Resting rate. The 1 MET = 1 kcal/kg/hour convention is an average. In a study of 769 adults, Byrne and colleagues measured resting energy use at 0.84 kcal/kg/hour on average, so the standard MET overestimated resting energy expenditure by about 20%.
• Effort. "Badminton, social" and "badminton, competitive" are 5.5 and 9.0 MET. If you spent half the session waiting for a court, count only the active minutes.
• Age. The 2024 Adult Compendium covers ages 19 to 59. A separate Older Adult Compendium exists for people aged 60 and above.
• Incline treadmill. The Compendium has flat treadmill entries only, so the uphill options use its outdoor hill walking values.

Fitness watches and gym machine displays use their own formulas, so don't be surprised if they disagree with this tool or with each other. Pick one method and use it consistently.

For walking measured in steps rather than minutes, try the steps to calories calculator. For runs, the running pace calculator converts pace to km/h so you can pick the right speed band, and the heart rate zone calculator helps you keep easy sessions easy. The calories burned by exercise chart lists common activities side by side, and zone 2 cardio explains how to build an aerobic base.

If you have a heart condition, diabetes, are pregnant or are starting exercise after a long break, check with your doctor before ramping up intensity.

Useful links

• Compendium of Physical Activities (official site)
• Herrmann et al. 2024, 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities (PubMed)
• Ainsworth et al. 2011, 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities (PubMed)
• Byrne et al. 2005, Metabolic equivalent: one size does not fit all (PubMed)
• ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (PDF)

This calculator is for general information and isn't medical advice.