Calories Burned General Calculator
Estimate calories burned for any activity using its MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) value, your body weight, and duration — a flexible calculator that
Calories Burned General Calculator
Calculator
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Formula: Calories = MET × Weight(kg) × Duration(hr)
Worked example — 343 calories
Formula
Calories = MET × Weight(kg) × Duration(hr)
MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task): 1 MET = resting. Walking=3.5, Running=7-12, Cycling=6-10, Swimming=6-8.
Worked Examples
Example 1: 30 min running
Problem:70kg person, MET=9.8, 30 minutes
Solution:9.8×70×0.5 = 343 calories
Result:343 calories
Example 2: 60 min moderate cycling
Problem:82kg person, MET=8 (moderate cycling), 60 minutes
Solution:8×82×1.0 = 656 calories
Result:656 calories
Frequently Asked Questions
What are common MET values?
Sitting: 1.3. Walking (3mph): 3.5. Running (6mph): 9.8. Cycling (moderate): 8. Swimming (laps): 7. HIIT: 8-12.
Why do heavier people burn more calories doing the same exercise?
The MET formula is Calories = MET × Weight × Time (in hours). Because weight is a direct multiplier, a heavier person requires more energy to move their body mass through the same activity. For example, a 90 kg person running at 6 mph burns 30% more calories than a 70 kg person doing the same run at the same pace. This is also why losing weight makes it progressively harder to maintain caloric deficit — the same workout burns fewer calories as you become lighter.
How accurate are calorie burn estimates from MET calculations?
MET-based calculations are estimates and can vary by 20-30% from actual measured calorie expenditure. They do not account for individual fitness level (fitter people burn fewer calories at the same pace), age (metabolism decreases with age), temperature (cold weather burns slightly more calories), and technique efficiency. The most accurate measurements come from indirect calorimetry (measuring oxygen consumption and CO2 production) in a lab setting. Consumer fitness trackers are typically 20-25% inaccurate on average, according to independent studies.
How many calories do I need to burn to lose one pound of fat?
One pound of body fat contains approximately 3,500 calories of stored energy. To lose one pound per week, you need to create a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day through a combination of diet reduction and increased exercise. However, this is a simplified estimate — actual fat loss depends on metabolism, muscle preservation, hormone levels, and food composition. Rapid weight loss (more than 1-2 lbs per week) often involves muscle loss along with fat. A sustainable approach combines moderate caloric restriction with strength training and cardiovascular exercise.
Where do I find the MET value for a specific activity?
The Compendium of Physical Activities, maintained by researchers at Arizona State University, is the standard reference used by exercise scientists and lists MET values for hundreds of specific activities — from gardening (3.8) to competitive singles tennis (8.0) to vigorous martial arts (10.3). Many fitness apps and wearables use this same compendium internally. If you can't find your exact activity, pick the closest listed equivalent by comparing pace and perceived effort rather than just the activity name.
Does Calories Burned General Calculator account for afterburn (EPOC) from intense exercise?
No — Calories Burned General Calculator estimates calories burned during the activity itself using the standard MET formula, not the additional calories burned afterward from excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), sometimes called 'afterburn'. High-intensity interval training and heavy resistance training can add a further 6-15% in extra calories burned over the following hours as the body restores oxygen debt and repairs tissue. Steady-state cardio at moderate intensity produces comparatively little afterburn effect.
How should I use a general calories-burned estimate for weight management?
Use the estimate as one input into your overall daily calorie balance rather than a precise number to eat back. Because MET-based estimates carry meaningful error margins, treat the result as a planning guide — for example, deciding whether a 45-minute session justifies an extra snack, or tracking a rough weekly exercise-calorie total alongside your food log. Combining this estimate with consistent body-weight trends over several weeks gives a far more reliable signal of whether you are in a deficit or surplus than any single workout's calorie count.
What does one MET actually represent in terms of oxygen consumption?
One MET is defined as the resting metabolic rate of a seated adult, conventionally 3.5 millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body mass per minute. Since burning a litre of oxygen releases roughly 5 kilocalories, one MET works out to a little over one kilocalorie per kilogram per hour, which is exactly the shortcut the formula uses. An activity rated at 8 METs therefore demands about eight times resting oxygen uptake. That oxygen basis is why METs transfer across activities: they measure metabolic cost, not movement type.
Does the result include the calories I would have burned anyway at rest?
Yes. Because one MET is resting metabolism, the figure produced is gross energy expenditure, including the baseline calories your body would have spent sitting still for the same period. Net exercise cost is what you get by subtracting that baseline, which means using MET minus one in the formula. For a 70 kg person doing a 6 MET activity for one hour, gross burn is 420 kilocalories and net burn is 350. The distinction matters when you are adding exercise on top of a daily expenditure figure that already counts resting metabolism.
How do I estimate a session whose intensity changes partway through?
Split the session into segments, run each one separately, and add the results, because a single MET value only describes a steady intensity. For a 70 kg person doing 20 minutes of easy warm-up at 4 METs then 30 minutes of hard work at 9 METs, the warm-up gives 4 x 70 x 0.333 hours, about 93 kilocalories, and the main set gives 9 x 70 x 0.5 hours, about 315 kilocalories, for roughly 408 in total. Averaging the two MET values instead would misstate the total whenever the segments are unequal in length.
References
Reviewed for accuracy by Sher, Sports Science & Nutrition Specialist · Editorial policy
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