By Zencalcy Editorial TeamLast reviewed About us
Use this calories burned calculator to estimate how much energy an activity uses. It applies MET values, which express how intense an activity is compared with sitting still, to your body weight and the time you spend. Choose a preset activity or enter your own MET value for full control.
Estimate calories burned for any activity from MET values.
kcal = MET × weight (kg) × time (hours)
One MET is about the energy you use at complete rest, so a 10 MET activity costs roughly ten times your resting rate. Doubling the MET, the weight, or the duration doubles the calories.
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| MET | Metabolic equivalent of the activity, a measure of how intense it is. |
| weight | Your body mass in kilograms. |
| time | How long you did the activity, converted to hours. |
A 70 kg person jogging for 30 minutes at 8 MET burns 8 × 70 × 0.5 = 280 kcal. The same half hour at walking pace (3.5 MET) burns only about 122 kcal, which shows how much intensity dominates.
This calculator converts an activity into an energy cost using its metabolic equivalent, or MET, which expresses how many times faster you burn energy than at complete rest. One MET is the resting metabolic rate, defined in the ACSM convention as an oxygen uptake of about 3.5 millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute, which corresponds to roughly one kilocalorie per kilogram per hour.
The standard equation gives kilocalories per minute as MET times 3.5 times body weight in kilograms divided by 200, multiplied by the number of minutes. The popular shorthand of MET times weight in kilograms times hours gives nearly the same answer, because the constants almost cancel.
The number is a gross estimate, meaning it includes the energy you would have burned anyway just staying alive. A net figure, which counts only the extra cost of the activity, subtracts one MET from the total before multiplying.
Because the input is a single average MET for the activity, the output carries real uncertainty. Individual fitness, technique, terrain, and effort can move true expenditure above or below the typical value, so treat the result as a reasonable planning estimate rather than a measurement.
Continue with the Calories Burned by Heart Rate Calculator, Elliptical Calorie Calculator, or the Fat Burning Zone Calculator — or browse more calories burned tools and all sports calculators.
The presets follow the Compendium of Physical Activities, a widely used reference for exercise intensity. They are averages, so your own burn can differ.
Every result is computed locally in your browser from the formulas shown above. Nothing you type is uploaded, logged, or stored, and no account is required.
Reference material used to build and check this calculator:
Last reviewed: September 2026. See how we build and check every tool on the about page.
Free calculator · No signup
Free calculator · No signup
Free calculator · No signup
Free calculator · No signup
Free calculator · No signup
Free calculator · No signup
Content updated: September 2026