By Zencalcy Editorial TeamLast reviewed About us
Estimate the calories you burn climbing stairs from your weight, time, and pace. Climbing demands more work than walking on the flat because you lift your body against gravity with every step.
Estimate calories burned climbing stairs by pace.
kcal = MET × weight (kg) × time (hours) slow 4.0 · moderate 6.0 · fast 8.8 MET
Stair climbing MET values rise steeply with pace. Going up uses much more energy than going down, so an up and down routine averages out above a flat walk.
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pace | Climbing speed, which sets the MET value. |
| weight | Your body mass in kilograms. |
| minutes | How long you climbed, in minutes. |
A 70 kg person climbing stairs for 15 minutes at a moderate pace burns 6 × 70 × 0.25 = 105 kcal. At a fast pace the same quarter hour burns about 154 kcal.
Stair climbing is a vertical lift, so the physics is unusually direct. Raising a mass against gravity costs energy proportional to mass, gravity, and the height climbed, which is why stairs rank high among everyday activities. The MET approach prices the effort near 8 to 9 METs for steady climbing, then applies the standard weight and time multiplication.
A physical estimate can cross check it. The work to lift your body mass through the vertical rise is mass times gravity times height, and the body is only partly efficient at turning food energy into that mechanical work, so the metabolic cost is several times the raw work.
Each standard step rises about 0.17 metres, so a flight of stairs gains a known height you can multiply out. Faster climbing and skipping steps raise the per minute cost, while pausing at each landing lowers it.
Descending costs energy too, mainly to control the body against gravity, but far less than going up, so a round trip is not double the climbing figure. The MET value you select should match whether you counted only the ascent or the whole session.
Continue with the Steps to Calories Calculator, Swimming Calorie Calculator, or the Walking Calorie Calculator — or browse more calories burned tools and all sports calculators.
Faster climbing means more repetitions and a higher heart rate, so the intensity, and the MET, climbs sharply.
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Content updated: September 2026