Calories Burned Calculator

Q: How accurate is this calories burned calculator?

For many people, MET math lands within about ±15–20% if you pick the right activity line. The usual miss is choosing “jogging, general” when you were actually doing an easy 6 mph run. Wrist trackers use heart rate too; they can overshoot by 30–50% when stress, caffeine, or heat spikes HR without real workload.

Q: Should I use gross or net calories?

Use net when you are deciding whether to eat back workout calories (only the burn above sitting). Use gross when you are stacking activities into a full-day picture and your daily TDEE already accounts for baseline metabolism separately. Example at 70 kg, 30 min, 9.8 MET: gross about 343 kcal, net about 308 kcal.

Calories Burned Calculator: MET Formula and Activity List

Estimate exercise calories from weight, duration, and Compendium MET values. Gross and net kcal, distance pace mode, food equivalents. Not a medical or dietitian prescription.

What This Calories Burned Calculator Does

Estimates kilocalories for one exercise session using MET × weight (kg) × time (hours). Pick from categorized activities (running, walking, cycling, swimming, gym, sports, and more) or use Distance mode so pace chooses the MET band. Shows gross and net burn, intensity label from MET, a burn meter, brisk-walk comparison text, and food equivalents scaled to your result.

Good fit:

Logging a run or gym session, comparing two activities for the same 30 minutes, or sanity-checking a watch number before eating it back.
Not for:

All-day TDEE by itself (pair with a TDEE calculator), heart-rate zone training prescriptions, or clinical nutrition plans without a professional.

How the Math Works

Values follow the Compendium of Physical Activities (peer-reviewed MET tables). One MET is quiet sitting, about 1 kcal per kg per hour.

Gross:

$\text{Gross (kcal)} = \text{MET} \times \text{weight (kg)} \times \text{duration (hr)}$
Net:

$\text{Net} = \text{Gross} - (1 \times \text{weight (kg)} \times \text{duration (hr)})$
Worked example:

Running 6 mph (9.8 METs), 30 min (0.5 hr), 70 kg: gross = 9.8 × 70 × 0.5 = 343 kcal. Resting slice = 1 × 70 × 0.5 = 35 kcal. Net ≈ 308 kcal.
Accuracy:

±15–20% is typical. Trained athletes may burn slightly less at the same pace; hills, heat, and pack weight are not modeled unless you pick a closer activity line.

How to Use This Calculator

Enter weight, select Activity or Distance, choose intensity (or distance plus time), and set duration. Use the Gross/Net toggle to match your question: total session energy vs extra burn for food.

Activity picker:

MET is printed beside each name. “Running, 6 mph” and “Jogging, general” are different rows; pick the one that matches effort.
Distance mode:

Running, walking, or cycling only. Speed = distance ÷ time drives MET buckets (same bands as the activity list).
Eating back exercise:

Many people use 75–80% of net if they add food after workouts, because tables and watches both skew high.

How Many Calories Does Running or Walking Burn?

At 70 kg for 30 minutes, gross kcal ≈ MET × 35 (because 0.5 hr × 70 kg = 35). Examples: walking 3.5 mph (4.3 METs) ≈ 150 kcal; running 6 mph (9.8 METs) ≈ 343 kcal; running 10 mph (14.5 METs) ≈ 508 kcal. Your weight scales linearly: at 77 kg (170 lb), multiply by about 1.1.

Miles per hour cheat sheet (70 kg, 30 min, gross):

Walk 3 mph (~3.3 METs) ≈ 116 kcal. Brisk walk 4 mph (~5.0 METs) ≈ 175 kcal. Run 6 mph (~9.8 METs) ≈ 343 kcal. Run 8 mph (~11.8 METs) ≈ 413 kcal.

Gross vs Net Calories When Logging Food

Gross is what most apps show for a workout timer. Net removes the calories you would have burned on the couch for that same 30 minutes. If maintenance is already built from a TDEE calculator, double-counting resting burn is easy when you add gross exercise on top.

Use net when:

You are asking “can I have a 300 kcal snack because I trained?”
Use gross when:

You are summing many activities in a spreadsheet and handling baseline metabolism once at the day level.

MET Quick Reference (Common Activities)

Sample Compendium-style values in this tool (not every row listed):

Running:

5 mph 8.3 · 6 mph 9.8 · 8 mph 11.8 · 10 mph 14.5 · stairs 15.0 · jog general 7.0
Walking:

2.5 mph 2.8 · 3.5 mph brisk 4.3 · 4 mph 5.0 · hike 6.0
Cycling:

leisure <10 mph 4.0 · 12–14 mph 8.0 · 16–19 mph 12.0 · >20 mph 15.8
Gym:

weights light 3.5 · vigorous 6.0 · circuit 8.0 · HIIT ~12.5 · jump rope fast 12.3

FAQ

What is a MET and how does this calculator use it?

MET means Metabolic Equivalent of Task. Sitting quietly is about 1 MET (roughly 1 kcal per kg per hour). Running near 6 mph is about 9.8 METs, so you burn about 9.8× resting rate for that effort. This page multiplies MET × your weight (kg) × hours in the activity.

How accurate is this calories burned calculator?

For many people, MET math lands within about ±15–20% if you pick the right activity line. The usual miss is choosing “jogging, general” when you were actually doing an easy 6 mph run. Wrist trackers use heart rate too; they can overshoot by 30–50% when stress, caffeine, or heat spikes HR without real workload.

Should I use gross or net calories?

Use net when you are deciding whether to eat back workout calories (only the burn above sitting). Use gross when you are stacking activities into a full-day picture and your daily TDEE already accounts for baseline metabolism separately. Example at 70 kg, 30 min, 9.8 MET: gross about 343 kcal, net about 308 kcal.

Why does my weight affect calories burned so much?

More mass costs more energy to move. Same workout at 200 lb versus 150 lb is often ~30% higher burn because you are hauling an extra 50 lb through every step. The formula multiplies by weight directly, so as you lose weight, the same run shows fewer calories unless you go faster or longer.

What activity burns the most calories?

In the database, stair running (~15 METs), fast running (~14.5 METs at 10 mph), and butterfly swim (~13.8 METs) sit near the top. A 45-minute brisk walk you will finish beats a 12-minute sprint you quit; duration and pace you can hold matter as much as the MET label.

Why do fitness trackers show different calorie counts?

Trackers mix movement and heart rate. MET tables assume a standard intensity for “running, 6 mph,” not your exact form or hills. Neither is perfect. For food planning, many people trust MET estimates over a watch that credits 900 kcal for a moderate gym hour.

How should I use calorie burn for weight loss?

Do not eat back every calorie the screen shows; estimates often run high. If net says 400 kcal, budgeting 300–320 is safer. Weigh a 7-day morning average for two weeks and adjust food if the scale moves differently than the math predicted.

Does getting fitter mean I burn fewer calories?

Often a little. An experienced runner may use 5–10% less energy per mile at the same pace because movement is more efficient. Same fix as always: slightly more intensity, duration, or a new stimulus if you want the number on the display to stay up.

Profile

Body weight

Activity

Duration

Calorie display

Activity report

Food equivalence

Walking comparison

MET scale

Defaults: ~378 gross kcal for a 30-min run

Four things that move the number

Wrong activity line

Gross vs net

Distance mode pace

Food equivalents are jokes with math