Calorie Burn Calculator
Calculate exactly how many calories you burn during any exercise. Choose from 30+ activities and get instant, MET-based results.
Select your weight, activity & duration
Calories appear instantly
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The calorie burn calculator uses MET values from the Ainsworth et al. (2011) Compendium of Physical Activities — the most comprehensive and widely cited database of exercise energy expenditure in exercise science. Enter your weight, choose from 30+ activities across cardio, strength, sports, and daily activities, and get your calorie burn estimate instantly.
What Is a Calorie Burn Calculator?
A calorie burn calculator estimates the number of calories (kilocalories) your body expends during a specific physical activity over a given time period. Unlike fitness trackers that use heart rate and proprietary algorithms, this calculator uses the well-established MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) method — the same standard used in exercise science research and clinical settings.
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter your body weight — calorie burn is directly proportional to weight, so accuracy matters.
- Select your activity — choose from 30+ activities across cardio, strength, sports, and daily activities.
- Enter your duration — in minutes.
- Adjust intensity — Low (−15%), Moderate (baseline), or High (+15%). Use this to fine-tune for your actual effort level.
How We Calculate Calories Burned
The formula used in this calculator is:
Calories = MET × Weight (kg) × Duration (hours)
Where MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) is a standard measure of exercise intensity. A MET of 1.0 = resting metabolism. Walking at 3.5 mph has a MET of 4.3 — meaning it burns 4.3 times as many calories per unit of time as sitting still.
The intensity adjustment (Low/Moderate/High) applies a ±15% modifier to the baseline MET value to account for variation in effort within the same activity type.
Calorie Burn by Activity — Reference Table
| Activity | MET | 70kg / 30 min | 90kg / 30 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walking (3.5mph) | 4.3 | 151 kcal | 194 kcal |
| Running (6mph) | 9.8 | 343 kcal | 441 kcal |
| Cycling (moderate) | 8.0 | 280 kcal | 360 kcal |
| Swimming (moderate) | 5.8 | 203 kcal | 261 kcal |
| HIIT / Circuit | 8.0 | 280 kcal | 360 kcal |
| Weight Training | 3.5 | 123 kcal | 158 kcal |
| Yoga | 2.5 | 88 kcal | 113 kcal |
| Soccer | 7.0 | 245 kcal | 315 kcal |
Frequently Asked Questions
Running burns approximately 70–110 calories per mile, depending on your weight and pace. A 70 kg (154 lb) person burns roughly 80–90 calories per mile. Heavier runners burn more. Pace has a smaller effect than body weight — the calorie cost per mile is surprisingly consistent across moderate running speeds (5–8 mph). At 6 mph (10 min/mile), a 70 kg person burns approximately 98 calories per mile.
10,000 steps typically burns 300–500 calories for most adults. A rough estimate: multiply your weight in kg by 0.5 to get calories burned per 1,000 steps. For a 70 kg person, 10,000 steps burns approximately 350 calories. This varies based on pace, terrain (hills burn more), and individual stride length. Brisk walking burns more per step than slow walking.
MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task. A MET of 1.0 represents energy expenditure at rest (sitting quietly). Exercise is expressed as a multiple of resting metabolic rate: walking at 3.5 mph has a MET of 4.3, meaning it burns 4.3 times as many calories as sitting still. The formula is: Calories = MET × weight (kg) × duration (hours). MET values are sourced from the Ainsworth et al. (2011) Compendium of Physical Activities.
Yes — significantly. Because the calorie burn formula is directly proportional to body weight (Calories = MET × weight × time), a heavier person burns more calories doing the same exercise for the same duration. A 90 kg person burns approximately 50% more calories running for 30 minutes than a 60 kg person at the same pace.
Fitness trackers typically overestimate calorie burn by 20–60%, depending on the device and activity. Heart rate-based estimates are more accurate than step-count-based estimates for vigorous exercise. For diet and weight management purposes, it is safer to use calculator estimates like this one (based on validated MET values) rather than tracker numbers, and to set conservative calorie targets.
A 300–500 calorie deficit per day is the recommended range for sustainable fat loss (0.5–1 lb per week). Exercise is one component of this — typically contributing 200–400 calories per workout session. Combining exercise calorie burn with a modest dietary adjustment is more effective and sustainable than extreme exercise or extreme dietary restriction alone.
Slightly — but the effect during exercise itself is modest compared to the effect at rest. During exercise, muscle mass mainly matters because stronger muscles can sustain higher intensities. The major benefit of muscle mass is the increase in resting metabolic rate (BMR) — more muscle mass means more calories burned all day, not just during workouts.
Diet creates a much larger calorie deficit than exercise for most people. A 30-minute run burns ~300 calories — the equivalent of a small snack or drink. It takes approximately 7 hours of walking to burn 1 pound of fat through exercise alone. Both matter, but diet is the primary lever for weight loss. Exercise is critical for preserving muscle during fat loss, improving metabolic health, and long-term weight maintenance.