Calories Burned Calculator: MET Values & Activity Formulas

Knowing how many calories you actually burn during exercise helps with weight management, nutrition planning, and understanding the real impact of your workouts. The MET system provides a standardized way to estimate calorie expenditure for any physical activity based on your body weight and exercise duration.

The MET Formula

MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) measures energy expenditure relative to rest. Sitting quietly = 1 MET. An activity rated at 5 METs burns 5 times more calories than sitting.

Calories Burned = MET × Weight (kg) × Duration (hours)

Or in pounds:

Calories Burned = MET × Weight (lbs) × Duration (hours) / 2.205

Example: A 160-lb (72.6 kg) person running at 6 mph (MET = 9.8) for 45 minutes:

Calories = 9.8 × 72.6 × 0.75 = 533 calories

This is the total calorie burn including your resting metabolism. To find additional calories burned from the activity alone, subtract your resting burn:

Net Calories = (MET - 1) × Weight (kg) × Duration (hours)
Net = (9.8 - 1) × 72.6 × 0.75 = 479 calories

Top 20 Activities Ranked by Calorie Burn

Calories per hour for a 155-lb (70 kg) person:

Rank	Activity	MET	Cal/Hour
1	Running (8 mph)	13.5	945
2	Jump rope (fast)	12.3	861
3	Cycling (16-19 mph)	12.0	840
4	Swimming (vigorous laps)	10.0	700
5	Running (6 mph)	9.8	686
6	Rowing (vigorous)	8.5	595
7	HIIT/Circuit training	8.0	560
8	Basketball (game)	8.0	560
9	Soccer (competitive)	7.0	490
10	Tennis (singles)	7.3	511
11	Hiking (steep incline)	7.0	490
12	Elliptical (moderate)	6.0	420
13	Weight training (vigorous)	6.0	420
14	Dancing (aerobic)	6.0	420
15	Cycling (12-14 mph)	8.0	560
16	Walking (4.5 mph/brisk)	4.3	301
17	Yoga (power/vinyasa)	4.0	280
18	Golf (carrying clubs)	4.3	301
19	Walking (3.5 mph)	3.5	245
20	Stretching/light yoga	2.3	161

How Body Weight Affects Calorie Burn

The relationship between weight and calorie burn is linear — heavier people burn more calories doing the same activity because they’re moving more mass.

Body Weight	Running 6 mph (30 min)	Walking 3.5 mph (30 min)	Cycling 14 mph (30 min)
130 lbs	295 cal	133 cal	295 cal
155 lbs	352 cal	159 cal	352 cal
180 lbs	409 cal	184 cal	409 cal
205 lbs	466 cal	210 cal	466 cal
230 lbs	522 cal	236 cal	522 cal

Common Calorie-Counting Mistakes

Trusting machine displays: Treadmills, ellipticals, and fitness watches typically overestimate calorie burn by 15–40%. Machines use generic formulas and often include resting calories in the total.

Ignoring EPOC: High-intensity exercise creates an “afterburn” effect (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). A hard interval session may burn an additional 50–100 calories in the hours after you stop. Steady-state cardio has minimal EPOC.

Compensatory eating: Studies consistently show people eat back more calories than they burned after exercise. A 300-calorie run doesn’t offset a 600-calorie post-workout smoothie.

Confusing gross and net calories: MET calculations give gross burn (including resting metabolism). You’d burn roughly 70 cal/hour just sitting — subtract that to find what the exercise specifically added.

For weight loss, focus on net calories and be conservative with estimates. Using 75–80% of calculated values accounts for most overestimation biases.

Calculate instantly with our Calories Burned Calculator.