Calories Burned Calculator

Frequently Asked Questions

MET-based estimation has a typical individual error of 10 to 20 percent. The MET values are population averages from controlled laboratory studies, and your actual calorie burn depends on your fitness level, movement efficiency, body composition, age, and environmental conditions. For most people using consistent settings, the estimates are accurate enough for tracking trends and planning nutrition. If you need a more precise measurement, consider using a heart rate monitor paired with a metabolic calibration, which accounts for individual variation in oxygen consumption.

MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task. One MET is defined as the energy cost of sitting quietly, which is approximately 1 kcal per kilogram of body weight per hour, or an oxygen consumption of 3.5 mL per kilogram per minute. An activity with a MET of 5.0 requires five times the energy of resting. The MET system was developed by exercise physiologists to create a standardised way of classifying physical activities by intensity, independent of individual body weight differences.

No, the MET formula uses only body weight, activity MET value, and duration. Age, sex, fitness level, body composition, and environmental conditions all affect actual calorie burn but are not included in the formula. The typical variation from these factors is 10 to 20 percent. A trained athlete burns fewer calories at a given pace than a novice, while a person with higher muscle mass burns more at rest. Use the estimate as a guideline and compare with other metrics like heart rate for a more personalised picture.

Yes, tracking your exercise calorie expenditure helps you understand your total daily energy expenditure and plan your calorie deficit. A deficit of 300 to 500 kcal per day produces sustainable weight loss of 0.3 to 0.5 kg per week. For example, if your BMR and daily activities burn 2,000 kcal and you eat 1,700 kcal, your dietary deficit is 300 kcal. Adding a workout that burns 250 kcal increases your total deficit to 550 kcal. Use this calculator alongside the Calorie Deficit Calculator for a complete weight loss timeline projection.

MET-based estimation is generally more reliable than fitness tracker estimates, which have been shown to overestimate calorie burn by 15 to 50 percent in published studies. Fitness trackers use proprietary algorithms that often rely on wrist-based heart rate and motion sensors, which have limited accuracy for calorie estimation. The MET method is derived from direct laboratory measurements of oxygen consumption and is the standard used in clinical exercise research. For the most accurate tracking, use MET estimates for planning and fitness tracker data for relative comparisons.

It depends on your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, you should not eat back all of your exercise calories because the deficit is what drives fat loss. A reasonable approach is to eat back 25 to 50 percent of your estimated exercise calories on days when you feel unusually hungry or have a long workout, but otherwise maintain your planned deficit. If you are trying to maintain weight, eating back most or all of your exercise calories keeps your energy balance stable. If you are trying to gain muscle, you should eat back your exercise calories plus a surplus to support muscle protein synthesis.

Yes, your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is the sum of your BMR, the thermic effect of food, and physical activity. The MET formula calculates gross calorie expenditure, which includes the calories you would have burned at rest during the exercise period. To avoid double-counting, use the gross value directly as your exercise expenditure and add it to your BMR to estimate TDEE. Do not subtract resting calories from the MET estimate before adding, because your BMR calculation already includes the resting period covering the exercise time.

Calorie burn scales approximately linearly with body weight for weight-bearing activities like walking, running, and hiking. A 90 kg person burns roughly 28 percent more calories than a 70 kg person doing the same activity for the same duration (90/70 = 1.286). For non-weight-bearing activities like cycling and swimming, the relationship is weaker because body weight is partially supported by the equipment or water. The MET formula assumes a linear relationship, which is accurate for most practical purposes but introduces small errors for water-based and seated activities.

Gross calorie expenditure is the total calories burned during an activity, including the calories your body would have burned at rest. Net expenditure subtracts the resting calories, giving you the additional calories burned specifically from the exercise. For a 30-minute run burning 300 kcal gross, a person with a resting burn of 1.2 kcal per minute would have burned 36 kcal at rest during that time, making the net burn 264 kcal. The MET formula calculates gross expenditure. Net expenditure is about 10 to 20 percent lower and is primarily used in research settings where precise energy balance calculations are required.

EPOC, or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, elevates your metabolic rate for 30 minutes to 24 hours after exercise depending on intensity and duration. High-intensity activities like HIIT and heavy resistance training produce a more significant EPOC effect than steady-state cardio. The additional calorie expenditure from EPOC is typically 5 to 15 percent of the calories burned during the activity itself. For a 300 kcal HIIT session, EPOC may add 15 to 45 kcal. While EPOC is a real physiological phenomenon, its contribution to total energy expenditure is modest and should not be relied upon as a primary weight loss mechanism.

The MET formula assumes steady-state activity, which makes it less accurate for interval training where intensity varies throughout the session. For a rough estimate, select the activity that best matches the average intensity of your intervals. If you do 30 minutes of interval running alternating between walking (3.5 METs) and sprinting (14 METs), the average MET value is approximately 8 to 9 depending on your work-to-rest ratio. Selecting a moderate running option gives a reasonable estimate. For more precise tracking, consider using a heart rate monitor that captures the variable intensity throughout the session.

Exercise in hot conditions increases calorie burn because the body must divert blood to the skin for cooling while maintaining oxygen delivery to working muscles. A 30-minute run in 35 °C heat may burn 5 to 10 percent more calories than the same run at 15 °C. Exercise in cold conditions triggers shivering and increases metabolic rate through thermogenesis. However, the effect is modest for typical exercise durations and temperatures. The MET values in this calculator are measured under standard laboratory conditions (20 to 22 °C), so extreme temperatures introduce additional variation beyond the usual 10 to 20 percent error margin.

Yes, with the understanding that trained athletes are more efficient at their sport and may burn 5 to 10 percent fewer calories than the MET estimate for the same activity at the same pace. Athletes also have higher muscle mass, which increases resting metabolic rate but does not change the MET-based estimate during exercise. For most training and nutrition purposes, the estimates are accurate enough. For elite athletes requiring precise energy balance calculations, indirect calorimetry or metabolic testing provides more accurate individualised data.

Strength training calorie burn depends on the intensity, rest periods, and muscle mass engaged. The MET value of 5.0 for moderate weight training represents a standard workout with 30 to 60 second rest periods between sets. Vigorous weight training with heavy loads and short rest periods has a MET of 8.0. Circuit training that combines resistance exercises with minimal rest falls between these values. Since the MET estimate does not account for the fact that muscle damage from strength training elevates resting metabolic rate for 24 to 48 hours post-workout, the total metabolic impact of strength training is higher than the during-exercise estimate alone suggests.

The Compendium of Physical Activities is an authoritative database of MET values for over 800 physical activities, maintained by exercise scientists at Arizona State University and the National Cancer Institute. It was first published in 1993 and has been updated multiple times as new research becomes available. Each activity entry includes a MET value, a description of the intensity, and a reference to the source study. The compendium is the standard reference used by researchers, clinicians, and public health organisations worldwide for classifying physical activity intensity and estimating energy expenditure. The MET values in this calculator are drawn from the most recent version of the compendium.

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