Calories Burned Calculator
Find out how many calories you actually burn based on your weight, activity, and duration. Powered by the MET formula used by the ACSM and WHO. Enter your details below for a science-backed estimate.
Fill in your details below to calculate how many calories you burned and see your personalised energy report.
Enter your target fat loss below. After calculating, we will tell you exactly how many sessions per week of your chosen activity you need — and how many weeks it will take.
Select a food below. After calculating, we will show how long your chosen activity needs to run to burn off that meal — at the intensity you selected.
Calculate Calories Burned
Cumulative estimated calories if you repeat this session 4 times per week. Consistency compounds — by week 8 you will have built up significant total energy expenditure.
What is MET? MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task. It expresses how much energy an activity costs compared to sitting quietly (which is 1 MET). Walking briskly is roughly 3.5 METs, meaning it burns 3.5 times as many calories as sitting still for the same period.
Why this formula? The constant 3.5 represents standard resting oxygen uptake in mL/kg/min. Dividing by 200 converts units to kcal/min. This is the universally accepted conversion used by the WHO, ACSM, and the Compendium of Physical Activities worldwide.
Where do MET values come from? All MET values are sourced from the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al.), the world's largest peer-reviewed reference for physical activity energy costs, with intensity sub-codes mapped to Light, Moderate, and Vigorous bands per ACSM 2022 guidelines.
Heart rate mode: When you enter your average heart rate, we switch to the Keytel et al. (2005) formula which uses HR, body weight, age, and gender for a more personalised estimate. This is the same approach used by Polar and Garmin wearables.
Fat-energy equivalent: Body fat stores approximately 7,700 kcal per kilogram. The figure shown is a unit conversion only, not a prediction of fat lost in one session. Actual fat oxidation depends on total daily calorie balance over time.
Opens your full report in a new tab. Set Destination → Save as PDF in the print dialog.
Can't find your specific activity in the calculator above? Use this personalised reference tool. Enter your exact body weight and the duration of your session, search by exercise name, and see estimated calories burned — calculated just for you.
| Exercise | Calories | Intensity used | Category |
|---|
All values are calculated in real time using your entered weight and duration via the MET formula (Ainsworth et al., 2011) at moderate baseline intensity. Actual calorie burn varies with individual fitness level, exercise form, and metabolic rate.
Calories Burned Calculator: How Much Are You Really Burning?
You finish a 45-minute run, check your fitness tracker, and it says 520 calories. Your friend runs the same route in the same time and their watch says 410. Who is right? The honest answer is neither number is exact. Calorie burn depends on your body weight, your age, how hard you push, and the type of exercise you do. Even two people running side by side at the same pace can burn meaningfully different amounts.
This calculator gives you a science-backed estimate based on a formula used by the American College of Sports Medicine and validated in peer-reviewed research. It uses MET values drawn from the Compendium of Physical Activities to produce a realistic calorie burn range for walking, running, treadmill workouts, cycling, swimming, HIIT, yoga, weightlifting, and more.
The number you get is not a precise measurement. It is an educated estimate grounded in published exercise science. Understanding what that number actually means makes it far more useful than treating it like a hard fact.
How a Calories Burned Calculator Works
The MET Formula
Every activity in this calculator has a MET value, which stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task. MET measures how much energy an activity uses relative to sitting still. Sitting quietly equals 1 MET. Brisk walking is roughly 3.5 METs. Running at a moderate pace sits around 8 to 9 METs. All-out HIIT can push beyond 12 METs.
The formula used here comes directly from Ainsworth and colleagues’ 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities, the most comprehensive peer-reviewed reference for exercise energy costs:
The constant 3.5 represents standard resting oxygen uptake in mL per kilogram per minute. Dividing by 200 converts the result from oxygen consumption to calories per minute. The math is straightforward, and the same approach underpins the calorie estimates used by the CDC, WHO, and every major health organization.
Why Body Weight Changes Everything
Body weight directly affects calorie burn. A heavier person moves more mass through space with every step, pedal stroke, or lap. That requires more energy. A 90 kg person doing 30 minutes of brisk walking burns roughly 220 calories. The same 30 minutes for a 60 kg person burns around 145. Same activity, same duration, same intensity. Different bodies.
This is why any calorie calculator that does not ask for your weight produces numbers you cannot trust.
Duration and Intensity
Duration and intensity both matter, but they do not contribute equally. Doubling your workout time roughly doubles your calorie burn. Increasing intensity does the same, and intensity scales non-linearly. Switching from a slow jog to a fast run does not just add a few calories. It can increase your burn rate by 40 to 80 percent because you are recruiting more muscle fibers and demanding far more oxygen delivery.
Why Smartwatch Numbers Are Not Gospel
Fitness trackers estimate calories using heart rate data, proprietary algorithms, and assumptions about your fitness level. Multiple independent studies have shown that popular wearables carry error margins of 15 to 30 percent depending on the activity type. A 2019 Stanford study found that no device tested came close to 10 percent accuracy across all exercise modes.
That does not make them useless. Relative comparisons are helpful. If your tracker shows Monday’s workout burning more than Tuesday’s, that directional signal is probably accurate even if the absolute numbers are off. Use them as a guide, not a measurement tool.
Calories Burned by Different Activities
Walking Calories Burned
Walking burns fewer calories per minute than most other cardio exercises, but it has one significant advantage: almost anyone can do it for a long time without needing recovery. A 70 kg person walking at a comfortable 4 km/h burns roughly 175 to 210 calories per hour. Picking up the pace to 5.5 to 6 km/h increases that range to 250 to 310 calories per hour.
Terrain and incline change the equation significantly. Walking on a 5 percent grade can increase calorie burn by 30 to 40 percent compared to flat walking at the same pace. That is why hill walking and incline treadmill sessions rank surprisingly high on calorie-per-minute tables.
Using a walking calories burned calculator or a walk calories burned calculator gives you a personalized estimate based on your weight, pace, and duration. The steps-based variation is equally useful. A steps to calories burned calculator typically estimates that 10,000 steps burns between 350 and 500 calories depending on your body weight and stride length.
Running Calories Burned
Running at moderate pace (around 9 to 10 km/h) burns roughly 475 to 600 calories per hour for a 70 kg person. At a faster pace of 12 km/h that range climbs to 650 to 800 calories per hour. The faster you go, the more calories you burn per minute, though you also fatigue faster.
A running calories burned calculator accounts for pace and body weight. The calories burned calculator running function in our tool uses pace-adjusted MET values from the Compendium so your estimate reflects your actual effort level rather than a generic running average.
Post-run calorie burn is worth mentioning. Running at vigorous intensity produces excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), commonly called the afterburn effect. This adds a modest but real number of calories burned in the hours after you stop. The effect is larger with higher-intensity running.
Treadmill Calories Burned
Treadmill running burns essentially the same calories as outdoor running at the same pace and incline. The key variable most people overlook is treadmill incline. Running at 1 percent grade approximates the energy cost of outdoor running by accounting for the lack of wind resistance. A treadmill calories burned calculator or calories burned calculator treadmill tool should factor in your set incline to produce an accurate estimate.
At zero incline, treadmill calorie estimates are slightly generous. Bump the incline to 3 to 5 percent and you will significantly increase the actual burn. Many treadmill readouts do not adjust accurately for incline changes, which is one more reason to use a separate formula-based tool rather than trusting the machine’s display.
Cycling Calories Burned
A cycling calories burned calculator needs to account for whether you are riding outdoors or indoors, and what resistance level you are working at. Moderate outdoor cycling at around 19 to 22 km/h burns 450 to 560 calories per hour for a 70 kg person. Vigorous cycling at 25 km/h or above pushes that to 700 to 850 calories per hour.
Indoor cycling classes often produce higher numbers because the structured format keeps participants working hard for the full session with minimal coasting. A stationary bike calories burned calculator and a recumbent bike calories burned calculator produce different numbers because recumbent positioning slightly reduces the muscles engaged compared to upright riding.
Swimming Calories Burned
Swimming is one of the highest calorie-burning activities per hour, while also being among the easiest on joints. A swimming calories burned calculator that uses stroke-specific MET values shows significant differences between strokes. Freestyle at moderate intensity burns around 470 to 580 calories per hour for a 70 kg person. Butterfly, the most demanding stroke, can exceed 700 calories per hour. Breaststroke falls between the two.
Water temperature and swimming skill level both influence the actual burn. Skilled swimmers move more efficiently and burn fewer calories per lap than beginners doing the same number of laps. Better technique reduces drag and effort, which is metabolically advantageous for performance but means calorie-per-lap estimates vary widely between swimmers of different skill levels.
HIIT Calories Burned
A HIIT calories burned calculator tends to produce some of the highest calorie numbers per time invested. High-intensity interval training alternating near-maximal effort with short rest periods can burn 350 to 600 calories in 30 minutes depending on the protocol, body weight, and fitness level.
HIIT also produces the most significant EPOC effect. For time-pressed people, 25 to 30 minutes of genuine HIIT produces a calorie burn that competes favorably with 60 minutes of moderate steady-state cardio.
The tradeoff is recovery cost. HIIT places significant demand on the central nervous system and muscles. Three to four sessions per week is typically the maximum sustainable frequency for most people.
Yoga Calories Burned
A yoga calories burned calculator will show you numbers that vary dramatically based on yoga style. A restorative or hatha yoga session at gentle pace burns around 150 to 200 calories per hour for a 70 kg person. Power yoga and hot yoga, where room temperature is elevated to 35 to 40 degrees Celsius, can reach 350 to 450 calories per hour.
Yoga is not primarily a calorie-burning tool, but it builds genuine functional value. Flexibility, mobility, stress reduction, and breath control all support long-term fitness adherence. Many serious runners and strength athletes use regular yoga sessions to reduce injury risk and improve recovery.
Elliptical Calories Burned
An elliptical calories burned calculator should account for resistance and stride rate. A moderate elliptical workout burns roughly 350 to 450 calories per hour for a 70 kg person. Increasing resistance and using the handlebars for active upper-body engagement pushes that number meaningfully higher.
The elliptical is particularly useful for people with knee or hip problems because the elliptical motion eliminates the impact forces of running while still producing significant cardiovascular demand.
StairMaster Calories Burned
The StairMaster calories burned calculator consistently produces some of the highest calorie estimates in the cardio category. Stair climbing at moderate pace burns roughly 450 to 550 calories per hour for a 70 kg person. Pushing the pace burns 600 or more.
The reason for the high calorie cost is the continuous upward movement against gravity. Unlike running on flat ground, every step requires genuine vertical lift. Glute, quad, and calf muscles all contract forcefully with each step, driving metabolic demand high.
Stationary and Recumbent Bike
Stationary upright bike burns more calories than a recumbent bike for the same duration and perceived effort. Upright riding engages the core and requires postural stability that recumbent riding does not demand. For a 70 kg person doing a moderate session, a stationary bike calories burned calculator typically estimates 350 to 450 calories per hour, while a recumbent bike calories burned calculator might come in 15 to 20 percent lower.
Recumbent bikes remain excellent for people with lower back issues, hip problems, or early-stage rehabilitation where upright positioning is uncomfortable.
Daily Activity and Steps
A daily calories burned calculator accounts for all movement throughout the day, not just structured exercise. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) covers everything from standing at your desk to climbing stairs to walking between meetings. NEAT can vary by 1,000 to 2,000 calories per day between sedentary and highly active individuals.
A steps calories burned calculator helps quantify this background activity. Most step-to-calorie conversions use approximately 0.04 calories per step for a 70 kg person, adjusted proportionally for body weight. At 10,000 steps, that produces an estimate of roughly 350 to 450 calories depending on your weight and walking pace.
Walking vs Running Calories Burned
This comparison comes up constantly, and the answer depends entirely on what you are optimizing for.
Running burns more calories per minute. A 70 kg person running for 30 minutes burns roughly 300 to 370 calories. The same person walking briskly for 30 minutes burns around 130 to 160. Running wins clearly on time efficiency.
Over equal distances the comparison tightens considerably. Running a 5K burns slightly more than walking a 5K, but not dramatically more, because the physics of moving your body mass across a given distance dominates the calculation. A heavier person burns proportionally more doing either.
Walking wins on sustainability and injury risk. Running creates impact forces of two to three times body weight with each foot strike. Walking produces roughly 1.1 to 1.4 times body weight. For people with knee issues, early-stage fitness journeys, or those returning from injury, consistent walking over weeks and months will produce better cumulative calorie expenditure than attempting to run and getting hurt.
For fat loss specifically, pace and heart rate zone matter less than total calorie deficit over time. A 45-minute walk every day burns more total calories across a month than a 20-minute run done twice a week.
| Metric | Walking (brisk) | Running (moderate) |
|---|---|---|
| Calories per 30 min (70 kg) | 130 to 160 kcal | 300 to 370 kcal |
| Joint impact | Low (1.1 to 1.4x body weight) | High (2 to 3x body weight) |
| Beginner friendly | Yes | Moderate |
| EPOC (afterburn) | Minimal | Moderate to significant |
| Long-term adherence | High | Moderate (injury dependent) |
Are Smartwatch Calorie Estimates Accurate?
Wearables have improved significantly over the past decade, but their calorie estimates still carry real limitations you should understand before trusting them.
Most fitness trackers estimate calorie burn by combining heart rate data with demographic information and proprietary algorithms. The heart rate piece is generally accurate at rest and during steady-state exercise. During high-intensity intervals, rapid HR changes, and activities involving significant upper body movement, accuracy drops.
A widely cited 2017 study published in the Journal of Personalized Medicine tested seven popular wearables and found that the most accurate device still carried a 27 percent error on calorie estimates. The least accurate was off by 93 percent. No device reached 10 percent accuracy consistently across all tested activities.
Several factors contribute to this variability:
Wrist placement issues. Optical heart rate sensors on the wrist work by shining light through your skin and measuring blood flow changes. Arm hair, dark skin tones, tattoos, and loose watch fit all reduce sensor accuracy. Lower accuracy HR data means less accurate calorie estimates.
Activity type misclassification. Many devices struggle to accurately identify and adjust for activities like weightlifting, rowing, and yoga where heart rate patterns differ from running or cycling patterns. They may default to generic calorie multipliers that do not reflect actual energy cost.
Personalization gaps. Most devices use only age, sex, weight, and height. They cannot account for actual fitness level, muscle mass, or metabolic efficiency, all of which meaningfully affect calorie burn.
MET-based calculators like this one have their own limitations. They produce population averages and cannot account for individual metabolic variation. But they are transparent about their methodology, use peer-reviewed MET values, and provide an honest estimate range rather than false precision.
The practical takeaway: use your tracker to monitor trends and relative effort. Use a MET-based calculator when you want a reference estimate grounded in exercise science. Neither number is exact.
Calories Burned and Weight Loss
Exercise calculators are useful tools, but understanding where they fit into the bigger picture of fat loss matters more than any single number they produce.
The Calorie Deficit Principle
Fat loss requires a sustained calorie deficit: burning more energy than you consume over time. One kilogram of body fat stores approximately 7,700 calories. A consistent daily deficit of 500 calories produces roughly 0.5 kg of fat loss per week. This is the framework used by the NHS, the CDC, and most major health institutions.
Exercise contributes to that deficit, but diet drives the larger portion for most people. A 45-minute moderate run burns around 400 to 500 calories. A single large takeaway meal can easily exceed 1,000 calories. Trying to exercise your way out of a poor diet is genuinely difficult.
To get a complete picture of your energy balance, use our Calorie Deficit Calculator alongside this tool. It combines your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) with your fat loss target to tell you exactly where your calorie intake should sit.
Exercise Is Not Enough Alone
Research published in Current Biology by Pontzer and colleagues demonstrated that the human body adapts to increased physical activity by reducing energy expenditure in other physiological processes.
This compensatory mechanism means that the additional calories burned from adding exercise to your routine are partially offset by metabolic adaptation. Exercise still creates a meaningful deficit, but the raw calorie numbers from a calculator overestimate the net effect over long periods.
This is not a reason to exercise less. Regular physical activity improves cardiovascular health, preserves muscle mass during weight loss, improves insulin sensitivity, reduces inflammation, and supports mental health. The point is that nutrition and exercise must work together.
Sustainable Fat Loss Targets
A realistic and medically sustainable rate of fat loss is 0.5 to 1 kg per week. Faster loss typically involves significant muscle loss alongside fat, which reduces metabolic rate and increases the likelihood of weight regain.
Protein intake plays a crucial role during fat loss. Consuming 1.6 to 2.2 g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day preserves lean mass while in a calorie deficit. This is supported by a systematic review in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Staying well hydrated supports both exercise performance and metabolic function. Use our Water Intake Calculator to find your personal hydration target based on your weight and activity level.
For context on body composition, our BMI Calculator and Body Fat Calculator give you additional reference points beyond calories. Body fat percentage tells you more about health risk than weight alone.
Factors That Affect Calories Burned
Body Weight
The strongest single predictor of calorie burn per session is body weight. Heavier individuals burn more calories doing the same activity at the same intensity as lighter individuals. This effect is proportional and directly built into the MET formula.
Muscle Mass
Muscle tissue is metabolically active. People with higher lean body mass burn more calories at rest and during exercise. Two people with the same body weight but different muscle-to-fat ratios will burn different amounts during identical workouts.
Sex
Biological sex influences calorie burn primarily through differences in average body composition. Men tend to carry more lean mass relative to total body weight, which produces slightly higher calorie burn for the same activity at the same absolute weight. When calorie burn is compared at equal lean mass rather than total body weight, the difference largely disappears.
Age
Resting metabolic rate declines by roughly 1 to 2 percent per decade after age 30, according to data from the NIH. Reduced muscle mass associated with aging (sarcopenia) is the primary driver. Regular resistance training is the most effective intervention to slow this decline.
Fitness Level
A fitter person performs the same task more efficiently. Their cardiovascular system delivers oxygen more effectively, and their muscles use that oxygen with less waste. This is metabolically advantageous for performance but means a trained athlete burns fewer calories per unit of work than a beginner performing the same task.
Workout Intensity
Intensity scales calorie burn dramatically. Moving from light to vigorous intensity in the same activity type can more than double the calories burned per minute. Heart rate is a reasonable real-world proxy for intensity, which is why heart rate mode in our calculator provides a more personalised estimate when accurate HR data is available.
Workout Duration
Duration has a linear relationship with calorie burn at constant intensity. Longer workouts burn more calories in direct proportion. The challenge is that intensity typically decreases as duration extends. A 90-minute steady effort will not burn three times what a 30-minute maximum effort burns.
Metabolism
Individual metabolic rate varies significantly between people of similar size and composition. Genetic factors, hormonal status, gut microbiome composition, and sleep quality all influence metabolic efficiency. This is why the estimate range shown in our calculator reflects a realistic ±12 percent band.
Incline and Resistance
Adding incline to walking or running, or resistance to cycling and rowing, increases calorie burn by forcing muscles to work against additional load. A 5 percent treadmill incline increases calorie burn by approximately 30 to 40 percent versus flat walking at the same pace.
Most Effective Exercises for Burning Calories
The following activities consistently rank among the highest calorie burners per hour. Estimates are for a 70 to 75 kg person at vigorous intensity.
| Exercise | Approx. kcal/hr (70 kg) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Running (12 km/h) | 750 to 850 | High EPOC, high impact |
| HIIT | 600 to 900 | Variable, depends on protocol |
| Rowing (vigorous) | 600 to 800 | Full body, low impact |
| Swimming (butterfly) | 650 to 750 | Demanding technique required |
| StairMaster | 550 to 700 | Excellent lower body burn |
| Cycling (vigorous) | 600 to 700 | Low impact, high burn |
| Full-body resistance training | 300 to 500 | Lower immediate burn, higher RMR benefit |
A few important points about this table. First, HIIT tops the per-session list only when performed at genuinely high intensity. A so-called HIIT class where participants rarely exceed 70 percent max heart rate is functionally closer to moderate cardio.
Second, full-body resistance training sits lower on the immediate calorie list but raises resting metabolic rate over weeks and months, producing cumulative calorie burn that outlasts any single session.
No single exercise is universally best. The most effective exercise for you is the one you can do consistently, progressively overload over time, and sustain without injury.
Frequently Asked Questions
A 70 kg person walking at a brisk pace of around 5.5 to 6 km/h burns approximately 250 to 320 calories per hour. At a slower leisure pace of 4 km/h, the same person burns roughly 175 to 210 calories per hour. Body weight is the biggest variable. A 90 kg person burns around 30 percent more than a 70 kg person doing the same walk. Incline adds further calories. Adding a 5 percent grade can increase burn by 30 to 40 percent over flat walking at the same pace.
10,000 steps burns approximately 350 to 500 calories for most adults, with the range depending heavily on body weight, walking pace, and terrain. A heavier person burns more per step because they move more mass. At average walking pace on flat ground, 10,000 steps covers around 7 to 8 km and takes 90 to 100 minutes for most people. The calories-per-step estimate used in exercise science is roughly 0.04 calories per step for a 70 kg person, adjusted proportionally for weight.
Treadmill calorie displays are generally not accurate and tend to overestimate burn by 15 to 25 percent. Most treadmill computers use simplistic algorithms that do not account for your true fitness level, body composition, or actual metabolic efficiency. They often assume a default body weight that is lower than yours, which inflates the calorie number. For a better estimate, use a weight-based formula like the MET calculator with your actual body weight and treadmill speed. If using incline, make sure your calculation accounts for that gradient.
Running at high intensity, genuine HIIT, and rowing consistently rank as the highest calorie-burning exercises per hour. Running at 12 km/h burns roughly 750 to 850 calories per hour for a 70 kg person. HIIT can reach 600 to 900 calories per hour depending on work-to-rest ratios and actual effort level. Swimming butterfly and vigorous StairMaster climbing also produce very high calorie expenditure. The most effective exercise for fat loss over time, however, is the one you can perform consistently and progressively without injury.
Yes. Strength training produces excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), meaning your metabolic rate stays elevated for several hours after the session ends. The magnitude is smaller than with high-intensity cardio, typically adding 50 to 150 additional calories in the hours following a session. The more significant long-term effect is that building muscle mass raises your resting metabolic rate permanently. Each additional kilogram of lean muscle burns roughly 13 additional calories per day at rest, compounding significantly over time.
Calorie calculators produce estimates, not measurements. MET-based calculators like this one use peer-reviewed formulas from the Compendium of Physical Activities and are considered the most validated non-laboratory method available for estimating exercise energy expenditure. They are accurate to within roughly 10 to 25 percent for most people. Individual variation in metabolic efficiency, fitness level, and body composition means no formula can be perfectly precise for every person. Use calculator results as a reliable directional guide rather than an exact calorie count.
Moderate outdoor cycling at around 19 km/h burns approximately 450 to 560 calories per hour for a 70 kg person. Vigorous cycling at 25 km/h or above reaches 700 to 850 calories per hour. Indoor cycling class formats tend to produce higher-end results because the structured pacing minimizes coasting. Stationary bike sessions at moderate resistance burn roughly 350 to 450 calories per hour. A recumbent bike at the same perceived effort burns approximately 15 to 20 percent fewer calories due to reduced muscle engagement.
Yes, yoga burns calories, though the range varies significantly by style. A gentle hatha or restorative yoga session burns around 150 to 200 calories per hour for a 70 kg person. Vinyasa and flow yoga move into the 220 to 320 range. Power yoga and hot yoga can reach 350 to 450 calories per hour. Yoga is not primarily a high-calorie exercise, but it supports fat loss indirectly through stress reduction, improved sleep quality, and better recovery between higher-intensity training sessions. Chronically elevated cortisol from stress promotes fat storage, particularly around the abdomen, and yoga is one of the more evidence-backed tools for managing it.
HIIT burns more calories per minute and produces a stronger EPOC effect. A 30-minute HIIT session can produce a calorie burn equivalent to 60 to 70 minutes of brisk walking. For time efficiency, HIIT wins. But HIIT also requires recovery time, places higher demand on joints and the nervous system, and carries greater injury risk than walking. Walking can be done daily without recovery costs and has excellent adherence data for long-term weight management. For most people, a combination works best: two to three HIIT or higher-intensity sessions per week, supported by daily walking to maximize total calorie expenditure and NEAT.
A sustained daily deficit of 400 to 600 calories produces approximately 0.5 kg of fat loss per week, which is the rate most evidence-based guidelines recommend. Not all of that deficit needs to come from exercise. A combination of modest calorie reduction in your diet and additional exercise is more sustainable and effective than attempting to exercise off a large daily surplus. To find your personal calorie deficit target based on your weight, age, activity level, and goals, use our Calorie Deficit Calculator. It builds your complete energy balance picture rather than just estimating exercise burn.
MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task. It is a standardized unit that expresses the energy cost of any physical activity relative to sitting quietly. Sitting equals 1 MET. Brisk walking is around 3.5 METs. Running at moderate pace is around 8 to 9 METs. A higher MET means more calories burned per minute for the same body weight and duration. MET values for hundreds of activities are published in the Compendium of Physical Activities, a peer-reviewed reference that is updated regularly and used by the WHO, ACSM, CDC, and researchers worldwide. When a calorie calculator uses MET values, it is using the most validated non-laboratory method available for estimating exercise energy expenditure.
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Written By: Vikas Arora Updated: May 2026