10 activities · MET-based · Instant results
Calorie burn during exercise comes down to three things: your body weight, the activity itself, and how long you do it. Heavier bodies burn more because moving more mass costs more energy. More intense activities burn more per minute because they demand more oxygen. And duration scales the whole thing up linearly — double the time, roughly double the burn.
What the calculator can't see is your fitness level, form, and effort. Two people of the same weight running "7 mph" can burn different amounts if one is an efficient runner and the other is fighting their own form. The result here is a solid population-average estimate, not a lab measurement.
MET stands for metabolic equivalent of task. One MET is the energy you burn sitting still — about 3.5 ml of oxygen per kilogram per minute. An activity rated at 7 METs (like running 7 mph) burns roughly seven times your resting rate. The formula is simple: calories per minute = MET × 3.5 × weight(kg) ÷ 200.
This is why the same 30 minutes can mean very different things. Walking (3.5 METs) burns about half of what running at 7 mph (about 7 METs) does, even at the same body weight. The table below the calculator reflects these standard MET values.
Add your exercise calories to your BMR and daily activity to estimate your total burn — that's your TDEE. If you're tracking weight loss, remember that a daily 500-calorie deficit adds up to roughly one pound per week. But the honest truth is that people almost always overestimate exercise burn and underestimate food intake, so treat the exercise number as a rough guide, not an exact budget.
They're a reasonable estimate, not a precise measurement. MET values are population averages, so your actual burn depends on fitness level, technique, and intensity. Use the number as a starting point and adjust based on real results over a few weeks.
Yes. Calorie burn is proportional to body mass because moving more weight requires more energy. That's why this calculator multiplies by your weight — a 90 kg person burns noticeably more than a 60 kg person doing the same run.
If your goal is weight loss, treat exercise calories as a bonus, not a license to eat more. Most people overestimate burn and underestimate intake, so eating back the full amount usually cancels out the deficit.