Calories Burned Calculator
Use the following calculators to estimate the number of calories burned during certain activities based on either activity duration or distance (only for walking, running, or cycling). To estimate the calories consumed each day, use our Calorie Calculator.
Calorie Burned by Distance Calculator
Use this calculator to estimate the calories to be burned by walking, running, or bicycling for a distance.
The number of calories that the body burns during regular daily activities or exercise is dependent on various factors, so it is not an exact science. The results of this calculator (and any other) are based on standardized data that references an "average" person, so it is only an estimate. The formula and methodology used by this calculator are described below in the "Calculating calories burned" section.
For more information on the number of calories a person should consume each day for weight maintenance, weight loss, or weight gain, refer to the Calorie calculator. Generally, the number of calories consumed, less calories burned through activities and basal metabolic rate (calories consumed - calories burned - BMR) will determine whether a person maintains, loses, or gains weight; theoretically, if the number is 0, the person will maintain their weight; if the number is negative, they will lose weight; if the number is positive, they will gain weight. For more information about basal metabolic rate, refer to our BMR calculator.
Factors affecting calories burned
The number of calories a person burns by performing a given activity is dependent on many different factors. Most estimates (including the ones provided by our calculator) involve the use of three key factors: body mass, duration of the activity, and the metabolic equivalent of a task (MET). The MET of various tasks have been widely studied, and our calculator estimates calories burned based on data made available through these studies.
Body mass and duration
A person's body mass affects how many calories they burn, even at rest. A person who is larger due to more muscle, fat, or height burns more calories. This is also true during exercise since the body has to do more work to provide energy to a larger person than it would to a smaller person. Thus, a person who weighs 200 pounds will burn significantly more calories running 1 mile than someone who weighs 100 pounds, given that other conditions remain the same.
Duration of exercise is another factor that affects calories burned. The longer a person performs an exercise, the more calories they will burn. However, the relationship is not as simple as it is with body mass because the intensity of the exercise matters. For example, a person who walks 1 mile in 1 hour will burn significantly fewer calories than someone who walks 5 miles in that hour.
Exercise intensity
Exercise intensity is another key factor that affects the number of calories burned. The more intense the exercise, the greater the number of calories burned. Exercise intensity is measured in a number of different ways, some of which are more precise than others.
Exercise intensity may be measured using heart rate. Heart rate provides an indication of how difficult it is for a person to complete an exercise. Generally, the higher a person's heart rate while performing an exercise, the more intense the exercise. However, people have variable resting heart rates as well as maximum heart rates, so heart rate is not a precise measure of intensity. This is because a person who is more fit will have a lower heart rate than someone who is less fit when performing the same exercise, assuming that neither have any underlying conditions that would affect their heart rates.
A more precise measure of intensity involves the measurement of a person's oxygen consumption during exercise. Oxygen consumption and the intensity of exercise have a linear relationship; as exercise intensity increases, oxygen consumption increases. Thus, oxygen consumption during exercise, as compared to oxygen consumption at rest, provides us with a good representation of the metabolic requirements of a given exercise. Furthermore, unlike heart rate, which varies significantly depending on a variety of factors, the amount of oxygen a person needs to consume is closely related to their body mass, which makes it possible to create a standard for oxygen consumption for specific exercises based on body mass.
Oxygen consumption is measured in MET (metabolic equivalent of a task). There are a few different definitions of MET. The original definition, and the one used by this calculator, is based on oxygen utilization and body mass.
The MET is the ratio of the rate at which a person expends energy (relative to their body mass) while performing a given physical task compared to a reference. By convention, the reference is based on the energy expended by an "average" person while they are sitting quietly, which is roughly equivalent to 3.5 mL of oxygen per kilogram per minute. This value was derived experimentally by measuring the MET of a healthy 40-year-old male who weighed 70 kg. This is the baseline, meaning that a MET value of 1 represents the energy expended by an average person at rest. Thus, an activity that has a MET value of 2 requires twice as much energy as an average person expends at rest; a MET value of 8 requires eight times as much energy, and so on.
Exercises are commonly categorized as being light intensity, moderate intensity, or vigorous intensity exercises. Higher intensity exercises have a higher MET. For example, walking slowly is a light intensity exercise with a 2.0 MET; playing doubles in tennis is a moderate intensity exercise with a 5.0 MET; jumping rope at a rate of 100 jumps per minute is a vigorous intensity exercise with an 11.0 MET.
If you're aiming to reduce body fat, keep in mind that the intensity of your workout determines which fuel the body taps—carbohydrates, fats or protein. By adjusting how hard you train, you can steer the energy source. Generally, low‑intensity activity relies more on fat, so those targeting fat loss should opt for longer, easy‑pace sessions. As intensity rises, the body shifts toward carbohydrate oxidation, while protein contributes only marginally and is rarely a primary source.
Other factors
Although the above factors are the key factors used in the estimation of calories burned, there are other factors as well.
Age— Resting energy expenditure declines with age. As we get older we lose lean tissue, which lowers metabolic activity, so an older individual will typically burn fewer calories than a younger counterpart, assuming all other factors are equal.
Body composition— Muscle tissue is metabolically more demanding than fat. Consequently, two people of identical height and weight will expend more energy if one has a higher proportion of muscle.
Temperature— Warmer surroundings boost calorie burn because the body doesn’t need to generate as much heat to maintain core temperature, allowing more energy to be used elsewhere.
Fitness level— Exercise efficiency improves with conditioning. A well‑trained person uses less energy to perform the same movement as someone less fit, resulting in lower calorie expenditure for the same activity.
Diet—a person's diet affects their metabolism; the lower a person's metabolism the fewer calories they burn, so a person who wants to burn more calories should consume a diet that increases their metabolism.
Sleep— Insufficient rest can hamper calorie burn in two ways: fatigue may reduce physical activity, and a lack of sleep can slow metabolism, both leading to fewer calories expended.
Calculating calories burned
This calculator estimates calories burned using the following equation.
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Where time is in the unit of minutes and body weight is in the unit of kilograms.
Extensive research has quantified the energy cost of many activities. Our calculator draws on those data sets to assign MET values and then applies the standard formula, factoring in duration and body weight, to estimate calories burned.
Accuracy of the calculation
The precision of the estimate hinges on the MET value. By definition, 1 MET equals roughly 1 kcal·kg⁻¹·h⁻¹ or 3.5µL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹ of oxygen uptake. This benchmark originates from measurements on a single healthy 40‑year‑old man weighing 70 kg. Since resting metabolic rate varies with lean mass, age, health status, etc., applying this generic MET to individuals whose RMR diverges from the reference can introduce errors; some analyses suggest the standard 1 MET may overstate resting oxygen consumption by 20‑30 % on average.
Another source of error is that METs assume a steady‑state effort. Real‑world activities, such as an hour of tennis, include pauses, conversations, and variable intensity, so the actual active time is shorter. If the reported duration doesn’t reflect true exertion, the calculation will typically overestimate calories burned.
Achieving a truly precise figure requires laboratory testing that measures personal maximum oxygen uptake, heart‑rate ceiling, and related parameters to create an individualized reference. Because such testing is impractical for most users, we rely on MET‑based estimates, treating METs primarily as an indicator of relative intensity rather than a exact calorie count. Unless a person’s physiology closely matches the reference subject, the result should be viewed as an approximation.