Calories Burned Calculator

Calories burned calculator at a glance#

How many calories do you burn walking?#

It depends on your weight, your pace and how long you walk. With this calculator, a 150 lb (68.04 kg) person walking at a moderate pace for 30 minutes burns about 92 calories, and walking 3 miles at that pace burns about 196. Heavier people burn more for the same walk.

How does the calculator estimate calories burned?#

Pick walking, running or cycling and enter your weight in pounds or kilograms. On the Duration tab you add hours and minutes, and on the Distance tab you choose a pace and enter miles. The calculator multiplies your weight in kilograms by a calories per minute rate for that activity and pace, then by the minutes.

How many calories does running burn?#

For a 150 lb person, the calculator gives 351 calories for 30 minutes of running at a moderate pace of 6 mph, which covers 3 miles. A single mile at that pace is about 117 calories.

What a MET is#

Exercise calories are often worked out with METs, short for metabolic equivalents. The CDC explains that one MET is the energy, or oxygen, your body uses while sitting quietly. So an activity rated at 4 METs burns about four times that. The CDC counts 3 to 5.9 METs as moderate intensity and 6 METs or more as vigorous, and it gives brisk walking at 2.5 mph or faster as a moderate example and jogging or running as vigorous ones.

One MET works out to about 1 calorie per kilogram of body weight per hour, as a 2016 paper in the journal Nutrients puts it. That turns any MET value into a quick formula: calories ≈ METs × weight in kg × hours.

The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities, a reference list of MET values for adults 19 to 59, rates walking at 2.8 to 3.4 mph, a moderate pace on level ground, at 3.8 METs. For a 150 lb (68.04 kg) person walking 30 minutes, that's 3.8 × 68.04 × 0.5 = 129 calories.

How the calculator works it out#

The calculator doesn't ask for METs. Each activity and pace has its own fixed rate in calories per kilogram per minute, and the result is:

• calories = rate × weight in kg × minutes

Moderate walking, for example, uses 0.044875 calories per kg per minute. For 150 lb walked for 30 minutes, that's 0.044875 × 68.04 × 30 = 91.6, which the calculator rounds to 92 calories.

The Duration tab always uses the same rate as the moderate pace on the Distance tab: 2.8 mph for walking, 6 mph for running and 15 mph for cycling. To set the pace, use the Distance tab. There the calculator works out the time from distance and speed, then applies the same formula. Three miles of walking at 2.8 mph take 3 ÷ 2.8 × 60 = 64.3 minutes, so the result is 0.044875 × 68.04 × 64.3 = 196 calories.

Distance is entered in miles, and weight switches between pounds and kilograms with the units button. The calculator has no incline or resistance setting, so it can't account for hills or a treadmill incline.

Calories burned by activity and pace#

Here's what the calculator gives a 150 lb (68.04 kg) person for each activity and pace, per hour and per mile. The rate column is the calculator's calories per kg per hour. Since a MET is about 1 calorie per kg per hour, you can set it beside the 2024 Compendium's MET value for the same speed in the last column.

The calculator's walking rates come out lower than the Compendium's MET values, its running rates are a little higher from 6 mph up, and its cycling rates are close. Different references give different numbers for the same activity, so read any single figure as an estimate. To redo a calculation with a Compendium MET value, use calories ≈ METs × weight in kg × hours.

Walking: slow, moderate, fast#

Walking faster burns more calories per hour: for a 150 lb person, 141 at a slow 2 mph and 316 at a very fast 4 mph. Per mile the gap is smaller, from 65 to 79 calories, because a faster walk covers each mile in less time. A slow 2 mph walk even comes out a little higher per mile than the moderate pace in this calculator, 70 calories against 65, since each mile takes half an hour instead of about 21 minutes.

How weight changes the result#

In this calculator, calories rise in step with body weight. Double the weight and the calories double. A 200 lb person walking 30 minutes at a moderate pace burns 122 calories instead of 92, and a 300 lb person walking for an hour burns 366.

To see how exercise fits your whole day, the TDEE calculator estimates the calories you burn including your usual activity, and the calorie calculator turns that into daily targets for losing or gaining weight. Your resting calories are covered by the BMR calculator.

This gives an estimate, not medical advice. A doctor can tell you what the number means for you.

Sources#

• 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities (walking, running and bicycling MET values)
• CDC, How to Measure Physical Activity Intensity
• Melzer K, et al. Metabolic Equivalent in Adolescents, Active Adults and Pregnant Women. Nutrients, 2016

Frequently asked questions#

How many calories do you burn walking a mile?#

About 65 to 79 calories for a 150 lb person in this calculator, depending on pace. At the moderate 2.8 mph pace it's 65. A heavier person burns more per mile and a lighter person less, in proportion to weight.

How many calories do you burn if you weigh 300 pounds?#

At a moderate walking pace, the calculator gives 366 calories an hour for a 300 lb person, twice the 183 it gives for 150 lb. Enter your weight and activity above for your own figure.

Does the calculator work for a treadmill?#

Yes for level walking or running. On the Distance tab, pick the pace whose speed in the table above is closest to your treadmill setting. There's no incline setting, so a walk or run uphill isn't counted as harder.

What does MET stand for?#

MET means metabolic equivalent of task. One MET is the energy you use sitting quietly, about 1 calorie per kg of body weight per hour, and an activity's MET value says how many times that it burns.

Why do different calculators give different numbers?#

They use different rates for the same activity. This calculator's moderate walk is 2.69 calories per kg per hour, while the 2024 Adult Compendium lists 3.8 METs for walking at 2.8 to 3.4 mph. Both are averages, and real calorie burn varies from person to person.

Do calories burned include my resting calories?#

The calculator doesn't say. It gives one total for the activity and doesn't split out the calories you would have burned at rest anyway. For your full day, use the TDEE calculator instead of adding exercise to your BMR by hand.