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Calorie Burn Calculator

Choose an activity, enter your duration and weight, and the calculator will estimate how many calories you burn—in total and above what your body burns at rest.

Enter your details and your results will appear here.

How do we calculate calories burned?

The calculator uses a formula commonly used in physical activity research:

calories = MET × 3.5 × weight in kg ÷ 200 × time in minutes

MET indicates how many times more energy you use during an activity than at rest. We use values from the Compendium of Physical Activities 2024—the most comprehensive collection of research on energy expenditure across different types of physical activity.

Example: a person weighing 70 kg runs for 30 minutes at 10 km/h (9.3 MET): 9.3 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 × 30 = about 342 kcal.

Calories above resting energy expenditure

Even while lying on the couch, you burn energy—about 1 MET. That’s why the calculator also shows calories burned above resting energy expenditure, or how much the activity actually added to your day. In the running example, that’s about 305 kcal instead of 342.

This difference matters when you calculate your energy balance. Your daily calorie needs already include the calories you burn at rest, so adding the full result from a calculator or watch overestimates how much you can eat.

How many calories does 30 minutes of activity burn?

Values rounded to 5 kcal, for three example body weights:

Activity (30 minutes) 60 kg 70 kg 80 kg
Walk, 4 km/h 95 kcal 110 kcal 125 kcal
Brisk walking, about 6 km/h 150 kcal 175 kcal 200 kcal
Fitness walking with poles 135 kcal 160 kcal 180 kcal
Running at 8 km/h 270 kcal 310 kcal 355 kcal
Running at 10 km/h 295 kcal 340 kcal 390 kcal
Running at 12 km/h 370 kcal 435 kcal 495 kcal
Cycling, 16-19 km/h 215 kcal 250 kcal 285 kcal
Recreational swimming 190 kcal 220 kcal 250 kcal
Strength training, moderate 110 kcal 130 kcal 145 kcal
Elliptical, moderate 160 kcal 185 kcal 210 kcal
Jump rope 345 kcal 405 kcal 460 kcal
Yoga 70 kcal 85 kcal 95 kcal
Recreational soccer 220 kcal 255 kcal 295 kcal
Cleaning 105 kcal 120 kcal 140 kcal

The calculator shows other activities and the exact result for your weight.

How much exercise does it take to burn off a donut?

An average donut has about 270 kcal. A person weighing 70 kg would burn that off in about 25 minutes of running at 10 km/h, about 45 minutes of brisk walking, or about 75 minutes of easy walking.

Exercise is great for your health and weight loss, but it’s easier to eat something than to burn it off. That’s why what’s on your plate is the main factor in creating a calorie deficit, while physical activity contributes too.

Why is this result an estimate?

MET values are averages from research, and how many calories you burn depends on several things the calculator can’t account for:

  • pace and intensity—“strength training” could mean easy sets or an intense workout with short breaks,
  • terrain and conditions—you burn more going uphill, walking on sand, or exercising against the wind,
  • technique and fitness—an experienced swimmer moves through the water more easily than a beginner,
  • body composition—at the same weight, more muscle means slightly higher calorie burn.

The result gives you a good sense of the scale: whether an activity burns closer to 100 or 400 kcal. Don’t treat it as an exact measurement.

FAQs

How many calories does an hour of walking burn?
At 70 kg, an hour of walking at 4 km/h burns about 220 kcal, while brisk walking at about 6 km/h burns about 350 kcal. The more you weigh and the faster you walk, the more you burn.
How many calories does running burn?
A person weighing 70 kg burns about 340 kcal during 30 minutes of running at 10 km/h (6 min/km). At 8 km/h, they burn about 310 kcal, and at 12 km/h, about 430 kcal.
What is MET?
MET, or metabolic equivalent, tells you how many times more energy you use during an activity than at rest. 1 MET is sitting still, brisk walking is about 5 MET, and running at 10 km/h is about 9 MET.
Do you need to eat back the calories you burn?
Not all of them. You burn some calories anyway, even at rest—that’s why the calculator shows calories above resting energy expenditure separately. If your calorie goal already accounts for activity, as it does in the daily calorie needs calculator, eating more after every workout can easily erase your deficit.
Where does the calculator get its data?
MET values come from the Compendium of Physical Activities 2024, a collection of research on energy expenditure across hundreds of activities. We calculate calories using this formula: MET × 3.5 × weight in kg ÷ 200 × minutes.
Is a fitness watch more accurate?
A watch takes your heart rate into account, so it can better reflect your effort, but it still only provides an estimate—errors of several dozen percent are not uncommon. Treat both results as estimates. The trend in your weight over several weeks is the best way to see whether your plan is working.

This calculator is for informational purposes only and does not replace advice from a doctor or dietitian. The calculations happen in your browser—we don’t send the data you enter anywhere. We only save it in this tab for the duration of your visit, so it can be filled in automatically in other calculators. Formulas and sources.

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