A MET is a multiple of your resting metabolic rate, where one MET is the energy you spend sitting still. Walking at 3.8 MET costs 3.8 times that. The Compendium of Physical Activities assigns a value to each activity, and this calculator multiplies it by your weight and the time you spent.

How many calories per hour does walking burn?

About 279 kilocalories an hour for a 70 kg adult at an average pace, the 3.8 MET value of walking at 2.8 to 3.4 mph. A 55 kg walker spends nearer 219 and a 100 kg walker nearer 399. Hiking cross country at 6 MET costs roughly 441 an hour at 70 kg.

How accurate are calories burned estimates?

Within about 10 to 20 percent for steady aerobic work, and worse for anything with stops and starts. Lab measurement needs a metabolic cart, and even two people of the same weight differ because efficiency, technique and fitness all move the number. The estimate is good enough to compare activities against each other, not to balance a day's intake.

Does the calculator account for the afterburn effect?

No — it prices the session itself. Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption is real but modest for most people: it is usually a few percent of the session's cost, and it is largest after long or very hard work. Interval training and heavy lifting raise it more than steady jogging, but not enough to move the session's own number much.

Why does body weight change the answer so much?

Because the energy cost of moving a body scales with its mass. A 100 kg walker spends roughly 40 percent more than a 70 kg walker over the same route at the same pace. That is also why the same workout stops costing the same as you lose weight, and why keeping a heavier body moving is itself hard work.

Calories Burned Calculator

Weight

Range: 20 kg – 500 kg

Duration

Activity

Result

140 kcal

Calories burned

Calories per hour: 279 kcal
Calories per minute: 4.7 kcal
Energy: 584 kJ

Use this calories burned calculator to see what an activity costs you in energy. Pick the activity, enter your weight and how long you did it, and it multiplies the activity's MET value by your body weight and the time. The MET values come from the Compendium of Physical Activities, so walking, hiking, cycling, weights and jump rope are all priced on the same scale. Results come as calories per session, per hour and per minute, plus the same figure in kilojoules. The weight field matters more than any other: energy cost scales with it almost linearly.

Energy cost per hour of eight activities, at 70 kg

Activity	MET	kcal per hour
Yoga, hatha	2.3	169
General weight training, 8 – 15 reps with rest between sets	3.5	257
Average, 2.8 – 3.4 mph	3.8	279
Easy pace, self-selected speed	4.3	316
Hiking, cross country	6	441
Running, 8 km/h (5 mph)	8.5	625
Jump rope, moderate, 100 – 120 skips/min	11.8	867
Over 20 mph, racing, sprinting	16.8	1235

Eight activities pulled from four different Compendium tables and ordered by intensity, so the spread is visible in one glance: the hardest costs 7.3 times the easiest for the same hour. Every row is the same formula the calculator uses, at a fixed 70 kg.

Formula

Calories (kcal) = MET × 3.5 × weight (kg) ÷ 200 × minutes

MET: Metabolic equivalent of the activity, from the Compendium
weight: Body weight in kilograms (kg)
minutes: Time spent on the activity (minutes)

Reach for it when you want the cost of a single session — a walk, a class, a ride. If you are setting a daily target instead, start from the calorie calculator; if you want the resting floor underneath that, use the BMR calculator. Results are printed per session, per hour and per minute so they can be compared across activities of different lengths.

Worked examples

A 70 kg adult walking at an average pace for 30 minutes
1. MET value for average pace walking: 3.8
2. Per minute: 3.8 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 4.655 kcal
3. For 30 minutes: 4.655 × 30 = 139.65 kcal, printed as 140
4. Per hour at that rate: 4.655 × 60 = 279 kcal
5. In kilojoules: 139.65 × 4.184 = 584 kJ
The common shortcut MET × kg × hours gives 133 here, about 5 percent low, because it rounds the 3.5 ÷ 200 factor to 1.
A 60 kg adult skipping rope for 45 minutes
1. MET value for moderate jump rope: 11.8
2. Per minute: 11.8 × 3.5 × 60 ÷ 200 = 12.39 kcal
3. For 45 minutes: 12.39 × 45 = 557.55 kcal, printed as 558
4. Per hour at that rate: 12.39 × 60 = 743 kcal
5. In kilojoules: 557.55 × 4.184 = 2333 kJ
Nearly three times the walking rate per minute on a lighter person — the activity dominates and weight is the smaller lever.
An 85 kg adult sprinting on a bike for 90 minutes
1. MET value for racing and sprinting above 20 mph: 16.8
2. Per minute: 16.8 × 3.5 × 85 ÷ 200 = 24.99 kcal
3. For 90 minutes: 24.99 × 90 = 2249.1 kcal, printed as 2249
4. Per hour at that rate: 24.99 × 60 = 1499 kcal
5. In kilojoules: 2249.1 × 4.184 = 9410 kJ
The duration field takes hours as well — 1.5 hours arrives as the same 90 minutes. The hourly figure does not depend on how long you went, only on the activity and your weight.

Limitations

The MET values are group averages from the Compendium of Physical Activities, measured on adults at a steady pace. Real cost moves with effort, terrain, temperature, fitness and technique — two people doing the same class can differ by a third. The formula also carries no allowance for the extra burn that lingers after hard exercise, or for the fact that a trained person spends less energy on the same workout. Treat the number as an estimate within roughly 10 to 20 percent.

Frequently asked questions

What is a MET value?: A MET is a multiple of your resting metabolic rate, where one MET is the energy you spend sitting still. Walking at 3.8 MET costs 3.8 times that. The Compendium of Physical Activities assigns a value to each activity, and this calculator multiplies it by your weight and the time you spent.
How many calories per hour does walking burn?: About 279 kilocalories an hour for a 70 kg adult at an average pace, the 3.8 MET value of walking at 2.8 to 3.4 mph. A 55 kg walker spends nearer 219 and a 100 kg walker nearer 399. Hiking cross country at 6 MET costs roughly 441 an hour at 70 kg.
How accurate are calories burned estimates?: Within about 10 to 20 percent for steady aerobic work, and worse for anything with stops and starts. Lab measurement needs a metabolic cart, and even two people of the same weight differ because efficiency, technique and fitness all move the number. The estimate is good enough to compare activities against each other, not to balance a day's intake.
Does the calculator account for the afterburn effect?: No — it prices the session itself. Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption is real but modest for most people: it is usually a few percent of the session's cost, and it is largest after long or very hard work. Interval training and heavy lifting raise it more than steady jogging, but not enough to move the session's own number much.
Why does body weight change the answer so much?: Because the energy cost of moving a body scales with its mass. A 100 kg walker spends roughly 40 percent more than a 70 kg walker over the same route at the same pace. That is also why the same workout stops costing the same as you lose weight, and why keeping a heavier body moving is itself hard work.

References

2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities — Compendium of Physical Activities — official site
Human energy requirements: report of a joint FAO/WHO/UNU expert consultation — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Related calculators

BMR CalculatorBasal metabolic rate from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation.Calorie CalculatorDaily calories for your goal, activity level and body stats.Calories Burned Biking CalculatorCalories burned cycling from time, weight and effort.Steps to Calories CalculatorCalories burned from a step count and body weight.