Calories Burned Calculator

Calories Burned Calculator — Estimate Exercise Energy Expenditure Using MET Values

Understanding how many calories you burn during exercise is essential for weight management, athletic training, and nutrition planning. This calculator gives estimates based on published MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) values — the same approach used in exercise research — of the calories you burn in 30 activities, based on your body weight and exercise duration. Covers cardio, strength training, sports, yoga, and everyday activities like walking and cycling commutes.

How to calculate calories burned

Enter your body weight in kilograms or pounds, select your activity from the searchable list (organised into four categories: cardio, gym & strength, sports, and daily activities), and set the duration in minutes. The calculator applies the MET formula — Calories = MET × body weight in kg × duration in hours — and shows your estimated calorie burn. The results also display the top 8 highest-calorie-burning activities for the same duration and weight, so you can compare efficiency across different exercises. A food equivalents panel shows how many minutes of your chosen activity it would take to burn common foods like a small apple (about 80 kcal), two idlis (about 130 kcal), or a samosa (about 250 kcal).

Understanding MET values and exercise intensity

MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) is a standardised measure of exercise intensity relative to rest, with reference values drawn from the Compendium of Physical Activities, the academic reference researchers use to assign MET intensity codes to activities. Sitting quietly is 1.0 MET — it burns approximately 1 kcal per kg of body weight per hour. Light walking at 3 km/h is roughly 2–2.5 MET. Running at 10 km/h is approximately 10 MET — ten times the energy expenditure of sitting still. High-intensity activities like competitive swimming (10 MET), vigorous cycling (roughly 10 MET at about 22–25 km/h, and higher at faster speeds), and competitive football (10 MET) burn significantly more calories per minute than moderate-intensity activities. Body weight matters too: a 80kg person burns roughly 33% more calories than a 60kg person doing the same activity for the same duration.

Who uses this tool

Fitness enthusiasts use it to estimate their daily calorie burn from workouts and adjust their food intake accordingly for weight loss or muscle gain goals. Athletes use it to plan nutrition for training days versus rest days based on actual expected energy expenditure. Personal trainers use it to explain calorie economics to clients and design training programmes with measurable energy output targets. People tracking their weight loss progress use it alongside a food diary to understand the energy balance equation — total calories consumed versus total calories burned.

Privacy and data handling

All calculations run in your browser — your body weight, activity selections, and fitness data are never sent to any server or stored anywhere outside your current session.