Activity MET Calorie Calculator

About this calculator

A MET, or metabolic equivalent of task, expresses how much energy an activity costs relative to sitting quietly, which burns 1 MET by definition — walking briskly is around 3.5 METs, running at a 10-minute-mile pace is around 10 METs. The Compendium of Physical Activities catalogs MET values for hundreds of specific activities, and calorie burn is derived from them with the formula kcal/min = (MET × 3.5 × body weight in kg) / 200, or equivalently kcal/hour = MET × body weight in kg × 1.05.

Dietitians, fitness trackers and exercise-prescription apps all rely on MET-based calorie estimates because they let you compare wildly different activities — gardening, swimming, cycling, playing basketball — on one consistent energy-cost scale, independent of the specific device or app doing the tracking. It's also the basis for calculating exercise calorie goals in weight-management and cardiac-rehab programs.

This calculator takes the activity's MET value, your body weight and the duration, and returns gross and net calories burned, kilojoules, an estimate of fat grams burned, and your burn rate per hour.