Calories burned calculator: a free MET calculator

The calories burned calculator estimates the energy cost of a workout using MET values — a standard measure of how demanding an activity is compared with sitting still. This MET calculator covers weight training, running, cycling, rowing, jump rope, yoga and several other common activities, and is one of the more reliable ways to estimate calories burned lifting weights or doing cardio without needing a wearable device.

How to use the calculator

Choose your activity from the list, enter your bodyweight in kilograms, and enter how many minutes you trained. The calculator instantly returns an estimated calorie total. Update your bodyweight occasionally as it changes, since the formula scales directly with body mass — a heavier body burns more calories doing the same activity than a lighter one. The tool remembers your last entered bodyweight in your browser so you don't need to re-enter it every time you check a new activity or session length.

The MET formula and its data source

The formula is kcal = MET × bodyweight (kg) × hours. A MET (metabolic equivalent of task) of 1 represents resting energy use; an activity with a MET of 8 burns roughly 8 times your resting rate. The MET values used here come from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities (Herrmann et al.), the most current version of a widely used, research-based reference table that assigns a MET value to hundreds of activities based on measured oxygen consumption in real subjects.

Limits of this estimate

MET values are population averages, not a measurement of your individual metabolism — actual calorie burn varies with fitness level, effort, body composition and even ambient temperature. Weight training MET values in particular are broad categories ("moderate" vs "vigorous") that don't capture the difference between a light recovery session and an all-out strength workout, so treat the result as a reasonable estimate for tracking trends, not a precise lab measurement. It's generally more accurate for steady-state cardio (running, cycling) than for activities with lots of rest between efforts, like typical weight training with breaks between sets, since the calculator assumes continuous effort for the full duration entered. For a strength session with normal rest between sets, count only the time actually spent moving, or accept that the total will run a little higher than reality if you time the whole session including rest.

Using the result in your training

If your goal is fat loss, calories burned during exercise are one part of the overall calorie balance — most fat loss comes from a sustained calorie deficit built from diet and total daily activity, with structured exercise contributing a meaningful but usually smaller share. Use this calculator to get a rough sense of a session's energy cost rather than trying to exactly "earn back" calories eaten, which can lead to an unhelpful, overly precise relationship with food and exercise. For more on this balance, see our guide on how to lose fat with exercise.

Which activities are included

The list covers moderate and vigorous weight training, circuit training, HIIT-style bodyweight intervals, running at a couple of common paces, brisk walking, stationary cycling, rowing, jump rope, stretching, yoga, swimming, the elliptical and the stair climber — a broad enough range to estimate most sessions built from exercises across this site, including plans that combine strength work with a timed conditioning finisher. If an activity you did isn't listed, pick the closest match by perceived effort — a hard bodyweight circuit is closer in MET value to HIIT than to gentle stretching, even if neither exactly matches what you did.

Weight training vs cardio for calorie burn

Minute for minute, vigorous cardio like running usually burns more calories during the session itself than weight training. However, weight training builds and preserves muscle, which supports a slightly higher resting metabolic rate over time and contributes to body composition changes that a pure calorie-burned number doesn't capture. Most well-rounded routines include both rather than choosing one purely to maximize the number shown on this calculator.

Privacy

Your bodyweight and session details are used only to calculate the result in your browser and are not sent to a server or saved anywhere unless you choose to note the number down yourself.