Metabolic Equivalent (MET) Calculator

A Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) is the ratio of the energy used during an activity to the energy used at rest. Sitting quietly is defined as 1 MET. Walking at a moderate pace is about 3.5 METs, so it burns three and a half times as many calories per minute as resting does.

Calories burned = MET x Body Weight (kg) x Duration (hours)

A 70 kg person running at 6 mph (9.8 METs) for 30 minutes: Calories = 9.8 x 70 x 0.5 = 343 kcal

The formula beats a generic “calories burned” table because it scales with body weight. A heavier person burns more doing the same activity, because there is more mass to move.

Gross versus net calories. This is the part most calculators quietly skip. The MET figure includes the energy you would have burned anyway just by being alive during that half hour. At 1 MET, our 70 kg runner burns about 35 kcal resting for 30 minutes, so the extra cost of the run is closer to 308 kcal than 343. If you are counting calories against a food diary, the net number is the honest one, and this calculator shows both.

MET values here come from the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al.), which lists over 800 activities. The compendium was first published in 1993 and revised in 2000 and 2011. The 2011 revision cut several running and cycling values noticeably, which is why older charts still floating around the web list 8 mph running at 13.5 METs when the current figure is 11.8. If you have seen a different number elsewhere, that is usually why.

Reference points from the 2011 compendium:

One limitation worth knowing: MET values assume steady-state effort at the listed intensity. Interval training, stop-and-start sports and anything with a heavy skill component vary far more than a single number can capture. A chest-strap heart rate monitor integrating continuously will beat this formula on those.

The compendium also cannot see your fitness. A trained runner is more economical and burns fewer calories at 6 mph than a beginner at the same pace, and neither of them shows up in the equation.