Calories burned calculator

How much energy does that walk, swim or hour in the garden use? Pick an activity, add your weight and the minutes, and get an estimate.

Your details

Activity

Minutes

min

Your weight

stlb

Sessions a week (optional)

Sex (optional, to personalise)

Age (optional)

years

Height (optional)

30 min of walking briskly, about 3.5 mph

126 kcal

extra over resting, for your weight; add age, sex and height to personalise

Total, including what you burn at rest158 kcal
Your resting burn over that time32 kcal (1,529 kcal a day)
Effort for you (corrected METs)5.0 METs, against 4.3 for the standard 3.5 ml/kg/min
Personalised withaverage adult figures (add age, sex and height)
Effort level4.3 METs, moderate
Each week (3 sessions)378 kcal on top of resting
Counts towards your 150 weekly minutes90 minutes

The headline is the extra energy the activity used on top of what you would burn resting, which is the part that counts against food. Figures use the 2024 Compendium corrected METs and can be 20% out either way; fitness, technique and how hard you go all move them.

The working

A 30 minute brisk walk at 11 st

Brisk walking is 4.3 METs. The standard sum is METs × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200 per minute, so at 11 st (69.9 kg) 30 minutes uses 158 kcal in total. About 32 kcal of that you would have burned resting anyway (Harris-Benedict for an average 40 year old, 170 cm), leaving 126 kcal extra. Three walks a week count 90 minutes towards your 150.

Add your sex, age and height to personalise it. The 2024 Compendium corrects each MET for your own resting rate, so the extra kcal shifts a little: a shorter, older woman burns less at rest, so more of the total counts as extra.

METs

The unit behind it

A MET is the energy you use sitting still at rest, about 1 kcal per kg of body weight per hour. An activity rated 4 METs uses four times that. The 2024 Compendium lists over 1,000 activities measured in studies.

Calories in context

More than calories

Exercise is good for heart, mood, sleep and bones whatever it does to the scales. Calories burned are hard to count precisely, so use this for curiosity rather than to earn or pay off food.

Read with care

What this cannot tell you

Your exact burnFitness, technique and heat all change it, often by 20%.
WatchesWrist trackers often overestimate.
After burnExtra energy used after exercise is small for most sessions.

Questions

Common questions

How many calories does a 30 minute walk burn?

About 160 kcal in total at a brisk pace for someone of 11 stone, of which about 125 kcal is extra over resting.

How are calories burned worked out?

METs × 3.5 × weight in kg ÷ 200 gives kcal a minute, which is close to METs × kg × hours. We then take off what you would burn resting, using the 2024 Compendium corrected METs, so the headline is the extra the activity adds.

Do heavier people burn more?

Yes, moving more weight uses more energy.

Sources

Last checked 21 October 2026. Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we will fix it.

Before you push on

New to exercise, or got a heart, lung or joint condition? Have a word with your GP or practice nurse first. Stop and get help if you feel chest pain, faintness or unusual breathlessness, and call 999 if it is severe.