MET Activity Calorie Calculator
Estimate the energy used during walking, exercise and everyday movement using our free MET activity calorie calculator. Choose an activity, enter your weight and duration, and see total expenditure alongside the additional amount above rest.
What is a MET?
A metabolic equivalent of task (MET) describes an activity's energy cost relative to a standard resting reference. The conventional reference is 3.5 millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute. Higher MET values generally represent more demanding activities.
Why show two calorie estimates?
Total (gross) expenditure includes the resting component during the activity. Additional (net) expenditure subtracts one standard MET. If you are adding activity to a separate resting-energy estimate, using the full gross amount would count that resting component again.
Total kcal = MET × 3.5 × weight in kg ÷ 200 × minutes.
Additional kcal = (MET − 1) × 3.5 × weight in kg ÷ 200 × minutes.
The formula uses a conventional approximate oxygen-to-energy conversion. Standard 1-MET resting expenditure is not identical to your individual resting metabolism, so even the net figure remains an estimate.
Important limitations
Actual expenditure varies with fitness, movement efficiency, body composition, terrain, conditions and effort. Select the closest description rather than treating a MET value as a personal measurement. Do not count the same activity and time twice.
The 2024 Adult Compendium principally covers ages 19–59. Estimates for other ages may be less applicable; this is not a child calculator or an individual exercise prescription. Where medical conditions, pregnancy or other circumstances affect activity, seek appropriately qualified advice.
Your information stays in this calculator in your browser. It is not submitted to CMS Fitness Courses. No calorie deficit, weight-loss prediction or diet recommendation is generated.
Source and further learning
Activities use the locally stored, verified 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Each selected activity displays its official code and reference. This tool uses the same curated data as our wider calculator.
Want to put activity into a full daily picture? Explore the Calorie Deficit & Weight Loss Calculator.