What this calculator measures
Calories burned during exercise is a useful planning number for managing total energy balance — particularly for people using activity to create or maintain a deficit. It is not a precise measurement; individual caloric expenditure during the same activity can vary by 15–25% due to fitness level, body mechanics, and environmental conditions.
How this calculator works
We use the MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) formula: calories = MET × 3.5 × weight (kg) ÷ 200 × duration (minutes). MET values are drawn from the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities, the gold standard reference for standardised energy costs across hundreds of activities.
How to use your result
Use exercise calorie estimates to inform your overall energy balance, not to 'earn' specific foods. If using a fitness tracker that also estimates calories burned, compare your tracker's figures to this calculation for a rough cross-check. Resist treating any single calorie estimate as ground truth — use actual body-weight trends over 2–4 weeks to confirm whether your total energy balance is where you intend it to be.
Why your watch disagrees with this number
Wearables estimate energy expenditure from heart rate and movement, and they commonly overstate exercise burn — frequently by 20% or more, and by considerably more for strength training, where heart rate rises for reasons unrelated to energy cost.
MET-based estimates have their own limits: the values are population averages drawn from a reference compendium, and fitness, technique, and efficiency all shift the real cost. Treat both numbers as planning estimates with real error bars rather than measurements.
Should you eat back exercise calories?
Generally no, or only part of them. If the burn estimate is 30% high and you eat all of it back, a 500 kcal daily deficit quietly becomes a 350 kcal one, and progress stalls for reasons that look mysterious from the inside.
A more reliable approach is to set calories from your overall activity level once, then adjust from the weight trend over two to four weeks. That keeps a single number to manage instead of a daily negotiation with your tracker.
Important limitation
Calculator results are estimates. Pregnancy, eating disorders, medical conditions, injuries, or concerning symptoms require qualified professional guidance.