Work out how many calories a walk burns from your body weight, pace and time, using the standard MET formula, with gross and net figures shown separately.
| Input | Result |
|---|---|
| 70 kg, 30 minutes, 3.0 mph (4.8 km/h), moderate | 129 kcal gross, 92 kcal net |
| 90 kg, 60 minutes, 3.0 mph (4.8 km/h), moderate | 331 kcal gross, 236 kcal net |
| 70 kg, 30 minutes, 4.0 mph (6.4 km/h), very brisk | 184 kcal gross, 147 kcal net |
| Intensity | MET |
|---|---|
| 2.5 mph (4.0 km/h), slow | 3.0 MET |
| 3.0 mph (4.8 km/h), moderate | 3.5 MET |
| 3.5 mph (5.6 km/h), brisk | 4.3 MET |
| 4.0 mph (6.4 km/h), very brisk | 5.0 MET |
MET values from the Compendium of Physical Activities. Only intensities reproduced consistently across independent published tables are listed here.
A MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) is a multiple of your resting energy use: sitting quietly is 1 MET, and an activity at 5 METs costs five times as much energy per minute as sitting still. The values published in the Compendium of Physical Activities, maintained by researchers and updated most recently in 2024, are measured averages across groups of healthy adults, rounded to the nearest 0.0, 0.3, 0.5 or 0.8.
The formula used here is the standard one from the American College of Sports Medicine:
calories per minute = MET × 3.5 × body weight (kg) ÷ 200
The 3.5 is the resting oxygen uptake in millilitres per kilogram per minute that defines 1 MET, and 200 is the conversion that turns it into kilocalories. It is the same formula most fitness trackers and cardio machines use, which is why the number here should be in the same neighbourhood as the one on your machine.
MET values are population averages, not measurements of you. Real energy cost moves with body composition, fitness, movement efficiency, terrain, water temperature and how hard you are actually working, and the 3.5 mL/kg/min constant behind the formula was derived from a single reference adult, so it fits a lean average adult far better than it fits anyone at the edges. Independent testing of consumer wearables routinely finds errors of 20–30%, in both directions.
The tool reports two figures for that reason. Gross calories is the total your body burned during the session. Net calories subtracts what you would have burned sitting down for the same length of time, that is the number that actually represents what the exercise added. If you are logging food against exercise, the net figure is the honest one.
This is an estimate, not medical advice. Nothing here diagnoses a condition, assesses a pregnancy or replaces a clinician. If you are pregnant, trying to conceive or managing a health condition, follow the guidance of your own medical team over any number a calculator produces.
It depends almost entirely on body weight, pace and time. Using the standard MET formula, a 70 kg adult walking at a moderate 3 mph for 30 minutes burns roughly 129 kcal gross, or about 92 kcal net of what they would have burned sitting down. At a brisk 3.5 mph the same walk comes to about 158 kcal gross.
Yes, but less than most people expect. Going from 2.5 mph to 4 mph roughly doubles the MET value from 3.0 to 5.0, so over the same distance, walking faster costs more per minute but you finish sooner. Per mile, the faster walk still comes out ahead, just not dramatically.
Gross is everything your body burned during the walk. Net subtracts the calories you would have burned in that time anyway, which is the number that represents what the walk actually added. If you are counting exercise against food intake, net is the figure to use.
It is a population estimate, not a measurement. Body composition, fitness, terrain and how briskly you actually walk all move the real number, and consumer wearables are routinely 20–30% off in either direction. Treat the result as an order of magnitude.