🏃 MET Value Calculator – Understand Activity Intensity & Calories
The MET Value Calculator helps you look up the Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) for over 80 physical activities and instantly calculate how many calories you burn based on your body weight and exercise duration. Whether you are planning a workout, tracking daily energy expenditure, or comparing the intensity of different activities, MET values provide a standardised, science-backed benchmark.
What Is a MET Value?
MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) is a unit that expresses the energy cost of physical activities as a multiple of the resting metabolic rate. By definition, 1 MET equals the energy your body uses while sitting quietly — approximately 1 kcal per kilogram of body weight per hour. An activity with a MET of 6, such as hiking, burns six times more energy than sitting at rest for the same duration.
MET values are derived from oxygen consumption measurements (VO₂) collected during exercise research. They are published in the Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al., 2011), the globally accepted reference for exercise energy expenditure used by health researchers, clinicians, and fitness professionals worldwide.
The Calorie Formula
Calculating calories burned from a MET value requires only three pieces of information:
Calories (kcal) = MET × Body Weight (kg) × Duration (hours)Example: A 70 kg person cycling at moderate intensity (MET 8.0) for 45 minutes (0.75 hours) burns: 8.0 × 70 × 0.75 = 420 kcal.
Because body weight is included directly in the formula, heavier individuals burn more calories doing the same activity. This makes MET a fair and weight-neutral way to compare the intensity of activities, while still producing personalised calorie estimates when weight is entered.
MET Intensity Categories
Physical activities are commonly grouped into five intensity tiers based on their MET value:
| Level | MET Range | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | < 1.5 | Sleeping (0.9), watching TV (1.3) |
| Light | 1.5 – 2.9 | Standing (1.8), yoga (2.5), cooking (2.5) |
| Moderate | 3.0 – 5.9 | Brisk walking (5.0), dancing (5.0), casual cycling (4.0) |
| Vigorous | 6.0 – 8.9 | Weight training (6.0), swimming laps (8.3), basketball (8.0) |
| Very Vigorous | ≥ 9.0 | Running 10 km/h (9.8), HIIT (10.3), jump rope (12.3) |
Comparing Activities Using MET
One of MET's most practical uses is comparing the calorie burn of different activities for the same person. Since body weight cancels out when comparing, you can simply compare MET values directly:
- HIIT (MET 10.3) vs. brisk walking (MET 5.0): HIIT burns about 2× more calories per hour.
- Running 10 km/h (MET 9.8) vs. yoga (MET 2.5): Running burns nearly 4× more calories per hour.
- Cycling moderate (MET 8.0) vs. leisure cycling (MET 4.0): Doubling the pace doubles the calorie burn.
You can also use MET to find how long a low-intensity activity must last to match a short high-intensity session. For example, 20 minutes of CrossFit (MET 9.6) produces the same calorie burn as approximately 38 minutes of brisk walking (MET 5.0) for any body weight.
Activities Covered in This Calculator
This calculator includes MET values for activities across seven categories:
- 🏠 Daily Living — sleeping, standing, housework, gardening, stair climbing
- 🏃 Walking & Running — leisure walk to sprint pace, hiking, trail running
- 🚴 Cycling — leisure cycling to racing pace, mountain biking, spin class
- 🏊 Swimming — leisure laps, freestyle, breaststroke, water aerobics
- 🏋️ Gym & Training — yoga, weight training, HIIT, jump rope, CrossFit, elliptical
- ⚽ Sports — basketball, soccer, tennis, boxing, golf, martial arts
- 🎯 Leisure & Recreation — dancing, rock climbing, skiing, kayaking, skating
Accuracy and Limitations
MET estimates are reliable for population-level averages but have inherent limitations for individuals:
- Fitness level: Trained athletes burn slightly fewer calories at the same MET because their bodies are more metabolically efficient.
- Body composition: Muscle mass and fat distribution affect actual oxygen consumption independent of total body weight.
- Environment: Heat, altitude, and terrain can increase or decrease true energy expenditure versus the standardised MET value.
- Age and sex: Resting metabolic rate varies with age and sex, meaning 1 MET is not exactly 1 kcal/kg/hr for everyone.
For everyday fitness planning, MET-based estimates are accurate enough. For clinical nutrition or sports performance, pair MET data with indirect calorimetry or validated wearable heart rate monitors for greater precision.
Using MET Values for Fitness Planning
Tracking weekly MET-hours (MET × hours of activity) is a powerful way to quantify your total activity load without needing calorie counts. Accumulating 7.5–15 MET-hours per week of moderate-to-vigorous activity aligns with public health recommendations and is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and all-cause mortality.
Combine your MET calculations with tools like the Calories Burned Calculator, TDEE Calculator, and Physical Activity Level (PAL) Calculator for a complete picture of your daily energy balance.