How many calories do you burn in 30 minutes running, walking or swimming?
Find out in seconds how many calories you burn with exercise. Pick the activity (walking, running, cycling, swimming, weights, HIIT…), enter your weight and the minutes, and we calculate the burn using the MET model, the scientific standard for estimating each activity’s energy use.
Estimated using the MET model (metabolic equivalents). Real burn varies with intensity, fitness and efficiency. Guidance only.
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How are calories burned calculated?
The calculation uses METs (metabolic equivalents), the standard way exercise physiology quantifies effort: 1 MET is what you burn sitting still, and every activity gets a multiplier from the Compendium of Physical Activities. Calories burned = METs x weight in kg x hours. That is why a heavier person burns more for the same walk — moving more mass costs more energy. Two honest caveats. First, the figure is gross, not net: part of it you would have burned anyway just being alive. Second, intensity within an activity varies enormously, so treat the result as an order of magnitude rather than a precise count.
Calories burned in 30 minutes, by activity and weight
Half an hour of each activity in the calculator, at four body weights. What moves the number most is intensity (the MET), then your weight: the same half hour burns more the more you weigh. For an hour, double it.
| Activity (30 min) | MET | 60 kg | 70 kg | 80 kg | 90 kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walking (~5 km/h) | 3.5 | 105 | 123 | 140 | 158 |
| Brisk walking (~6.5 km/h) | 5.0 | 150 | 175 | 200 | 225 |
| Running (~9.5 km/h) | 9.8 | 294 | 343 | 392 | 441 |
| Cycling, moderate | 7.5 | 225 | 263 | 300 | 338 |
| Swimming | 8.0 | 240 | 280 | 320 | 360 |
| HIIT | 8.0 | 240 | 280 | 320 | 360 |
| Weights | 5.0 | 150 | 175 | 200 | 225 |
| Elliptical | 5.0 | 150 | 175 | 200 | 225 |
| Jump rope | 11.0 | 330 | 385 | 440 | 495 |
| Yoga | 2.5 | 75 | 88 | 100 | 113 |
| Soccer | 7.0 | 210 | 245 | 280 | 315 |
| Dancing | 5.0 | 150 | 175 | 200 | 225 |
Computed with the same function as the calculator: kcal = MET × weight × hours, with MET values from the Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al.). It includes what you would burn at rest in that half hour, so what the exercise adds is a little less. These are reference ranges for healthy adults, not a diagnosis or individual advice.
FAQ
How many calories do you burn walking for 30 minutes?
At a normal pace (about 5 km/h), a 70 kg person burns 123 kcal in 30 minutes; at a brisk pace, 175. At 90 kg, 158 and 225. The more you weigh and the faster you go, the more you burn.
How many calories do running and swimming burn?
Half an hour of running at about 9.5 km/h burns 343 kcal at 70 kg and 392 at 80 kg. Swimming, 280 and 320. An hour is double: 686 kcal running at 70 kg.
Should I eat back the calories I burn?
Partially, and carefully. Wearables tend to overestimate exercise burn — sometimes by a lot — so eating back the full figure is the most common way a deficit quietly disappears. A common approach is to eat back about half, and adjust from what the scale does over a few weeks.
Do watches and fitness bands measure calories well?
They are decent for heart rate and steps, and poor for calories: validation studies routinely find errors of 20-30% or more, almost always upwards. Use them to compare your own sessions week to week, not as an absolute number to eat against.
Keep reading
- Walking for weight loss: how many steps →
- Cardio vs weights for fat loss →
- Does fasted training burn more fat? →
- How many calories should I eat a day →
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