Calories Burned Calculator
Estimate how many calories you burn during a strength training session — personalized to your age, weight, height, and sex for a more accurate result.
How Many Calories Does Weight Lifting Burn?
Strength training typically burns between 180 and 600 calories per hour, depending on your body weight, workout intensity, and duration. Heavier individuals and more intense sessions burn more calories — but the exact number varies significantly from person to person.
Most calorie calculators use a simple formula based on the Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET), which measures the energy cost of an activity as a multiple of your resting metabolic rate. For resistance training with 8-15 reps at varied resistance, the standard MET value is 3.5 (from the Compendium of Physical Activities).
This calculator goes a step further by using the Corrected MET method. Instead of assuming the same resting metabolic rate for everyone, it calculates your personal RMR using the Harris-Benedict equation — factoring in your age, height, weight, and biological sex. This produces a more individualized and accurate estimate than the standard MET approach.
Keep in mind that any calorie estimate is just that — an estimate. How long you rest between sets, which exercises you do, your training experience, and your individual metabolism all affect the real number. For the most accurate picture, pair this estimate with a workout log so you can see how your training volume and effort change over time.
How the Calculation Works
This calculator uses the Corrected MET method — the same approach we use in RepCount — which provides a more accurate calorie estimate than traditional calculators by personalizing the calculation to your unique metabolic rate. Here's exactly how it works:
Step-by-Step Calculation
Step 1: Calculate Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)
First, we calculate your personal resting metabolic rate using the Harris-Benedict equation, which factors in your biological sex, height, weight, and age:
RMR = 66.473 + 5.0033 × height(cm) + 13.7516 × weight(kg) − 6.755 × age
RMR = 655.0955 + 1.8496 × height(cm) + 9.5634 × weight(kg) − 4.6756 × age
Step 2: Convert RMR to ml/kg/min
Next, we convert your daily RMR into a rate of oxygen consumption per kilogram of body weight per minute:
Step 3: Calculate Corrected MET
We then adjust the standard MET value for resistance training based on your personal RMR:
The standard MET for resistance training (8-15 reps at varied resistance) is 3.5, based on the Compendium of Physical Activities.
Step 4: Calculate Calories Burned
Finally, we calculate the total calories burned during your workout:
Why Use the Corrected MET Method?
Most calorie calculators use a one-size-fits-all approach, assuming everyone has the same resting metabolic rate. This leads to significant inaccuracies — especially for individuals who are older, younger, taller, shorter, or have different body compositions.
The Corrected MET method accounts for individual metabolic differences by calculating your personal RMR first. Calorie expenditure during exercise varies significantly between individuals doing the same workout — your age, weight, and body composition all play a role. That's why personalized calculations are far more accurate than generic estimates.
Sources & References
- • Compendium of Physical Activities — Provides standardized MET values for different activities (pacompendium.com)
- • Harris-Benedict Equation — Widely validated formula for estimating resting metabolic rate
- • Corrected MET Methodology — Adjusts standard MET values based on individual resting metabolic rate for improved accuracy
Individual calorie burn varies based on exercise selection, rest periods, training intensity, and personal metabolism. These estimates are calculated from the formulas and data listed above, but actual values may differ.