Calories burned by type of exercise

Posted by Nicholas Dang on October 09, 2024

How many calories do you burn by type of exercise?

Here are some estimated numbers for common forms of exercise.¹

Activity	Calories burned per hour (kcal/hr) based on bodyweight
Activity	59 kg (130 lb)	70 kg (155 lb)	86 kg (190 lb)
Walking – 4.8 km/h moderate pace (e.g. walking dog)	207	246	302
Walking – 6.4 km/h brisk pace	236	281	345
Running – 9.7 km/h (6’11” pace)	590	704	863
Running – 10.8 km/h (5’33” pace)	649	774	949
Bicycling – stationary, light effort	325	387	474
Bicycling – stationary, vigorous effort	620	739	906
Swimming – freestyle, light/moderate effort	472	563	690
Swimming – freestyle, vigorous effort	590	704	863
Weightlifting – light/moderate effort	177	211	259
Weightlifting – vigorous effort	354	422	518

NB: Average usual walking speed is 4.7 km/h.²

What do you need to know?

You can’t outrun or outlift a bad diet – you don’t burn as many calories from exercise as you probably think. Consider the following: eating 1 serving (4 squares) of Cadbury Milk Chocolate is ~134 calories, while walking 4.8 km/h for 30 minutes is ~123 calories. Is it easier/quicker to skip eating the 1 serving of chocolate or to walk for 30 minutes?
Take the numbers in the table with a grain of salt. Many factors can influence calories burned, such as bodyweight, intensity and time
Think about how long you can sustain an activity for. For example, not many can run or swim for 1 hour, but many can walk for 1 hour.
Consider how much time you have for physical activity. For instance, you may only have 10 minutes, so it may be more time-efficient to run than walk.

References:

Wisconsin Department of Health Services (2005) (https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p4/p40109.pdf)
Murtagh et al. (2021) (PMID: 33030707)