Deficitly
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Walking calorie calculator
Walking burns about 0.56–0.67 extra calories per kg of body weight per km, a little more the faster you go, and much more uphill. For a person of 70 kg (154 lb), a 30-minute brisk walk (6 km/h, 3.7 mph) burns about 130 extra calories, or 170 in total counting what the body burns at rest anyway. The calculator works it out from your time, distance or steps, with your pace and incline.
Calories burned walking by distance
| Weight | 1 mile | 5 km | 5 miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 kg 132 lb | 55 | 170 | 270 |
| 70 kg 154 lb | 65 | 195 | 315 |
| 80 kg 176 lb | 70 | 225 | 360 |
| 90 kg 198 lb | 80 | 255 | 405 |
| 100 kg 220 lb | 90 | 280 | 450 |
Weight matters most: a heavier body costs more to move. Per mile and per 1,000 steps by speed: calories burned walking a mile; per hour: calories burned walking for an hour; for a step count: what 10,000 steps burn.
Incline walking and the treadmill
| Incline | 60 kg 132 lb | 80 kg 176 lb | 100 kg 220 lb |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | 85 | 110 | 140 |
| 3% | 125 | 165 | 210 |
| 6% | 165 | 220 | 275 |
| 10% | 220 | 290 | 365 |
| 15% | 285 | 380 | 480 |
Incline is the cheapest way to burn more without walking faster: every 5% roughly adds as much as the level walk itself at a moderate pace. The popular 12-3-30 treadmill workout (12% incline, 3 mph, 30 minutes) burns about 280 extra calories at 70 kg (154 lb), against 90 on the flat. Hold the rails and you burn less, because they take part of your weight.
How much walking burns 1 kg of fat?
| Weight | Hours | Distance | At 45 min a day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 kg 132 lb | 33 h | 201 km125 mi | 45 days |
| 75 kg 165 lb | 27 h | 160 km100 mi | 36 days |
| 90 kg 198 lb | 22 h | 134 km83 mi | 30 days |
| 105 kg 231 lb | 19 h | 115 km71 mi | 26 days |
Walking alone loses weight slowly, but it adds up and it's easy to keep doing. Combined with a modest cut in food it works well: see how many steps a day to lose weight, how many steps a day is good and walking vs running for weight loss.
How the calculator works
- Time or distance: each walking pace has a MET value from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities (2.8 for slow walking to 7.0 for fast walking). Extra calories = (MET − 1) × weight in kg × hours; the "− 1" takes out what you'd burn at rest anyway.
- Incline: the climbing cost from the American College of Sports Medicine's walking equation, about 6.3 extra calories per km for every 1% of incline at 70 kg (154 lb). Walking downhill isn't counted as a saving.
- Steps: the same model as the Deficitly calculator: your stride from your height (about 41% of it), then 0.5 calories per kg per km, the cost of everyday walking.
Worked example: 70 kg (154 lb), 30 minutes at 6 km/h. MET 4.84: (4.84 − 1) × 70 × 0.5 = 130 extra calories; plus 70 × 0.5 = 35 at rest: 170 in total.
Extra calories or total?
Watches, treadmills and most calculators show the total, including the calories you'd have burned sitting on the sofa. Deficitly shows the extra, because your resting burn is already in your daily total (BMR vs TDEE); adding the total on top counts it twice. That's also why wrist trackers often look generous: in one study of seven devices, energy estimates were off by 27% or more (should you eat back exercise calories?).
Sources
- Herrmann SD, Willis EA, Ainsworth BE, et al. 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: A third update of the energy costs of human activities. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 2024;13(1):6-12. doi:10.1016/j.jshs.2023.10.010
- American College of Sports Medicine. ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 11th ed. Wolters Kluwer, 2021 (metabolic equations for walking).
- Shcherbina A, Mattsson CM, Waggott D, et al. Accuracy in wrist-worn, sensor-based measurements of heart rate and energy expenditure in a diverse cohort. J Pers Med 2017;7(2):3.