Walking Calorie Burn Calculator

This walking calorie burn calculator estimates the calories that you burn while walking any given distance. The calculator takes into consideration the grade of the walking surface that you are on (i.e. the incline or decline), your weight, and the total walking distance and walking time. The incline or decline of the walking surface is taken into consideration because more calories are burned as the incline of the walking surface increases, and less calories are burned as the decline of the walking surface increases. You can read more about the method and equations used to determine calorie burn below the calculator.

About This Calculator

There is a non-linear relationship between walking speed and rate of calorie burn. Essentially what this means is that total calorie burn while walking depends on both the distance that you walked and the speed at which you were walking. This makes calorie burn while walking slightly different from calorie burn while running, which is only distance dependent (i.e. while running it doesn't matter what speed you run a given distance, you will burn the same amount of calories as long as the distance is the same). That's why this walking calorie burn calculator must take into consideration both walking time and walking distance, whereas our Running Calorie Burn Calculator only requires distance as an input.

For a walking surface grade between -5% to +5% inclusive, this walking calorie burn calculator is based on equations (shown below) derived by ShapeSense.com from experimental data displayed in Figure 3 of the study titled "Energy Cost of Running," by R Margaria, P Cerretelli, P Aghemo, and G Sassi (note that the data on walking energy expenditure was originally printed in the study titled "Sulla fisiologia, e specialmente sul consumo energetico, della marcia e della corsa a varie velocita ed inclinazioni del terreno," by R. Margaria). The experimental data gathered by Margaria measured calorie burn of subjects walking at various speeds and on various surface grades. It was found that there is a non-linear relationship between walking speed and rate of calorie burn, as opposed to calorie burn while running, which displays a linear relationship between speed and rate of calorie burn.

For a walking surface grade between +6% to +15% inclusive, this walking calorie burn calculator is based on the American College of Sports Medecine (ACSM) metabolic equation for walking oxygen consumption (i.e. VO2), with a subsequent conversion from VO2 to calorie burn included by ShapeSense.com. These equations are shown below.

This walking calorie burn calculator will not return a calorie burn estimate for walking speeds below 1 kilometre per hour (0.62 miles per hour) or above 7.5 kilometres per hour (4.66 miles per hour).

Calculator Formulas

For -5% grade:

• CB = [0.0251 x KPH³ - 0.2157 x KPH² + 0.7888 x KPH + 1.2957] x WKG x T

For -4% grade:

• CB = [0.0244 x KPH³ - 0.2079 x KPH² + 0.8053 x KPH + 1.3281] x WKG x T

For -3% grade:

• CB = [0.0237 x KPH³ - 0.2000 x KPH² + 0.8217 x KPH + 1.3605] x WKG x T

For -2% grade:

• CB = [0.0230 x KPH³ - 0.1922 x KPH² + 0.8382 x KPH + 1.3929] x WKG x T

For -1% grade:

• CB = [0.0222 x KPH³ - 0.1844 x KPH² + 0.8546 x KPH + 1.4253] x WKG x T

For 0% grade:

• CB = [0.0215 x KPH³ - 0.1765 x KPH² + 0.8710 x KPH + 1.4577] x WKG x T

For +1% grade:

• CB = [0.0171 x KPH³ - 0.1062 x KPH² + 0.6080 x KPH + 1.8600] x WKG x T

For +2% grade:

• CB = [0.0184 x KPH³ - 0.1134 x KPH² + 0.6566 x KPH + 1.9200] x WKG x T

For +3% grade:

• CB = [0.0196 x KPH³ - 0.1205 x KPH² + 0.7053 x KPH + 1.9800] x WKG x T

For +4% grade:

• CB = [0.0208 x KPH³ - 0.1277 x KPH² + 0.7539 x KPH + 2.0400] x WKG x T

For +5% grade:

• CB = [0.0221 x KPH³ - 0.1349 x KPH² + 0.8025 x KPH + 2.1000] x WKG x T

where

CB = Calorie burn (in calories)

KPH = Walking speed (in kilometres per hour)

WKG = Weight (in kilograms)

T = Time (in hours)

For +6% to 15% grade:

• CB = [0.1 x MPM + 1.8 x MPM x FG + 3.5] x WKG x T x 60 x 5 / 1000

where

CB = Calorie burn (in calories)

MPM = Walking speed (in meters per minute)

FG = Walking surface grade (expressed as a fraction, i.e. 6% = .06)

WKG = Weight (in kilograms)

T = Time (in hours)

The units for the constant 3.5 are milliliters of oxygen per kilogram per minute.

The units for the constant 60 are minutes per hour.

The units for the constant 5 are calories per liter of oxygen

The units for the constant 1000 are milliliters of oxygen per liter of oxygen.

References

Margaria R, Cerretelli P, Aghemo P, Sassi G. Energy cost of running. J Appl Physiol. 1963 Mar;18:367-70.

Margaria, R., 1938. Sulla fisiologia, e specialmente sul consumo energetico, della marcia e della corsa a varie velocita ed inclinazioni del terreno. Atti Accad. Naz. Lincei Classe Sci. Fis. Mat. Nat. Serie VI 7, 299–368.

American College of Sports Medecine: ACSM's Metabolic Calculations Handbook, 2007, Baltimore, MD. Also available online at: ACSM Metabolic Equations