Calories Burned: Jump rope (100/min), 120 lbs
Estimated calories burned for a 30-minute session. Adjust the duration, activity, or weight below to try your own numbers.
Calories Burned
90
Jump rope (100/min) (MET 11.0)
Calories per Hour
180
MET Value
11.0
Example
A 120 lb person doing "Jump rope (100/min)" (MET 11.0) for 30 minutes burns approximately 90 calories — about 180 calories per hour at that pace.
What is a Calories Burned Calculator?
A calories burned calculator estimates the energy you expend during an activity using its MET (metabolic equivalent) value, your body weight, and the duration of the activity. MET compares how much energy an activity requires relative to sitting quietly (1 MET) — walking slowly is about 2.8 METs, while vigorous cycling can reach 12 METs or more.
Because the formula scales directly with body weight, the same activity burns more calories for a heavier person than a lighter one — the body simply has to do more work to move more mass, the same way carrying a heavier backpack up a hill takes more energy than an empty one.
Calories Burned by Activity (Same Weight & Duration)
Every row below uses your exact weight and duration, so you can see how much more (or less) other activities burn compared to your selection.
| Activity | MET | Calories Burned |
|---|---|---|
| Cycling, vigorous (16-19 mph) | 12.0 | 98 |
| Running, 8 mph (7.5 min/mile) | 11.8 | 96 |
| Jump rope (100/min) (selected) | 11.0 | 90 |
| Running, 6 mph (10 min/mile) | 9.8 | 80 |
| Swimming, vigorous | 9.8 | 80 |
| Stair climbing | 8.8 | 72 |
| Running, 5 mph (12 min/mile) | 8.3 | 68 |
| Cycling, moderate (12-14 mph) | 8.0 | 65 |
| Basketball, game | 8.0 | 65 |
| Tennis, singles | 8.0 | 65 |
| Soccer, casual | 7.0 | 57 |
| Rowing machine, moderate | 7.0 | 57 |
| Weight lifting, vigorous | 6.0 | 49 |
| Hiking | 6.0 | 49 |
| Swimming, moderate | 5.8 | 47 |
| Dancing, moderate | 5.5 | 45 |
| Walking, brisk (4.5 mph) | 5.0 | 41 |
| Tennis, doubles | 5.0 | 41 |
| Elliptical trainer | 5.0 | 41 |
| Cycling, leisure (<10 mph) | 4.0 | 33 |
| Walking, moderate (3.5 mph) | 3.8 | 31 |
| Gardening | 3.8 | 31 |
| Weight lifting, moderate | 3.5 | 29 |
| Walking, slow (2 mph) | 2.8 | 23 |
| Yoga | 2.5 | 20 |
The MET Formula
MET (metabolic equivalent of task) is the ratio of energy an activity requires compared to resting quietly, which is defined as 1 MET — roughly 3.5 mL of oxygen consumed per kilogram of body weight per minute. Light activities like slow walking sit around 2 METs, moderate activities like doubles tennis around 5 METs, and vigorous activities like fast jump rope can exceed 11 METs.
What Affects How Many Calories You Burn
Beyond the activity itself, several factors change the result: body mass (more mass takes more energy to move), intensity (harder effort burns more per minute), age (lean body mass and metabolic rate tend to decline with age), body composition (muscle burns more energy than fat, even at rest), fitness level (a well-conditioned person burns somewhat fewer calories doing the identical exercise than someone less conditioned), and even ambient temperature (people tend to burn more in warmer conditions). Diet and sleep also affect overall metabolism, though less directly than the factors above.
Fat-Burning vs. Carb-Burning Intensity
Exercise intensity determines which fuel source your body favors. Lower-intensity exercise performed for longer draws more heavily on fat stores, while higher-intensity exercise shifts the body toward burning carbohydrates for quicker energy. This is why "fat-burning zone" training targets a moderate, sustained intensity rather than an all-out effort — though for total calories burned (and most weight-management goals), the total energy expended matters more than which fuel source it came from.
Why These Numbers Are Estimates, Not Exact
The standard MET baseline was derived from a healthy 40-year-old man weighing about 70 kg — your actual resting energy use may differ meaningfully from that reference, and some research suggests the conventional 1 MET baseline overestimates resting oxygen use by 20-30% for many people. Real activities also rarely happen at a perfectly constant intensity — an hour of tennis includes breaks between points and games, for example — so MET-based estimates should be treated as a reasonable approximation rather than a lab-measured exact figure.
Example — Your Current Inputs
A 120 lb person doing "Jump rope (100/min)" (MET 11.0) for 30 minutes burns approximately 90 calories — about 180 calories per hour at that pace.
Additional Example — A 30-Minute Workout
A 160 lb (72.6 kg) person doing 30 minutes of moderate cycling (MET 8.0) burns approximately 30 × 8.0 × 72.6 ÷ 200 ≈ 87 calories, versus only about 30 calories for the same 30 minutes of slow walking (MET 2.8) — nearly a 3x difference in calories burned for the identical time commitment, purely from choosing a higher-intensity activity.
About These Parameters
- Activity
- The exercise or activity performed, each mapped to a standard MET value representing its typical intensity. Pick the option that most closely matches your actual pace or effort level for the most accurate estimate.
- Duration
- How long you performed the activity, in minutes. Calories scale linearly with time in this formula, so doubling your duration doubles the estimated calories burned.
- Body Weight
- Your current weight, which scales the result directly — heavier bodies burn more calories doing identical activities, since more energy is required to move more mass.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do heavier people burn more calories doing the same exercise?
Moving a larger body mass simply requires more energy, the same way it takes more fuel to move a loaded truck than an empty one. This is why the MET formula multiplies directly by body weight — everything else being equal, a heavier person burns more calories per minute at the same activity and intensity.
Is a MET-based estimate as accurate as a fitness tracker?
Not exactly — wearable fitness trackers use heart rate and movement sensors to personalize the estimate to you in real time, while MET values are population averages for a given activity and intensity. MET-based estimates are a solid approximation for planning purposes, but a well-calibrated heart-rate-based tracker will usually be more accurate for your specific body and effort level.
Does exercising in the heat burn more calories?
Yes, somewhat — the body expends extra energy regulating temperature (sweating, increased heart rate) in warmer conditions. This calculator doesn't adjust for temperature, so actual calories burned on a hot day may run slightly higher than the estimate shown.
Why does a fitter person burn fewer calories doing the same workout?
As cardiovascular fitness improves, the body becomes more efficient at the same activity, requiring somewhat less energy to complete it. This is a normal, healthy adaptation to training — it means progress may require increasing intensity or duration over time to keep burning the same number of calories per session.