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Calories Burned Sitting | Calculator & Formula

LAST UPDATE: April 15th, 2020

The average person burns 90-150 calories per hour sitting.

Calculator

How many calories are burned sitting?

Formula

Calories burned per minute = (MET x body weight in Kg x 3.5) ÷ 200

“MET” is a measurement of the energy cost of physical activity for a period of time. You can find an activity’s MET on the chart above.

A task with a MET of 1 is roughly equal to a person’s energy expenditure from sitting still at room temperature not actively digesting food.

A task with a MET of 2 uses twice as much energy as a task with a MET of 1. A task with a MET of 10 uses 10 times as much energy as a task with a MET of 1.

MET values “do not estimate the energy cost of physical activity in individuals in ways that account for differences in body mass, adiposity, age, sex, efficiency of movement, geographic and environmental conditions in which the activities are performed. Thus, individual differences in energy expenditure for the same activity can be large and the true energy cost for an individual may or may not be close to the stated mean MET level as presented in the Compendium.” (as quoted from the main page of the Compendium of Physical Activities).

Example

A person weighs 180 pounds (81.65kg) and sits quietly fidgeting hands (MET value of 1.3) for 1 hour (60 minutes).

Calories burned sitting quietly fidgeting (per minute) = (1.3 x 81.65 x 3.5) ÷ 200 = 330.92 ÷ 200 = 1.86

Calories burned sitting quietly fidgeting (for 60 minutes) = 1.86 x 60 = 112

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