Your body uses energy no matter what you do (including nothing). So, the more intense the activity, the more energy you’ll burn. In fact, many people want to know how much energy they expend during their workouts. The most common methods are to track calories or your heart rate. However, another approach is to calculate using METs, which is the abbreviation for metabolic equivalents.
What is a MET?
A MET measures the intensity of physical activity and can estimate how many calories you burn during exercise. A MET is calculated by dividing the amount of energy expended during activity by the amount of energy expended at rest.
For example, 1 MET is the energy you spend sitting at rest, also known as your resting or basal metabolic rate. A brisk walk at 3 or 4 mph (~ 5 to 6 km/h) has a value of 3.5 METs. Therefore, you’re exerting three and a half times the energy while walking compared to sitting for the same amount of time.
How are METs Calculated?
1 MET corresponds to the energy burned for one calorie/kg per hour. It can also be expressed as an oxygen uptake of 3.5 ml/kg per minute.
Unfortunately, METs are problematic since they do not account for factors such as age or gender. In fact, the initial formulas are from a healthy 40-year-old man weighing 70 kg (~154 lbs). Furthermore, a study shows that health, age, gender, and BMR could affect the amount of energy 1 MET represents.
However, the Compendium of Physical Activity has studied and scored hundreds of activities. As a result, the compendium remains a source for studies worldwide to help further scientific and medical studies.
METs for Common Activities
This partial list comes from the Compendium of Physical Activity.
| Activity | METs |
|---|---|
| sleeping | 0.95 |
| sitting quietly | 1 |
| writing or desk work | 1.3 |
| normal walking pace at 2.0 mph or 3.2 km/h | 2.8 |
| brisk walk at ~3 mph or ~5 km/h | 3.5 |
| calisthenics such as push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and lunges | 3.8 |
| leisure bike ride around 9 mph or ~14.5 km/h | 5.8 |
| swimming laps, freestyle at light or moderate effort | 5.8 |
| jogging | 7 |
| snow shoveling by hand at vigorous effort | 7.5 |
| running at 5 mph or 8 km/h | 8.3 |
| swimming laps, freestyle at light or moderate effort | 9.8 |
| running at 8 mph or ~13 km/h | 11.8 |
Setting Your METs Goals
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate intensity for optimal cardiovascular health for most healthy adults.
That amount of time translates to about 500 to 1000 MET minutes per week. In other words, a MET minute is the number of METs of an activity per minute. For example, a brisk walk is 3.5 METs. If you walk for 20 minutes, that’s (3.5 x 20) 70 MET minutes.
Whether you track your goals by time or METs, you can reach them by doing exercises you enjoy.
How are METs and Calories Connected?
You are likely more familiar with calories than METs, especially if you watch your weight or use a fitness tracker. However, if you know the MET for the exercises you like, you can estimate the number of calories you’ll burn.
The formula to calculate calories per minute is METs x 3.5 x your weight in kg / 200 = calories per minute. If you use lbs instead of kg, then take your weight and divide it by 2.205. For example, a 170 lb person is approximately 77 kg.
Let’s say you love to go for brisk walks, and you weigh 160 lbs (~73 kg). Therefore, 3.5 x 3.5 x 73 / 200 = 4.5 calories per minute. Going for a 20-minute brisk walk will burn about 89 calories.
The Takeaway
There is another way to track your exercise efforts and weekly goals. Instead of tracking time and intensity, you could track METs. Like calories, METs measure how much energy your body expends. The higher the MET value, the more energy you will use.
For optimal cardiovascular health, aim for 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity or 500 to 1000 MET minutes a week. Whether you like to walk, run, bike, or practice yoga, it’s up to you how you reach that goal.
FitTrend’s mission is to help you along your self-improvement journey, promote an active lifestyle, and help you achieve your goals. Our journal can help you track your activities and workouts. Also, FitTrend allows you to connect certain smartwatches and trackers to your account to make it easier for you to update your journal automatically. Create your account today and start using FitTrend for free!
Disclaimer: No content on this site should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
