📊 MET Minutes Calculator

How to Use This MET Minutes Calculator

Thirty minutes of yoga and thirty minutes of soccer are not the same exercise dose, and MET-minutes are how researchers compare them. One MET is your resting energy burn; brisk walking costs about 4.3 METs and running about 9.8. Multiply each activity's MET value by its weekly minutes, add them up, and you get a single number that measures your total weekly activity. Enter up to three activities below to see yours.

The Math: MET x Minutes

The MET values come from the Compendium of Physical Activities, the research standard that assigns an energy cost to hundreds of activities. The World Health Organization's guideline of 150 minutes of moderate activity per week works out to about 600 MET-minutes (150 x 4 METs), which is why 600 is the minimum line. Doubling that to 1,200 marks the high-activity range where studies show additional reductions in heart disease, diabetes, and early mortality risk.

Worked Example: 150 Minutes of Brisk Walking

Brisk walking at 4.3 METs for 150 minutes a week gives 4.3 x 150, which is 645 MET-minutes. That clears the 600 minimum with a small margin. Add two 45-minute swims at 6.0 METs and the total becomes 645 + 540, which is 1,185, just under the high-activity target. Enter these numbers above to verify.

Why Researchers Love This Number

Minutes alone mislead. Ninety minutes of gentle yoga (270 MET-min) is a lighter dose than ninety minutes of running (882 MET-min), and health studies need the dose, not the clock time. MET-minutes also let mixed routines combine honestly: a walk-plus-weights week gets one fair total instead of two incomparable ones. When you read that a study linked high activity to some outcome, the cutoff was usually defined in MET-minutes, which makes your own number directly comparable to the research.

The dose-response curve is encouraging for beginners. The biggest health gains come from moving out of the inactive range into the 600 zone; going from zero to 600 buys more benefit than going from 600 to 1,200. If you are currently near zero, even 300 MET-minutes a week, say 70 minutes of brisk walking, captures a large share of the benefit.

Building Your Week to 600 and Beyond

The simplest path to 600 is 150 minutes of brisk walking, split however you like: five 30-minute walks, or three 50-minute ones. Prefer intensity? Seventy-five minutes of running or vigorous cycling clears 600 in half the time. A practical mixed week: three 40-minute walks (516 MET-min) plus one 45-minute weight session (225 MET-min) totals 741. Strength training counts fully here, and the guidelines also recommend muscle-strengthening on 2 or more days weekly, which MET-minutes alone do not capture, so keep lifting even when the number looks good.

MET-Minutes and Weight Control

Activity helps weight control, but the arithmetic is humbling. Convert the dose to calories, kcal equals MET-minutes divided by 60 times body weight in kg, and 645 MET-minutes for a 70 kg adult is about 750 kcal for the whole week, less than one restaurant meal. That is not an argument against exercise; it is an argument against trying to outrun diet. Research consistently shows activity plus sensible eating beats either alone, and activity is what keeps lost weight off.

The less obvious win is appetite and metabolism. Regular moderate activity improves insulin sensitivity and sleep quality, both of which make sensible eating easier the next day. Strength training adds muscle that raises resting burn slightly. So count the MET-minutes for the health dose they are, eat like the kitchen matters more than the gym, and let the two compound. The scale moves on diet; body composition and health markers move on both.

Tracking Without Obsessing

The number works best as a weekly check, not a daily scoreboard. Tally it Sunday evening, compare it to 600, and plan the coming week. Daily tracking tempts people to chase the number with junk volume, extra easy sessions that add fatigue without fitness. The research behind the guidelines measured habitual weekly activity, so the weekly rhythm is what counts. Hit your number most weeks of the year and you have captured nearly all of the benefit the studies promise.

Second Worked Example: The Weekend Warrior's Week

Monday through Friday: 30 minutes of brisk walking (3.3 METs) each day. That is 3.3 × 150 minutes = 495 MET-minutes. Saturday: 60 minutes of moderate cycling (6 METs) = 360 MET-minutes. Sunday: rest. Weekly total: 855 MET-minutes, comfortably above the 600 guideline. Notice the structure: the walking provides the base and the single harder session provides the peak. Enter your own activities above; the calculator uses standard MET values from the Compendium of Physical Activities, the same reference researchers use.

The 600 and 1200 Lines: What WHO Actually Recommends

The World Health Organization recommends 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity per week, which at 4 METs is 600 to 1,200 MET-minutes, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity at 8 METs, which is the same 600 to 1,200. The 600 line is the minimum effective dose; benefits keep accumulating well past 1,200, with research showing gains up to 3,000 to 4,000 MET-minutes before the curve flattens. The honest framing: 600 is where the big health returns start, not where they end. Doubling from 600 to 1,200 buys meaningful extra benefit; doubling from 4,000 to 8,000 buys almost none.

Housework Counts: The METs of Chores

Exercise does not require workout clothes. The Compendium of Physical Activities rates vacuuming at 3.3 METs, mowing the lawn at 5.5, and general gardening at 4.0. An hour of yard work is 240 to 330 MET-minutes, a serious contribution to the weekly 600. This is not permission to skip real training; it is recognition that active lives accumulate dose invisibly. Log the honest chores for a week and many people discover they were already halfway to the guideline before the first workout.