Calculators · free, no account
Calories burned lifting weights calculator
Enter your bodyweight, how long you lifted and what kind of session it was. The calculator multiplies the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities value for that session by your weight and time, and shows the calories burned plus the same session at 30 to 90 minutes.
Example result
~280kcal
4.7kcal
3.5 METs × 80 kg × 1 h. Includes what your body burns at rest over the same time.
| Length | Calories |
|---|---|
| 30 min | 140 kcal |
| 45 min | 210 kcal |
| 60 min | 280 kcal |
| 90 min | 420 kcal |
Weight lifting calorie examples
The kind of session moves the answer more than the clock does.
-
Example 1
A heavy squat and deadlift day
A 95 kg powerlifter who spent 90 minutes on squats and deadlifts.
- Bodyweight
- 95 kg
- Workout length
- 90 min
- Kind of session
- Heavy squats and deadlifts
- Calories burned~713 kcal
- Per minute7.9 kcal
About 140 kcal of that is what a 95 kg body burns at rest over 90 minutes anyway. If he eats back exercise calories, he should eat back the difference, not the whole figure.
-
Example 2
Lunchtime supersets
A 135 lb woman who runs her upper-body day as back-to-back pairs to fit it into 45 minutes.
- Bodyweight
- 135 lb
- Workout length
- 45 min
- Kind of session
- Circuit or supersets
- Calories burned~266 kcal
- Per minute5.9 kcal
Pairing exercises moves the session from 3.5 to 5.8 METs in the Compendium, so the same 45 minutes burns about two-thirds more than straight sets with full rest. Supersets buy calories as well as time.
-
Example 3
A long bodybuilding session
A 180 lb lifter who logs 75 minutes and picks the vigorous bodybuilding option.
- Bodyweight
- 180 lb
- Workout length
- 75 min
- Kind of session
- Hard powerlifting or bodybuilding
- Calories burned~612 kcal
- Per minute8.2 kcal
The vigorous option describes hard effort throughout. If most of those 75 minutes are rest between sets, Typical gym session is the honest pick, and it puts the same workout well under 400 kcal.
-
Example 4
Bodyweight work at home
A 65 kg beginner doing 30 minutes of squats, lunges and push-ups at a steady pace.
- Bodyweight
- 65 kg
- Workout length
- 30 min
- Kind of session
- Bodyweight, steady
- Calories burned~98 kcal
- Per minute3.3 kcal
Steady bodyweight work is the lowest value on the list. Cutting the rest so the same 30 minutes counts as high intensity more than doubles the burn, which beats adding minutes.
How many calories does lifting weights burn?
Between 3 and 6.5 calories per kilogram of bodyweight per hour, depending on the session. Those are the MET values the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities gives for resistance training, and one MET is about 1 kcal per kg per hour. A typical gym session of several exercises for 8 to 15 reps sits at 3.5.
| Session | METs | 60 kg (132 lb) | 80 kg (176 lb) | 100 kg (220 lb) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bodyweight, steady | 3.0 | 180 kcal | 240 kcal | 300 kcal |
| Typical gym session | 3.5 | 210 kcal | 280 kcal | 350 kcal |
| Heavy squats and deadlifts | 5.0 | 300 kcal | 400 kcal | 500 kcal |
| Circuit or supersets | 5.8 | 348 kcal | 464 kcal | 580 kcal |
| Hard powerlifting or bodybuilding | 6.0 | 360 kcal | 480 kcal | 600 kcal |
| Bodyweight, high intensity | 6.5 | 390 kcal | 520 kcal | 650 kcal |
The calories you can eat back
A MET is a multiple of your resting burn, so every figure here includes the calories you would have burned sitting still. To get what the workout added, subtract your bodyweight in kilograms times the hours: an 80 kg lifter's 280 kcal hour is about 200 kcal on top of rest.
That smaller number is the one to add to your day if you track food. If you plan meals around a muscle gain rate instead, let the scale trend decide.
How the calories are calculated
Calories = MET × bodyweight in kg × hours. The MET values are the 2024 Adult Compendium's codes for resistance training: 02054 for a typical session (multiple exercises, 8 to 15 reps), 02052 for squats and deadlifts, 02050 for vigorous powerlifting or bodybuilding, 02055 for circuits and supersets, and 02056 and 02057 for bodyweight exercise at a steady or high intensity.
Pounds are converted to kilograms first, and the total is rounded to the nearest calorie.
kcal = MET × kg × (minutes ÷ 60)
3.5 × 80 × (60 ÷ 60) = 280 kcalMake it fit you
-
Pick the session by how you train
Straight sets with full rest is a typical session. A day built on squats and deadlifts has its own value, back-to-back pairs or stations count as a circuit, and vigorous fits only when the effort stays hard throughout.
-
Split mixed workouts
Forty minutes of lifting and a 15-minute finisher are two activities. Run the calculator for each part and add them.
-
Eat back the net, not the gross
Subtract your bodyweight in kg times the hours before adding exercise calories to your day.
-
Use today's bodyweight
Calories scale with weight. After a bulk or a cut, re-enter it rather than reusing an old figure.
-
Enter real minutes
Count from your first warm-up set to your last working set. If you don't time sessions, the workout duration calculator estimates the length from your exercises and sets.
Questions
How many calories does 1 hour of weightlifting burn?
About 3.5 kcal per kg of bodyweight for a typical session, so 280 kcal at 80 kg (176 lb). A hard powerlifting or bodybuilding hour is closer to 6 kcal per kg.
Does lifting heavier weights burn more calories?
More total work does. A lab study of 52 adults measured with a metabolic cart built an equation for a session's net calories that rises with total volume lifted (sets × reps × weight) and with lean mass. The Compendium likewise rates heavy squats and deadlifts above a typical session.
Should I eat back calories burned lifting?
Only the part above your resting burn. Subtract your bodyweight in kg times the hours from the result, about 80 kcal for an 80 kg lifter's hour.
How many calories do push-ups and bodyweight workouts burn?
The Compendium rates general bodyweight exercise at 3.0 METs and high-intensity bodyweight work at 6.5, so 180 to 390 kcal an hour at 60 kg. To see how much each push-up loads you, use the push-up weight calculator.
What is a MET?
A multiple of your energy use at rest. One MET is about 1 kcal per kg of bodyweight per hour, so a 3.5 MET session burns 3.5 times your resting rate.
Related calculators and templates
-
How long should a workout be?
How long your session really takes.
-
Push-up weight calculator
How much of your bodyweight each push-up moves.
-
Muscle gain calculator
What the training is building, month by month.
-
Session builder
Build the session with starting loads.
-
What is a superset?
Pair exercises to fit more work into less time.
-
How long to rest between sets
The rest that sets your session type.
Sources
- 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities, Conditioning Exercise (MET values)
- Herrmann et al. (2024), 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: a third update of the energy costs of human activities
- Lytle et al. (2019), predicting energy expenditure of an acute resistance exercise bout in men and women
Make every session count
RIRLift logs load, reps and reps in reserve on every set, from iPhone or Apple Watch, and sets your next weights from what you logged.
Coming to Android · Join the waitlist
Finally a lifting app that doesn't try to be a social network. Being able to track reps, weight, and RIR straight from my Apple Watch during a set is super smooth.