Stairs Calorie Calculator

Estimate the calories you burn climbing stairs from your body weight, how long you climb, and your pace, using standard MET values.

Quick Facts

Method
MET equation: kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × kg / 200
MET values for stair climbing from the Compendium of Physical Activities.

Your Results

Calculated
Total calories burned
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Over the full climb
Calories per minute
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Rate of energy burn
Calories per hour
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Extrapolated hourly rate

Ready

Enter your weight, time, and pace, then press Calculate.

How the Stairs Calorie Calculator works

Climbing stairs is one of the most calorie-dense everyday activities because you are lifting your entire body weight against gravity, step after step. This calculator estimates the calories you burn using the MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) method — the same standard used in exercise physiology and by most fitness trackers.

A MET is a multiple of your resting metabolic rate. One MET is defined as an oxygen consumption of about 3.5 milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute, which corresponds to sitting quietly. An activity rated at 8 METs burns energy roughly eight times faster than rest.

The formula

The calculator uses the standard MET equation:

  • Calories per minute = MET × 3.5 × body weight (kg) ÷ 200
  • Total calories = calories per minute × minutes climbed

The constant 200 comes from converting oxygen uptake to energy: one liter of oxygen consumed releases about 5 kilocalories, and (3.5 mL/kg/min × kg ÷ 1000) × 5 simplifies to MET × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200. If you enter your weight in pounds, it is first converted to kilograms by dividing by 2.20462.

MET values for stair climbing

The MET values in the pace selector come from the Compendium of Physical Activities, the standard reference maintained by exercise scientists:

  • Slow, leisurely pace — 4.0 METs. Strolling up a staircase without hurrying.
  • Moderate, general pace — 8.0 METs. A steady continuous climb, the default for most people.
  • Fast, vigorous pace — 8.8 METs. Rapid or "running" stair climbing, as in stair-climbing workouts or tower races.

Worked example

A 70 kg (154 lb) person climbing stairs at a moderate 8.0-MET pace for 15 minutes burns: 8.0 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 9.8 calories per minute, and 9.8 × 15 = about 147 calories. The same person at a slow 4.0-MET pace would burn half as much — about 73 calories — while a vigorous 8.8-MET effort would burn about 162 calories.

Common reference points

  • Because energy use scales directly with body weight, a person who weighs twice as much burns roughly twice the calories for the same climb.
  • At a moderate pace, most adults burn somewhere between 7 and 12 calories per minute of stair climbing.
  • Climbing a single flight of stairs (about 10 steps up) burns only a few calories, but the cumulative effect of taking stairs throughout the day adds up meaningfully.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many calories does climbing stairs burn?
It depends on your weight, pace, and how long you climb. A 70 kg (154 lb) adult at a moderate 8-MET pace burns about 9.8 calories per minute, or roughly 147 calories in 15 minutes. Heavier people burn proportionally more and lighter people less, since the MET equation scales directly with body weight.
Does this count the calories from going down the stairs too?
The MET values here describe climbing up. Descending stairs burns energy too, but far less — roughly a third of the uphill cost, because you are lowering your body with gravity rather than lifting it. If you go both up and down repeatedly, the MET rating for continuous stair machines or "up and down" already blends the two, so treat this estimate as focused on the upward effort.
Should I subtract my resting calories?
The MET method already includes your resting metabolism (1 MET is rest). To get the "extra" calories burned above what you would have spent sitting, subtract one MET's worth: net calories per minute = (MET - 1) × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200. For most fitness planning, the gross figure this tool reports is the number people use.
Why does a fitness tracker show a different number?
Wearables estimate calories from heart rate, step cadence, and personal profile data, which can capture your individual effort more closely than a fixed MET value. The MET method gives a solid population-average estimate; expect real-world results to vary by roughly 10–20% depending on fitness, step height, and how much you use handrails.

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