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Walking Calorie Calculator: Six Speed Tiers with Compendium MET Values, Incline Adjustment, Step Count Mode and Monthly Fat Loss Projection

Free walking calorie calculator using Ainsworth Compendium of Physical Activities MET values. Choose from six speeds (2.0 to 4.5 mph), add incline up to 15%, enter time, steps or distance, and get gross vs net calories, weekly and monthly projections, estimated fat loss, and a bar chart showing calories burned at all six speeds.

🚶 6 Speed Tiers⛰️ Incline Adjustment👣 Step Count Mode🔥 Gross vs Net Cal📊 Speed Comparison Chart📄 PDF Report
Your Weight
lbs
Walking Pace
MET values from Ainsworth Compendium (2011). Brisk walking at 3.5 mph meets CDC moderate-intensity exercise guidelines.
Each 5% incline adds approximately 0.5 MET to your calorie burn rate.
Duration
hr
min
Weekly Frequency (for projections)
🚶 Walking Calorie Results
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Enter your weight, choose a walking speed and duration, then click Calculate Calories Burned.

Walking Calorie Science: How Compendium MET Values Calculate Your Burn Rate at Every Speed

The formula behind this calculator comes from the Compendium of Physical Activities, a database of MET (metabolic equivalent of task) values compiled by Dr. Barbara Ainsworth and colleagues, first published in 1993 and most recently updated in 2011. The Compendium is the gold standard reference used by the CDC, ACSM, NIH, and virtually every exercise science department in the United States when assigning caloric cost to physical activities. The MET value represents how many times more energy an activity requires compared to sitting quietly. A MET of 1.0 means you are burning calories at the resting metabolic rate (approximately 3.5 ml of oxygen per kilogram per minute). A brisk 3.5 mph walk has a MET of 4.3, meaning it burns 4.3 times more energy per minute than sitting still.

The calorie formula is: Calories = MET x body weight in kilograms x duration in hours. This is the same formula used by exercise physiologists, sports medicine physicians, and researchers publishing in peer-reviewed journals. For walking at standard intensities, the basic formula is accurate within approximately 5 to 10% of indirect calorimetry measurements, which is the laboratory gold standard for measuring actual calorie burn. The difference between gross and net calories matters for people tracking daily energy balance: gross calories represent total energy expended during the walk, while net calories represent the additional caloric expenditure above the resting baseline. Fitness trackers and health apps vary in whether they report gross or net calories, and this calculator shows both so users can match their tracking preference.

Why Walking Speed Has Such a Large Effect on Calorie Burn

The difference in calorie burn between a 2.0 mph stroll (MET 2.5) and a 4.5 mph race walk (MET 7.0) is nearly threefold at the same duration and body weight. At slow walking speeds below 3.0 mph, the body’s gait is energy-efficient, with each step using a pendulum-like transfer of potential and kinetic energy that minimizes muscular effort. As speed increases above 3.5 mph, the muscles of the hips, glutes, hamstrings, and core must work harder to maintain balance and drive forward propulsion.

At race walk speeds of 4.0 to 4.5 mph, the caloric cost actually approaches that of slow jogging because the mechanical demands of maintaining proper technique are substantially higher than relaxed walking. A 180-pound person burns approximately 88 calories in 30 minutes of 2.0 mph strolling but approximately 245 calories in 30 minutes of 4.5 mph race walking, a difference of 157 calories from the same time investment.

How This Calculator Sets Targets: Three Input Modes, Six Speed Tiers and Incline Adjustment

Most US walking calorie calculators use a single generic MET value for walking regardless of actual pace, which significantly underestimates calorie burn for brisk and fast walkers. This calculator selects the Compendium MET value corresponding to the actual selected speed, producing more accurate results across the full range of walking intensities used by US adults.

The incline adjustment adds approximately 0.5 MET for every 5% increase in grade, reflecting the additional muscular work required to walk uphill. A 3.5 mph brisk walk on flat terrain (MET 4.3) becomes a 3.5 mph walk at 10% incline (MET 5.3), burning approximately 23% more calories for the same duration and body weight. This matters for US walkers who use treadmills at 1 to 5% incline to simulate outdoor resistance, who walk in hilly neighborhoods in cities like San Francisco, Pittsburgh, or Seattle, or who use inclined track workouts.

Three input modes serve different walking contexts: By Time suits people who walk for a fixed duration; By Steps serves the 10,000-steps-per-day fitness tracker community; By Distance suits people tracking neighborhood routes. The bar chart comparing all six speeds for the entered weight and duration is designed to show the caloric difference of adding 0.5 mph to an existing walking routine.

Three US Walking Calorie Examples Across Different Goals, Routes and Body Weights

Chicago, IL: Daily Commuter Walk
Female, 155 lbs (70kg), brisk 3.5 mph, 25 minutes each way (50 min/day)
Gross daily burn252 calories
Net daily burn193 calories
Distance covered2.9 miles/day
Monthly fat loss est.~1.2 lbs (20 workdays)
Denver, CO: Hill Walk
Male, 210 lbs (95kg), moderate 3.0 mph, 45 minutes at 10% incline
Base MET (3.0 mph flat)3.5
Incline-adjusted MET4.5
Gross calories321 calories
Vs flat walk same time249 cal (29% more with incline)
Phoenix, AZ: 10,000 Step Goal
Male, 185 lbs (84kg), slow 2.5 mph, daily 10,000 steps
10,000 steps in miles~4.76 miles
Walking time~114 minutes
Gross calories~444 calories
Monthly fat loss (5 days/wk)~3.9 lbs net basis

Expert Tips: Maximize Your Walking Calorie Burn on Every American Sidewalk, Trail and Treadmill

01
Set Treadmill to 1% Incline to Match Outdoor Walking Calorie Burn
Research by Jones and Doust (European Journal of Applied Physiology, 1996) established that walking on a flat treadmill underestimates the energy cost of outdoor walking due to the absence of wind resistance and the assisted forward propulsion from the belt. Setting treadmill incline to 1% compensates for this difference and produces calorie burns comparable to walking on flat outdoor terrain. For US treadmill walkers who find their fitness tracker calorie display surprisingly low compared to their effort, this adjustment partially explains the discrepancy. This calculator supports incline adjustments at 0, 5, 10, and 15%, covering the range from the 1% treadmill calibration adjustment to hill-walking workouts of the type found in San Francisco or Pittsburgh neighborhoods where grade commonly reaches 8 to 12%.
02
Walk at Brisk Pace to Reach Zone 2 for Optimal Fat Burning
Zone 2 aerobic training refers to exercise intensity at approximately 60 to 70% of maximum heart rate, where the primary fuel source shifts toward fat oxidation. For most US adults, Zone 2 walking speed corresponds to brisk walking at 3.0 to 3.5 mph, where you can maintain a conversation but feel the effort. A practical self-test: if you can sing easily, you are in Zone 1. If you can speak in sentences but not sing, you are in Zone 2. If you can only say a few words between breaths, you have crossed into Zone 3 or higher. Sustained Zone 2 walking of 30 to 60 minutes, 4 to 5 days per week, is the exercise recommendation of the CDC and ACSM for general health maintenance and is associated with reduced cardiovascular disease risk, improved insulin sensitivity, and sustainable fat loss. The heart rate zone indicator in this calculator’s results panel identifies which zone your selected walking speed typically corresponds to.
03
Add Nordic Walking Poles to Increase Calorie Burn by 20 to 40%
Nordic walking uses specialized walking poles with a pushing-backward motion that engages the upper body muscles, including the triceps, shoulders, back, and core, during every stride, increasing total muscle mass involved in locomotion by approximately 90% compared to regular walking. Research published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that Nordic walking at the same pace as regular walking increased calorie burn by 20 to 40%, with some studies finding increases up to 46% at brisk speeds. The perceived exertion often feels similar or lower because the poles reduce knee and hip joint loading, making it appealing for US adults with knee osteoarthritis or hip discomfort. Nordic walking poles are widely available at US sporting goods stores for $30 to $100 per pair. If you use Nordic poles, multiply this calculator’s results by approximately 1.2 to 1.3 for a rough estimate of the actual increased burn.

Walking Calorie Questions US Adults, Trainers and Physicians Ask Most

The number of calories burned walking 10,000 steps varies significantly by body weight and walking speed. At 2,100 steps per mile (a reasonable approximation for adults of average height), 10,000 steps equals approximately 4.76 miles. A 150-pound person walking those miles at 2.5 mph (approximately 114 minutes) burns approximately 335 gross calories. The same person walking at brisk 3.5 mph (completing the distance in approximately 82 minutes) burns approximately 312 gross calories, which is slightly less because of the shorter duration even though the effort is higher. The calorie difference between slow and fast pace at the same step count is smaller than most people expect, because faster walking means fewer minutes of activity per step count. The biggest variable is body weight: a 200-pound person walking 10,000 steps at 3.0 mph burns approximately 460 gross calories, while a 130-pound person walking the same route burns approximately 300 gross calories. Use the step count mode in this calculator for a personalized 10,000-step estimate based on your actual weight and walking speed.
Gross calories burned refers to the total energy your body expended during the walk, including the baseline resting metabolic calories your body would have burned during that time period regardless of whether you were walking or sitting. Net calories burned refers only to the additional calories expended above your resting baseline that are attributable to the walking activity itself. The difference is calculated by subtracting the resting metabolic rate equivalent (MET 1.0 x body weight in kg x hours) from the gross calorie figure. For a 30-minute brisk walk at 3.5 mph by a 180-pound person: gross calories are approximately 193, resting calories are approximately 41, and net calories are approximately 152. The practical importance of this distinction depends on how you are tracking energy balance. If you are using a total daily energy expenditure calculator that already includes your resting metabolic rate in the TDEE figure, you should add net calories from walking to avoid double-counting the resting component. Most fitness apps and trackers report gross calorie burn, which is why calorie deficits based on them sometimes overestimate the actual deficit relative to actual fat loss. This calculator displays both values.
One pound of body fat contains approximately 3,500 calories of stored energy. Creating a 3,500-calorie deficit through walking alone produces approximately 1 pound of theoretical fat loss. At a brisk 3.5 mph pace (MET 4.3), a 170-pound person burns approximately 149 net calories per 30-minute walk. To accumulate a 3,500-calorie net deficit through walking alone would require approximately 23.5 thirty-minute brisk walks, or about 12 hours of brisk walking total. This is why walking alone without dietary changes typically produces slower weight loss than the effort might suggest: even daily 30-minute brisk walks at 170 pounds accumulate only approximately 4,470 net calories per month, representing roughly 1.3 pounds of theoretical fat loss per month before any compensatory eating response. The CDC and most US weight loss programs recommend combining walking with modest dietary changes to produce a 500 to 1,000 calorie daily deficit from the combination of reduced intake and increased activity. A 300-calorie walking burn combined with 200 to 300 calories of dietary reduction per day produces a 500 to 600 calorie daily deficit and approximately 1 pound of fat loss per week, a clinically meaningful and sustainable rate. The monthly fat loss projection in this calculator is based purely on walking net calorie burn and does not account for dietary changes, adaptive thermogenesis, or compensatory appetite response.
Walking and running have different calorie efficiencies per unit of distance and time. Running burns more calories per minute than walking because of its higher MET values (running at 5 mph has a MET of approximately 8.3, compared to walking at 3.5 mph at MET 4.3), but walking burns approximately the same or slightly more calories per mile than running, because the duration required to cover a mile on foot is longer when walking. A 2013 study by Williams and Thompson in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, using data from over 45,000 participants in the National Runners and Walkers Health Study, found that walking produced equivalent reductions in risk of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes as running when compared by total energy expenditure (miles walked versus miles run), not by time. For weight loss specifically, running produces faster weight loss per hour of activity, but walking is far more accessible to US adults with overweight, joint pain, limited cardiovascular fitness, or sedentary baselines who cannot yet run comfortably. The ACSM and CDC position walking as the most broadly applicable moderate-intensity exercise for the US population, precisely because it is sustainable for a wider range of fitness levels and body weights than running.
Yes, body weight is the single most important variable in the walking calorie formula after MET value and duration. The formula is directly proportional to body weight in kilograms, meaning a person who weighs twice as much burns twice as many calories walking the same distance at the same pace for the same duration. A 120-pound person walking 30 minutes at 3.5 mph burns approximately 127 gross calories. A 240-pound person doing exactly the same walk burns approximately 254 gross calories, exactly double. In practical terms, this means heavier US adults have a significant caloric advantage in walking: they burn more calories per unit of effort, which, combined with walking’s low injury risk and high accessibility, makes it particularly valuable as an initial weight-loss exercise for people who are significantly overweight. As weight decreases over time from walking and dietary changes, the calorie burn from the same walking routine also decreases proportionally, which is one reason why increasing walking speed, duration, or incline over time helps maintain caloric output as body weight falls.
Fitness trackers and smartwatches vary substantially in their accuracy for measuring walking calorie expenditure. A 2017 study by Shcherbina et al. at Stanford University measured energy expenditure accuracy of seven wrist-worn devices using indirect calorimetry as the reference standard. The most accurate device had a median error of 27.4% and the least accurate had a median error of 92.6%, with no device achieving mean errors below 20% across all subjects. A 2020 study in the Journal of Sports Sciences found similar high variability, with consumer GPS watches and fitness bands overestimating walking calorie burn by 15 to 50% in most conditions. The key sources of error in fitness tracker walking calorie estimates are: inaccurate or absent personal data (height, weight, age, sex), imprecise step detection (especially during carrying or pushing a stroller), variable GPS accuracy for outdoor distance measurement, and device-specific heart rate measurement accuracy. MET-based calculations like this calculator, when accurate pace and weight data are entered, typically produce estimates within 10 to 15% of indirect calorimetry measurements, which is more accurate than most consumer wearables in real-world conditions.
The CDC defines brisk walking as walking at a pace fast enough to increase your heart rate and cause you to breathe harder than normal, while still being able to carry on a conversation. Technically, this corresponds to moderate-intensity physical activity defined as 3.0 to 5.9 METs, which for walking translates to approximately 2.5 to 4.0 mph for most adults. The specific speed classified as brisk varies by individual fitness level: for a highly fit athlete, 3.0 mph might feel like a stroll, while for a deconditioned or older adult, 2.5 mph might produce the breathing and heart rate response characteristic of moderate intensity. The CDC guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity such as brisk walking at 3.0 to 4.0 mph, or 75 minutes per week of vigorous-intensity activity, which is equivalent in health benefit. In this calculator, the moderate (3.0 mph) and brisk (3.5 mph) options correspond to the CDC-defined moderate-intensity walking range. For US adults using this calculator to meet CDC guidelines, 30 minutes of brisk walking 5 days per week at 3.0 to 3.5 mph fulfills the 150-minute weekly moderate-intensity recommendation. Authoritative resource: CDC Physical Activity Guidelines for Adults at cdc.gov.
Walking on a flat treadmill burns slightly fewer calories than walking outside at the same displayed speed, because outdoor walking requires overcoming air resistance and mild terrain variations that the treadmill eliminates. The belt’s motion also slightly assists forward propulsion in a way that outdoor walking does not. The magnitude of this difference is approximately 5 to 10% at normal walking speeds. Setting the treadmill to 1% incline largely compensates for this difference and makes treadmill calorie burn equivalent to outdoor flat walking at the same pace, based on the Jones and Doust research. Beyond this baseline 1% adjustment, additional treadmill incline increases calorie burn above flat outdoor walking at the same pace, as captured by this calculator’s incline adjustment feature. Most modern commercial treadmills at US gyms display calorie estimates that may or may not account for the flat-treadmill underestimation, and their algorithms are often proprietary and not validated against calorimetry. The MET-based calculation in this calculator with a 1% incline setting produces a more reliable outdoor-equivalent calorie estimate for treadmill workouts.
Walking can produce meaningful weight loss as the primary exercise modality for US adults who are sedentary or starting from a low fitness baseline. Research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that increasing walking to 30 or more minutes per day produced clinically significant weight loss in previously sedentary overweight women over 12 to 18 months when combined with modest dietary changes. The Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study and US Diabetes Prevention Program both used walking as the primary physical activity component of lifestyle interventions that reduced type 2 diabetes incidence by approximately 58% in high-risk adults. However, walking alone without resistance training has limitations for body composition: walking does not provide meaningful resistance stimulus for maintaining or building lean muscle mass, which is the primary driver of resting metabolic rate. Adults who lose significant body weight through walking plus dietary changes without resistance training tend to lose a combination of fat and lean mass, which reduces resting metabolic rate and makes weight maintenance harder. A practically effective approach for most US adults is to use walking as the primary aerobic activity for caloric expenditure while adding 2 to 3 days per week of basic resistance training to preserve lean mass during weight loss.
Walking produces a wide range of health benefits that extend far beyond the caloric expenditure captured by this calculator. A 2019 meta-analysis in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that regular walking was associated with a 20% lower risk of all-cause mortality and a 24% lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality. The Nurses Health Study found that walking 30 minutes per day was associated with 30 to 40% lower risk of coronary heart disease. Walking specifically reduces LDL cholesterol, lowers resting blood pressure, improves resting heart rate, and reduces inflammatory markers including C-reactive protein. Metabolic benefits include improved insulin sensitivity, reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, and improved lipid profiles. Walking after meals has been shown to significantly reduce post-meal blood glucose excursions in both diabetic and non-diabetic adults. Musculoskeletal benefits include maintained or improved bone density (walking is a weight-bearing exercise that stimulates bone remodeling), reduced risk of hip fracture in older adults, and reduced symptoms of knee osteoarthritis. Mental health benefits are well-established: walking in nature produces measurable reductions in cortisol, activations of the parasympathetic nervous system, and improved mood scores, with as little as 20 minutes producing meaningful reductions in anxiety and depression symptoms. Authoritative resources: CDC Physical Activity at cdc.gov and the American Heart Association walking resources at heart.org.
The number of steps per mile varies by individual height, stride length, and walking speed, and the commonly cited figure of 2,000 steps per mile is an approximation that is accurate for adults of approximately average height walking at a moderate pace. Research on actual step counts per mile in US adults shows a range from approximately 1,700 steps per mile for tall adults (above 6 feet) walking quickly, to approximately 2,400 steps per mile for shorter adults (below 5 feet 4 inches) walking slowly. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends measuring your personal stride length by counting steps over a known 100-meter distance (available at many outdoor tracks) and dividing 5,280 feet by your stride length in feet to get your personal steps per mile. This calculator uses 2,100 steps per mile as a balanced average that is slightly more accurate than the round 2,000 commonly used in fitness apps. Height-adjusted estimates: tall adults above 6 feet can use approximately 1,900 steps per mile; medium height adults can use approximately 2,100; shorter adults below 5 feet 4 inches can use approximately 2,300.
Research consistently points to walking speed as the more powerful predictor of health outcomes beyond the basic threshold of meeting weekly activity recommendations, while total distance is more important for caloric expenditure and weight management. A 2019 study by Stamatakis et al. in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, using prospective data from 50,225 US and UK adults, found that faster usual walking pace was associated with substantially lower risk of all-cause mortality (24% reduction for brisk walkers) and cardiovascular disease mortality (21% reduction) independent of total walking volume. Walking speed is also a powerful predictor of health outcomes in older adults: the gait speed test has been shown to predict hospitalization, functional decline, and mortality in adults over 65 more reliably than many conventional clinical assessments. For caloric expenditure and weight management, total distance and duration determine the bulk of the calorie burn. The practical recommendation for most US adults is to prioritize meeting the duration and frequency recommendations at the fastest comfortable pace, then gradually increase pace over time as fitness improves. Increasing speed from a gentle stroll to brisk walking produces disproportionate health benefits relative to the additional effort required.
Walking footwear does not directly affect the MET-based calorie burn calculation (which depends on body weight, pace, and incline), but appropriate footwear significantly affects the ability to walk comfortably at higher speeds for longer durations, which indirectly affects total calorie expenditure over time. For US adults walking for fitness and calorie burn, the key footwear considerations are: cushioning appropriate to the walking surface (more cushioning for concrete and asphalt, less for trails and tracks); a flexible sole that allows the natural heel-to-toe gait motion and does not restrict the foot’s push-off phase; adequate arch support for the walker’s foot type (flat, neutral, or high arch); and a fit that allows approximately half an inch of space at the toe box when standing. Dedicated walking shoes from brands like New Balance, Brooks, ASICS, and Hoka are designed with the specific motion requirements of walking gait in mind and differ from running shoes (which have excessive cushioning at the heel that disrupts walking gait) and cross-trainers (which are designed for lateral stability rather than forward motion). The American Podiatric Medical Association at apma.org provides guidance on footwear selection for walking and a list of products with their seal of acceptance. For pain-free, injury-free walking that allows consistent high-frequency sessions, footwear investment typically produces returns in workout consistency that outweigh the cost.
Incline walking produces meaningfully greater calorie burn than flat walking at the same speed because the muscles of the posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, calves) must work against gravity to lift the body’s center of mass with each step, rather than simply driving forward propulsion. At a 5% incline, calorie burn increases by approximately 10 to 15% compared to flat walking at the same speed and duration. At 10% incline, the increase is approximately 20 to 30%, and at 15% incline, the increase approaches 40 to 50% above flat walking calorie burn. This calculator applies an approximate adjustment of +0.5 MET per 5% grade based on Compendium supplemental data and ACSM inclined walking research. The physiological benefit of incline walking extends beyond calorie burn: the increased glute and hamstring activation produces muscular strengthening benefits in these key locomotion muscles that flat walking does not. For US adults who find flat walking too easy for meaningful cardiovascular challenge at comfortable paces, increasing treadmill incline to 5 to 10% while keeping speed constant is one of the most effective ways to increase workout intensity without the joint impact associated with increasing to running speeds.
MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task, a unit that expresses the energy cost of a physical activity as a multiple of the resting metabolic rate. A MET of 1.0 is defined as the energy expenditure of sitting quietly, which equals approximately 3.5 ml of oxygen consumed per kilogram of body weight per minute, or roughly 1 calorie per kilogram per hour. The MET values used in this calculator come from the Compendium of Physical Activities, developed by Dr. Barbara Ainsworth at Arizona State University and colleagues, first published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise in 1993 and updated in 2000 and 2011. The 2011 Compendium contains MET values for over 800 specific physical activities and is the standard reference used by US federal agencies including the CDC, National Cancer Institute, and NIH when measuring physical activity energy expenditure in research and health surveillance studies. Walking MET values in the Compendium range from 2.0 for very slow walking to 8.0 for race walking, with the values in this calculator (2.5 to 7.0) corresponding to the six most common recreational walking speeds. The Compendium MET values were derived from laboratory measurements of oxygen consumption during standardized exercise protocols, making them more precise than the simplified 100-calorie-per-mile estimates commonly used in popular health writing.
Walking has a well-documented and practically significant effect on blood glucose regulation, particularly when timed relative to meals. A 2016 study by Colberg et al. published in Diabetes Care found that three 10-minute walks after meals produced greater reductions in 24-hour blood glucose levels compared to a single 30-minute walk in adults with type 2 diabetes, with post-dinner walking showing the largest glucose-lowering effect. The mechanism is straightforward: walking activates GLUT4 transporters in skeletal muscle cells through a non-insulin-dependent pathway, allowing muscle cells to absorb and use glucose from the bloodstream even in conditions of insulin resistance. This direct glucose uptake by active muscles reduces post-meal blood glucose spikes regardless of insulin sensitivity, making walking after meals one of the most immediately effective non-pharmacological interventions for blood sugar management available to US adults. The American Diabetes Association endorses regular moderate-intensity physical activity (including brisk walking at 3.0 to 3.5 mph) as a cornerstone of diabetes management, with a recommendation of at least 150 minutes per week spread across at least 3 days, with no more than 2 consecutive days without activity. For US adults managing type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, the combination of post-meal walks (even 10 to 15 minutes) with the consistent weekly walking target tracked by this calculator represents both a calorie-burning and direct blood sugar management strategy. Adults with diabetes who use insulin or sulfonylureas should be aware that extended walking sessions can lower blood glucose significantly and should monitor levels and carry fast-acting glucose during longer walks.

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Legal Disclaimer and Editorial Transparency

MET values from Ainsworth et al., Compendium of Physical Activities (2011), Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. Calorie formula: Cal = MET x body weight (kg) x duration (hours), per ACSM and Compendium methodology. Incline MET adjustment of +0.5 per 5% grade derived from Compendium supplemental data and ACSM inclined walking research. Net calorie calculation subtracts resting MET (1.0) contribution. Steps-per-mile estimate of 2,100 based on average US adult stride length research. Fat loss projection uses 3,500 cal per lb theoretical estimate (Hall et al., AJCN, 2011). Actual calorie burn varies by individual body composition, terrain, footwear, and environmental conditions.

All results for informational purposes only. Not medical advice. Adults with cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal conditions, or diabetes should consult a physician before beginning a walking program. Authoritative sources: CDC Physical Activity, DHHS Physical Activity Guidelines, ACSM.