The amount of calories you burn while walking depends on several factors, such as your weight, the pace, how long you walk, and the terrain.
Walking is an excellent, inexpensive exercise choice that can help you both lose weight and improve your cardiovascular health.
If you’re looking to trim down, you may be wondering how many calories you can burn doing this activity. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, as your burn has to do with a number of different factors.
Read on to learn more about calories burned while walking.
The most basic way to figure out how many calories you burn while walking takes into account your weight and walking speed.
The table below provides an example of the amount of calories burned per 1 minute of walking based on the miles per hour (mph).
| Calories burned | |
|---|---|
| 2 mph | 2.9 to 4.0 calories |
| 2.5 mph | 3.5 to 4.8 calories |
| 3 mph | 4.0 to 5.6 calories |
| 3.5 mph | 4.6 to 6.4 calories |
| 4 mph | 5.2 to 7.2 calories |
To determine how many calories you’d burn, work out your walking speed, then times the calories for that speed by how many minutes you’ve walked.
For example, if you walk at 2 mph, you weight 130 pounds (lb), and you walk for 30 minutes, the calculation would be:
- 2.9 calories x 30 minutes = 87 calories burned
Calculator
Most calculators you find online take more into account than just your weight and walking pace. They use a calculation that factors in your basal metabolic rate, or BMR (age, sex, height, and weight), exercise intensity (METs), and the duration of your exercise session.
The equation is: calories burned = BMR x METs/24 x hour
For example:
- A 35-year-old female who weighs 150 pounds, is 5 feet 5 inches tall (BMR = 1,437), and walks for 60 minutes at 3.0 mph (3.5 METs) will burn 210 calories.
- A 35-year-old male who weighs 200 pounds, is 5 foot 10 inches (BMR = 1,686), and walks for 60 minutes at 3.0 mph (3.5 METs) for 60 minutes will burn 246 calories.
Learn more about walking and weight loss.
Beyond your weight and pace, other factors can increase your calorie burn while walking. Here are ways to make walking more vigorous:
- Try incorporating rolling hills into your walking route or walking on an incline on a treadmill.
- If you can’t maintain a brisk pace for your entire workout, consider walking intervals where you have hard effort mixed with recovery periods. For example, warm up at a 2.0 mph pace. Then for the rest of your walk, alternate a minute at a pace of 3.5 to 4.0 mph with one or two minutes at 2.0 mph.
- More time on your feet will increase your calorie burn. Still, you may find it hard to get in longer walking sessions during the workweek. Try getting in some longer walks on the weekend, such as an hour or more.
- Once you’re a walking pro, you may even want to add some jogging to your routine. Try a walk/jog approach, where you warm up with walking and alternate bursts of jogging with walking to recover. According to the
American Heart AssociationTrusted Source , if a person weighing 100 lb jogs at 5 mph, they will burn around 362 calories per hour. This compares with 149 calories for an hour of waking at 2 mph.
You may want to consider keeping a simple log of your walking sessions. If you have a pedometer, a tool that calculates your steps and distance, you can write down how many steps you’ve taken that day.
Did you walk on a treadmill? Write down your time, distance, and pace in a notebook or a spreadsheet. Looking back on all your steps is a great way to stay motivated.
Now you just need to figure out where to walk. Start by trying a loop around your own neighborhood. Sites like MapMyWalk can help you find routes near you by sharing where other people are walking in your area. You can even download an app that will help you log your miles and stay on track. Happy trails!
Learn more about motivating yourself to work out.
The calories burned when walking can depend on factors such as your weight, speed of walking, and whether you walk on flat ground or an incline.
You can increase the number of calories burned by walking up hills, alternating between moderate and brisk walks, and incorporating jogging.