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Ten moderate minutes of push-ups at 160 lb burns 45.96 kcal — by the MET formula, 3.8 × 72.5748 kg × 10 ÷ 60. Enter your weight and minutes (or your rep count) and see your burn at moderate 3.8 MET or vigorous 8.0 MET, with both methods shown side by side.
The primary method is the MET formula: calories = MET × weight in kilograms × hours, with moderate push-ups at 3.8 MET and vigorous push-ups at 8.0 MET (Compendium of Physical Activities values). The secondary method counts reps at about 0.29 kcal per push-up at 150 lb, scaled linearly with your weight. Enter minutes, reps, or both.
Push-ups are a strength exercise first and a calorie burner second, and this calculator keeps both truths in view. At the defaults — 160 lb, 10 minutes, moderate effort — you burn 45.96 kcal, roughly the calories in half an apple. That is not a weight-loss workout on its own, but it is real energy, and it comes with upper-body strength that a treadmill never gives you. The lever that matters most is intensity: the same 10 minutes done vigorously at 8.0 MET burns about double the moderate figure. If calories are the goal, push-ups belong inside a bigger session; if strength is the goal, the calories are a bonus.
Setup: 160 lb, 10 minutes, moderate (3.8 MET).
Line 1 — pounds to kilograms. 160 × 0.45359237 = 72.5748 kg. The MET formula needs kilograms, so this conversion comes first.
Line 2 — minutes to hours. 10 ÷ 60 = 0.16667 hours.
Line 3 — the MET formula. Calories = MET × kg × hours = 3.8 × 72.5748 × 0.16667 = 45.96 kcal. That is the default result, visible in the calculator before you touch a field.
Line 4 — the reps check. The secondary method says about 0.29 kcal per push-up at 150 lb, scaled by weight. At 160 lb that is 0.29 × (160 ÷ 150) = 0.309 kcal per rep — so 100 push-ups at 160 lb would be about 30.93 kcal by the reps method, in the same ballpark as a few minutes of moderate sets.
A heavier, harder session: 200 lb is 90.7185 kg, and 15 minutes is 0.25 hours, so 8.0 × 90.7185 × 0.25 = 181.44 kcal. That is nearly four times the default — heavier body, longer session, and more than double the MET all stack in the same direction. Vigorous push-ups for 15 minutes straight is a serious effort, and the number reflects it.
A lighter body at the same effort: 120 lb is 54.4311 kg, so 3.8 × 54.4311 × (10 ÷ 60) = 34.47 kcal. Same minutes, same MET, about 25% fewer calories than the 160 lb default — the MET formula scales exactly with body weight, so lighter people burn proportionally less doing the same work.
Counted by reps instead of time: 0.29 kcal per rep at 150 lb scales to 0.29 × (180 ÷ 150) = 0.348 kcal per rep at 180 lb, so 100 reps = 34.80 kcal. If those 100 reps took you about 10 minutes with rests, the two methods agree nicely — the reps method is a cross-check, not a rival, and agreement between them is a good sign your inputs are honest.
| Output | Formula | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Calories by time | MET × kg × hours | 45.96 kcal at the defaults — 3.8 × 72.5748 × 10 ÷ 60. |
| Calories by reps | 0.29 × (lb ÷ 150) × reps | 34.80 kcal for 100 reps at 180 lb — the secondary, counted method. |
| Weight in kg | lb × 0.45359237 | 72.5748 kg at 160 lb — the conversion the MET formula needs. |
| MET values | moderate 3.8, vigorous 8.0 | Compendium of Physical Activities values for push-ups; vigorous is more than double moderate. |
| Per-rep cost | ≈0.29 kcal at 150 lb, weight-scaled | A stated assumption, not a measurement — use it as an estimate, not a lab result. |
MET values are population averages from the Compendium of Physical Activities, not measurements of your body: real burn varies with speed, form, rest between sets, range of motion, and fitness, easily by 20% or more either way. The vigorous 8.0 MET figure assumes continuous, high-effort push-ups; sets broken up by long rests burn closer to the moderate figure even if the reps feel hard. The per-rep figure (≈0.29 kcal at 150 lb, scaled linearly with weight) is a plainly stated assumption used for the secondary method — it is not a laboratory measurement, and it ignores the rest periods that dominate a real set. General information only — not medical or training advice. Error policy: weights at or below 0 or above 1,000 lb, minutes at or below 0, negative reps, and entering neither minutes nor reps are reported as errors rather than modeled.
Bright Side Kit. "Push-Ups Calorie Calculator: Burn by Time & Reps 2026." https://brightoolbox.com/push-ups-calorie-calculator/ Accessed October 24, 2026.About 34.80 kcal at 180 lb, or about 29 kcal at 150 lb. The reps method uses roughly 0.29 kcal per push-up at 150 lb, scaled linearly with body weight: 0.29 × (your weight ÷ 150) per rep. At 160 lb, 100 push-ups are about 30.93 kcal — a snack, not a meal.
45.96 kcal at 160 lb and moderate effort (3.8 MET). The MET formula is 3.8 × 72.5748 kg × (10 ÷ 60). Done vigorously at 8.0 MET, the same 10 minutes at 160 lb burn about 96.77 kcal — intensity more than doubles the result.
Moderate push-ups: 3.8 MET. Vigorous push-ups: 8.0 MET. Both values come from the Compendium of Physical Activities, the standard reference for activity energy costs. Moderate means steady sets with rest; vigorous means fast, continuous, high-effort sets.
As a calorie burner, modestly; as a strength builder, very. Ten moderate minutes burn 45.96 kcal at 160 lb — you would need hours of push-ups to match a run. Their weight-loss value is muscle: more muscle raises daily energy use and keeps weight off after dieting, which the calorie count alone does not show.
Yes, proportionally. The MET formula multiplies by body weight, so a 200 lb person burns 25% more than a 160 lb person for the same minutes and effort — 181.44 kcal versus about 145 kcal for 15 vigorous minutes. The reps method scales the same way.
About 345 reps at 150 lb, or about 288 reps at 180 lb. Divide 100 by the per-rep cost: 100 ÷ 0.29 ≈ 345 at 150 lb; 100 ÷ 0.348 ≈ 288 at 180 lb. In practice, burning 100 kcal with push-ups alone takes a long, hard session — most people are better off mixing them with cardio.
Whichever you actually tracked — and cross-check with the other. Time with the MET method is better for set-based workouts with rests; reps are better for challenges and fixed counts. If the two methods disagree wildly, your minutes probably include rest that the MET figure already accounts for, or your reps were slower than you think.
Because it is almost certainly a units mistake. This field takes pounds: 160 lb is a typical adult, and 1,000 lb is beyond any plausible body weight. If you entered kilograms by accident — 72 instead of 160 — the calculator would silently undercount, so the guard forces a check.