# Calculating how many calories are burned

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-how-many-calories-are-burned/337513>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 28, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-how-many-calories-are-burned/337513 "2005-12-28T23:42:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-how-many-calories-are-burned/337513/1 "2005-12-28T23:42:56Z")

</div>

I’ve seen several websites that have calculators to tell you how many calories you’ll burn if you do certain exercises. You enter your weight, the activity, and the length of time you’ll do the exercise.

How accurate is this? Would a man who is 5.5 feet tall and weighs 150 pounds burn calories at the same rate as a man who is 5 feet tall and weighs 150 pounds?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-how-many-calories-are-burned/337513/2 "2005-12-29T00:12:17Z")

</div>

> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#):
>
> How accurate is this?

Not very.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-how-many-calories-are-burned/337513/3 "2005-12-29T00:26:51Z")

</div>

> [@ultrafilter](#):
>
> Not very.

Is it even close?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calculating-how-many-calories-are-burned/337513/4 "2005-12-29T00:27:58Z")

</div>

Tough to say. For some people, it might be, but not for the majority. It is useful as an order of magnitude estimate.