Activity calories · 2024 Compendium METs

Calories burned boxing

Quick answer

A 70 kg (154 lb) person burns about 203 kcal in 30 minutes of boxing (Punching bag), and about 406 kcal in an hour. That is 5.8 METs.

30 minutes: 203kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 406kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 348kcal; 60 kg (132 lb)
1 hour: 464kcal; 80 kg (176 lb)

Boxing training and boxing in the ring are very different workloads. Hitting a punching bag is rated by tempo, from a steady pace up to a fast 180 punches a minute; sparring and a fight are rated higher. Choose the entry that matches what you actually did.

Calculate calories burned boxing

Starts at 70 kg (154 lb) for 30 minutes of boxing at 5.8 METs; enter your own weight and time.

Calories burned boxing by weight and time

Kilocalories for boxing at 5.8 METs (Punching bag), by body weight and minutes. Read across from your weight; the pace table below shows the other rows.

Calories burned boxing at 5.8 METs, by body weight and duration
Body weight	15 min	30 min	45 min	1 hour	1.5 hours	2 hours
50 kg (110 lb)	73	145	218	290	435	580
60 kg (132 lb)	87	174	261	348	522	696
70 kg (154 lb)	102	203	305	406	609	812
80 kg (176 lb)	116	232	348	464	696	928
90 kg (198 lb)	131	261	392	522	783	1,044
100 kg (220 lb)	145	290	435	580	870	1,160
110 kg (243 lb)	160	319	479	638	957	1,276

Boxing: calories by pace or effort

The Compendium rates boxing on 7 lines, from 5.8 METs (Punching bag) up to 12.3 METs (In the ring, general). Each row below is one of those codes with the calories it works out to.

Calories burned boxing by pace or effort
Pace or effort	Compendium code	METs	30 min, 60 kg (132 lb)	30 min, 70 kg (154 lb)	30 min, 80 kg (176 lb)	1 hour, 70 kg (154 lb)
Punching bag	15110	5.8	174	203	232	406
Punching bag, 60 punches a minute	15113	7	210	245	280	490
Sparring	15120	7.8	234	273	312	546
Punching bag, 120 punches a minute	15115	8.5	255	298	340	595
Simulated boxing round, exercise	15125	9.3	279	326	372	651
Punching bag, 180 punches a minute	15118	10.8	324	378	432	756
In the ring, general	15100	12.3	369	431	492	861

The Compendium’s own wording for each code: 15110, “Boxing, punching bag”; 15113, “Boxing, punching bag, 60 b/min”; 15120, “Boxing, sparring”; 15115, “Boxing, punching bag, 120 b/min”; 15125, “Boxing, simulated boxing round, exercise”; 15118, “Boxing, punching bag, 180 b/min”; 15100, “Boxing, in ring, general”.

What changes the number for boxing

Pace is the biggest lever. The hardest listed way of boxing (In the ring, general) is rated at 12.3 METs, 2.1 times the 5.8 METs of the gentlest (Punching bag). For a 70 kg (154 lb) person that is 861 kcal an hour against 406 kcal.

Body weight is the second: the same 5.8 METs of boxing for 30 minutes comes to 145 kcal at 50 kg (110 lb) and 319 kcal at 110 kg (243 lb). To reach 100 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) takes about 15 minutes at the starting pace.

Laid out in half-hour terms for 70 kg (154 lb): punching bag is 203 kcal; punching bag, 60 punches a minute is 245 kcal; sparring is 273 kcal; punching bag, 120 punches a minute is 298 kcal; simulated boxing round, exercise is 326 kcal; punching bag, 180 punches a minute is 378 kcal; in the ring, general is 431 kcal.

How the calories are worked out

The formula is calories = MET × body weight in kg × hours. A MET compares an activity with sitting quietly, which is 1 MET and is taken as roughly 1 kcal per kilogram per hour. That equivalence is an approximation, which is why every figure is rounded and called about.

For boxing at 5.8 METs, a 70 kg (154 lb) person for 30 minutes: 5.8 × 70 × 0.5 = 203 kcal. This is a gross figure: it includes the energy your body would spend at rest in the same time.

The MET values are those of the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities (Herrmann SD, Willis EA, Ainsworth BE, et al., J Sport Health Sci 2024), read from its activity list on 2026-10-23 and copied with their codes. They are averages for adults; see how we calculate.

Frequently asked questions

How many calories does a 70 kg person burn boxing in 30 minutes?

About 203 kcal at 5.8 METs (Punching bag). The whole range for boxing on this page runs from 203 kcal (Punching bag) to 431 kcal (In the ring, general) in the same half hour.

How many calories does boxing burn in an hour?

At 5.8 METs, about 348 kcal for a 60 kg (132 lb) person, 406 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) and 464 kcal at 80 kg (176 lb). Heavier people burn more because they move more mass.

How long does boxing take to burn 100 calories?

For a 70 kg (154 lb) person, about 15 minutes at 5.8 METs (Punching bag). At the gentlest listed pace (Punching bag, 5.8 METs) it takes 15 minutes, and at the hardest (In the ring, general, 12.3 METs) about 7.

Does the number for boxing include the calories I would burn anyway?

Yes. Of the 5.8 METs, 1 is the resting cost, about 17% of the total here, so the activity itself adds about 168 of the 203 kcal in 30 minutes at 70 kg (154 lb).

Why would my watch show a different number for boxing?

A watch uses its own model, often with heart rate, age and sex, while this page uses the Compendium’s average. For boxing that average already spans 7 entries from 5.8 to 12.3 METs, a 2.1-fold range, so a gap between the two is normal.

Which line in the table should I choose for boxing?

Pick the row that best describes how you did it: this page starts from “Punching bag”, about 0% of the way up the 5.8 to 12.3 MET range. The rows are separate Compendium entries (15110, 15113, 15120, 15115, 15125, 15118, 15100).

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These are estimates for healthy adults from average MET values. How much you actually burn varies with your fitness, body composition, technique, terrain and conditions, so use the figures as a guide, not a measurement. This is not medical advice.