Activity calories · 2024 Compendium METs

Calories burned doing HIIT

Quick answer

A 70 kg (154 lb) person burns about 245 kcal in 30 minutes of doing HIIT (Moderate effort), and about 490 kcal in an hour. That is 7 METs.

30 minutes: 245kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 490kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 420kcal; 60 kg (132 lb)
1 hour: 560kcal; 80 kg (176 lb)

High intensity interval exercise alternates hard work with short recovery. The Compendium lists a moderate-effort entry and a vigorous entry for burpees, mountain climbers, squat jumps and Tabata-style sessions. The figure covers the whole session, recovery periods included.

Calculate calories burned doing HIIT

Starts at 70 kg (154 lb) for 30 minutes of doing HIIT at 7 METs; enter your own weight and time.

Calories burned doing HIIT by weight and time

Kilocalories for doing HIIT at 7 METs (Moderate effort), by body weight and minutes. Read across from your weight; the pace table below shows the other rows.

Calories burned doing HIIT at 7 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)	88	175	263	350	525	700
60 kg (132 lb)	105	210	315	420	630	840
70 kg (154 lb)	123	245	368	490	735	980
80 kg (176 lb)	140	280	420	560	840	1,120
90 kg (198 lb)	158	315	473	630	945	1,260
100 kg (220 lb)	175	350	525	700	1,050	1,400
110 kg (243 lb)	193	385	578	770	1,155	1,540

Doing HIIT: calories by pace or effort

The Compendium rates doing HIIT on 2 lines, from 7 METs (Moderate effort) up to 11 METs (Vigorous: burpees, mountain climbers, Tabata). Each row below is one of those codes with the calories it works out to.

Calories burned doing HIIT 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)
Moderate effort	02210	7	210	245	280	490
Vigorous: burpees, mountain climbers, Tabata	02214	11	330	385	440	770

The Compendium’s own wording for each code: 02210, “High intensity interval exercise, moderate effort”; 02214, “High intensity interval exercise, burpees, mountain climbers, squat jumps, Tabata, vigorous effort”.

What changes the number for doing HIIT

Pace is the biggest lever. The hardest listed way of doing HIIT (Vigorous: burpees, mountain climbers, Tabata) is rated at 11 METs, 1.6 times the 7 METs of the gentlest (Moderate effort). For a 70 kg (154 lb) person that is 770 kcal an hour against 490 kcal.

Body weight is the second: the same 7 METs of doing HIIT for 30 minutes comes to 175 kcal at 50 kg (110 lb) and 385 kcal at 110 kg (243 lb). To reach 100 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) takes about 12 minutes at the starting pace.

Laid out in half-hour terms for 70 kg (154 lb): moderate effort is 245 kcal; vigorous: burpees, mountain climbers, tabata is 385 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 doing HIIT at 7 METs, a 70 kg (154 lb) person for 30 minutes: 7 × 70 × 0.5 = 245 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 doing HIIT in 30 minutes?

About 245 kcal at 7 METs (Moderate effort). The whole range for doing HIIT on this page runs from 245 kcal (Moderate effort) to 385 kcal (Vigorous: burpees, mountain climbers, Tabata) in the same half hour.

How many calories does doing HIIT burn in an hour?

At 7 METs, about 420 kcal for a 60 kg (132 lb) person, 490 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) and 560 kcal at 80 kg (176 lb). Heavier people burn more because they move more mass.

How long does doing HIIT take to burn 100 calories?

For a 70 kg (154 lb) person, about 12 minutes at 7 METs (Moderate effort). At the gentlest listed pace (Moderate effort, 7 METs) it takes 12 minutes, and at the hardest (Vigorous: burpees, mountain climbers, Tabata, 11 METs) about 8.

Does the number for doing HIIT include the calories I would burn anyway?

Yes. Of the 7 METs, 1 is the resting cost, about 14% of the total here, so the activity itself adds about 210 of the 245 kcal in 30 minutes at 70 kg (154 lb).

Why would my watch show a different number for doing HIIT?

A watch uses its own model, often with heart rate, age and sex, while this page uses the Compendium’s average. For doing HIIT that average already spans 2 entries from 7 to 11 METs, a 1.6-fold range, so a gap between the two is normal.

Which line in the table should I choose for doing HIIT?

Pick the row that best describes how you did it: this page starts from “Moderate effort”, about 0% of the way up the 7 to 11 MET range. The rows are separate Compendium entries (02210, 02214).

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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.