Activity calories · 2024 Compendium METs

Calories burned climbing stairs

Quick answer

A 70 kg (154 lb) person burns about 238 kcal in 30 minutes of climbing stairs (General), and about 476 kcal in an hour. That is 6.8 METs.

30 minutes: 238kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 476kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 408kcal; 60 kg (132 lb)
1 hour: 544kcal; 80 kg (176 lb)

Climbing stairs is short, hard work, so the Compendium rates it well above walking even at a slow pace. The entries here are for stairs in a building or a stadium; a stair machine in a gym is a different activity with its own listing.

Calculate calories burned climbing stairs

Starts at 70 kg (154 lb) for 30 minutes of climbing stairs at 6.8 METs; enter your own weight and time.

Calories burned climbing stairs by weight and time

Kilocalories for climbing stairs at 6.8 METs (General), by body weight and minutes. Read across from your weight; the pace table below shows the other rows.

Calories burned climbing stairs at 6.8 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)	85	170	255	340	510	680
60 kg (132 lb)	102	204	306	408	612	816
70 kg (154 lb)	119	238	357	476	714	952
80 kg (176 lb)	136	272	408	544	816	1,088
90 kg (198 lb)	153	306	459	612	918	1,224
100 kg (220 lb)	170	340	510	680	1,020	1,360
110 kg (243 lb)	187	374	561	748	1,122	1,496

Climbing stairs: calories by pace or effort

The Compendium rates climbing stairs on 4 lines, from 4.5 METs (Slow pace) up to 9.3 METs (Fast, one step at a time). Each row below is one of those codes with the calories it works out to.

Calories burned climbing stairs 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)
Slow pace	17133	4.5	135	158	180	315
General	17131	6.8	204	238	272	476
Two steps at a time	17136	7.5	225	263	300	525
Fast, one step at a time	17134	9.3	279	326	372	651

The Compendium’s own wording for each code: 17133, “Stair climbing, slow pace”; 17131, “Stair climbing, general”; 17136, “Stair climbing, two steps at a time”; 17134, “Stair climbing, fast pace, one step at a time”.

What changes the number for climbing stairs

Pace is the biggest lever. The hardest listed way of climbing stairs (Fast, one step at a time) is rated at 9.3 METs, 2.1 times the 4.5 METs of the gentlest (Slow pace). For a 70 kg (154 lb) person that is 651 kcal an hour against 315 kcal.

Body weight is the second: the same 6.8 METs of climbing stairs for 30 minutes comes to 170 kcal at 50 kg (110 lb) and 374 kcal at 110 kg (243 lb). To reach 100 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) takes about 13 minutes at the starting pace.

Laid out in half-hour terms for 70 kg (154 lb): slow pace is 158 kcal; general is 238 kcal; two steps at a time is 263 kcal; fast, one step at a time is 326 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 climbing stairs at 6.8 METs, a 70 kg (154 lb) person for 30 minutes: 6.8 × 70 × 0.5 = 238 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 climbing stairs in 30 minutes?

About 238 kcal at 6.8 METs (General). The whole range for climbing stairs on this page runs from 158 kcal (Slow pace) to 326 kcal (Fast, one step at a time) in the same half hour.

How many calories does climbing stairs burn in an hour?

At 6.8 METs, about 408 kcal for a 60 kg (132 lb) person, 476 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) and 544 kcal at 80 kg (176 lb). Heavier people burn more because they move more mass.

How long does climbing stairs take to burn 100 calories?

For a 70 kg (154 lb) person, about 13 minutes at 6.8 METs (General). At the gentlest listed pace (Slow pace, 4.5 METs) it takes 19 minutes, and at the hardest (Fast, one step at a time, 9.3 METs) about 9.

Does the number for climbing stairs include the calories I would burn anyway?

Yes. Of the 6.8 METs, 1 is the resting cost, about 15% of the total here, so the activity itself adds about 203 of the 238 kcal in 30 minutes at 70 kg (154 lb).

Why would my watch show a different number for climbing stairs?

A watch uses its own model, often with heart rate, age and sex, while this page uses the Compendium’s average. For climbing stairs that average already spans 4 entries from 4.5 to 9.3 METs, a 2.1-fold range, so a gap between the two is normal.

Which line in the table should I choose for climbing stairs?

Pick the row that best describes how you did it: this page starts from “General”, about 48% of the way up the 4.5 to 9.3 MET range. The rows are separate Compendium entries (17133, 17131, 17136, 17134).

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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.