Estimate gross whole-body energy while lying quietly awake from body weight and duration, or use a known hourly rate to multiply your supplied kcal/hour value by time. The reference estimate includes resting metabolism and is not a personal metabolism measurement.
Calories Burned Lying Down Formula
For Estimate from body weight, use the 1-MET quiet, awake lying reference from the 2024 Adult Compendium Inactivity table, code 07011. This covers lying quietly or listening to music without talking or reading; the reference population is adults aged 19–59.
For Use a known hourly energy rate, the formula is Total kcal = Supplied kcal/hour × Time (hours). The calculator uses your supplied rate without validating it as a personal measurement or a quiet-lying reference.
Variables:
- C = estimated gross whole-body energy (kcal) in the body-weight method
- BW = body weight (lb) in the displayed pound-based formula
- T = time lying quietly awake (hours); entered minutes convert to hours
The oxygen-based convention gives 1 × 3.5 ÷ 200 × 60 = 1.05 kcal/kg/hour. With exact conversion at 0.45359237 kg/lb, the corresponding factor is 0.4762719885 kcal/lb/hour. Multiply weight by hours and the matching factor; the calculator converts units and uses unrounded values. This convention assumes approximately 5 kcal per litre of oxygen, so it gives 5% more than the approximate MET × kg × hours convention.
Calories Burned Per Hour Lying Down
These illustrative gross hourly estimates use the fixed 1-MET quiet, awake lying model and are rounded to whole kcal. Under this model, an additional 25 lb adds 11.9067997125 kcal/hour (about 12); the table does not measure any individual’s metabolism.
| Body Weight | Calories Burned Per Hour |
|---|---|
| 125 lb | 60 kcal/hour |
| 150 lb | 71 kcal/hour |
| 175 lb | 83 kcal/hour |
| 200 lb | 95 kcal/hour |
| 225 lb | 107 kcal/hour |
What Does Lying Down Calorie Burn Include?
The body-weight method estimates gross whole-body energy, including resting metabolism, during the specified quiet, awake activity. It does not isolate energy attributable to lying down or measure personal resting metabolism. Talking or reading while reclining is outside this selected activity category, and individual energy use can differ from the population reference.
How to Calculate Calories Burned Lying Down
- Choose Estimate from body weight and enter your weight in pounds or kilograms. The software maximum is 700 lb (317.514659 kg), not an accuracy range.
- Enter the time spent lying quietly awake in hours or minutes. The software maximum is 24 hours (1,440 minutes); changing units converts the entered quantity.
- Select Calculate to see estimated gross energy and the hourly rate. For the pound-based formula, multiply body weight × hours × 0.4762719885; kilogram inputs use 1.05 kcal/kg/hour.
If you have a known hourly energy rate, choose Use a known hourly energy rate and enter that kcal/hour value and duration. Its software rate limit is 400 kcal/hour. The result is the supplied rate multiplied by hours; no body weight is required in this method.
Example
For 180 lb and 8 hours of quiet, awake lying, the 1-MET reference gives this estimated gross energy:
The estimate is about 685.83 kcal, including resting energy. It uses the unrounded factor and is not a personal energy measurement.
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