Enter your body weight, workout time, and workout style to calculate your calories burned doing strength training. A 155-lb person can burn about 130 to 220 calories in 30 minutes of strength training, with circuit-style sessions landing higher.
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Strength Training Calories Formula
The basic calculator uses total workout time. The advanced calculator uses sets, reps, pace, load, and rest time.
Calories = BW * Minutes * Training Factor
Total Time = (Sets * Reps * SecPerRep + (Sets - 1) * RestSec) / 60
Calories = BW * (Work Minutes * Lift Factor + Rest Minutes * Rest Factor)
- BW = body weight in pounds
- Minutes = total workout time in minutes
- Training Factor = 0.028 for light lifting, 0.040 for a standard lifting workout, 0.048 for hard lifting, and 0.063 for circuit lifting
- SecPerRep = average seconds per rep
- RestSec = rest between sets in seconds
- In advanced mode, average weight lifted raises the lifting factor slightly
Calories burned during strength training
Three inputs drive the total most: body size, session length, and how much rest separates working sets. Short-rest circuits and supersets burn more calories per minute than heavy sets with long breaks.
| Body Weight | 30 min Light | 30 min Standard | 30 min Hard | 30 min Circuit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125 lb | 105 kcal | 150 kcal | 180 kcal | 236 kcal |
| 155 lb | 130 kcal | 186 kcal | 223 kcal | 293 kcal |
| 185 lb | 155 kcal | 222 kcal | 266 kcal | 353 kcal |
| 215 lb | 181 kcal | 258 kcal | 310 kcal | 410 kcal |
Basic and advanced mode
- Basic mode: best when you know your total workout time and want a fast answer.
- Advanced mode: best when you want sets, reps, average weight lifted, rep speed, and rest between sets to drive the result.
- Higher calories per minute: more total work, shorter rest, and denser sessions.
- Lower calories per minute: longer rest periods, fewer working reps, and slower session pace.
How to calculate calories burned while strength training
Example: A person weighs 175 lb, lifts for 45 minutes, and chooses a hard lifting workout.
Calories = BW × Minutes × Training Factor
Calories = 175 × 45 × 0.048
Calories = 378 kcal
