Enter your weight, duration, and stair activity type to find out how many calories you burn climbing stairs. The Calories Burned Stairs Calculator uses the MET formula to estimate your calorie expenditure — whether you're climbing slowly, charging up fast, descending, or hauling a load upstairs.
Calories Burned
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Calories per Minute
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MET Value
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Total Duration
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MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task — a measure of how much energy an activity requires relative to rest. A MET of 1 equals roughly 1 kcal per kg per hour at rest. Stair climbing has a MET between 3.5 and 8.8 depending on speed, which is why it's considered a high-intensity calorie burner. The higher the MET, the more calories you burn per minute.
The standard formula is: Calories = (MET × body weight in kg × 3.5 × time in minutes) / 200. MET values vary by activity — slow stair climbing uses a MET of around 4.0, while fast stair climbing reaches 8.8. This formula is widely used by fitness researchers and is based on oxygen consumption data.
For a 75 kg person running up four flights (roughly 9–10 minutes of fast stair climbing), you'd burn approximately 55–65 kcal. The exact number depends on your weight and pace. Heavier individuals burn more calories for the same activity duration.
Yes — stair climbing is excellent cardio that burns calories efficiently, strengthens the legs and glutes, and improves cardiovascular fitness. It requires no equipment and can be done almost anywhere. Even short sessions of 10–15 minutes daily can contribute meaningfully to weekly energy expenditure.
Descending stairs burns significantly fewer calories than climbing — roughly half as many. The MET for descending stairs is around 3.5 compared to 4.0–8.8 for climbing. That said, descending still engages your muscles eccentrically and is more than simply walking on flat ground.
Yes. Carrying a heavy load upstairs increases the MET to around 8.0 because your muscles must work harder to move both your body weight and the additional load. This makes it one of the highest calorie-burning stair activities in the list.
Taking the stairs instead of the elevator is one of the easiest ways to add calorie-burning movement to your day. Over weeks and months, consistently choosing stairs over elevators can contribute to meaningful fat loss and improved cardiovascular health — all without requiring dedicated workout time.
The Empire State Building Run-Up covers 86 floors (about 1,576 steps). For an average 75 kg person running the entire course (roughly 10–15 minutes of intense effort), you'd burn approximately 100–150 kcal. Elite runners complete it in under 10 minutes; casual climbers take 30+ minutes and burn more total calories.