Running Calorie Calculator

The running calorie calculator gives you a straight answer to a bothering question "How many calories did I burn running?"

We prepared this tool for all runners who want to count their energetic effort while training. After entering a few basic facts, you get the number of calories that your body utilized thanks to running. Moreover, the running calorie calculator can tell you about the calories burned on a treadmill run.

The article below brings you closer to some topics like how many calories does running burn, running for weight loss, calories burned on a treadmill, and how to use our calculator correctly.

The running calorie calculator estimates the number of calories burned while running any given distance. It takes into consideration a few factors which are important from the energy expense point of view:

• Your fitness level (see the VO2 max runners calculator);
• The grade of the running surface (inclination/declination); and
• Whether you are running on a treadmill or not.

Fitness level is used for calculations because there is a known negative correlation between V02 max and the energy cost of running. The relationship shows that with a higher fitness level or V02 max, the number of calories needed to run a given distance is lower.

Surface gradient level – we burn more calories running uphill (higher inclination means more calories burned), and we burn fewer calories running downhill (more declination means fewer calories). Only up to a -10% declination, though, because beyond this level, the effect is similar to the increasing inclination.

On the treadmill? Running on a treadmill costs you less energy because a runner doesn't need to overcome air resistance.

Our running calorie calculator provides estimates for net calories burned. Net calories are the number of calories burned, excluding the number of calories our body needs to use to stay alive (food digestion, supporting the functions of vital organs, etc.).

People often choose running to lose weight, which is hardly surprising. The American Council on Exercise prepared a report by which running burns more calories than swimming, dancing, cycling, and other activities. The rate of calorie burn can vary a lot depending on some variables. The most influential are your weight and exertion level. Also, the surface grade matters (whether you are running uphill or downhill). Running is one of the highest calorie burners, together with jumping rope, among other activities.

Many publications and running experts suggest that a person of average weight burns around 100 calories when running a mile. That value increases slightly if you weigh more or if you're running in a less efficient way. Both conditions result in more burned calories while covering the same distance.

On the other hand, what is interesting, the number of calories doesn't go up if you run faster. Why? Because running efficiency improves with speed. We calculate calories burned per distance rather than time.

Most people don't truly know how far they need to run to burn a set amount of calories. In reality, there is no straight answer to that problem. Taking into account that the number of burned calories doesn't grow with run speed is good news. It means that you don't have to worry about speed when it comes to calorie burn. You can burn the same amount of calories by running for a longer time period if you want to run at a slower pace (see the training pace calculator).

When exercising, your body has to consume energy. This energy is supplied in the form of calories. 1 pound is equivalent to 3500 calories. So, if your goal is to lose 1 pound of weight per week, you will need to burn around 500-1000 more calories than you take in every day.

It is essential to keep a healthy diet plan and maintain a proper daily calorie balance. Remember that an extra doughnut eaten after lunch can easily undo those calories you have burned during a morning run.

While running through any terrain, you need to struggle against air resistance (similar to riding a bike). While using the treadmill in a gym, your body doesn't physically move forward, so there is no air resistance at all. That's why running on a treadmill costs you fewer calories.

Suppose you're running at a casual speed of 9 km/h (5.6 mph). In that case, the energy cost of air resistance while running on solid ground is approximately 0.84 calories per kilometer (assuming no extra wind to overcome). That is about 1.2% more calories burned compared to a treadmill run.

Let's check on example data on how to use the calculator correctly.

1. At the beginning, type in your age.

   age = 30 years

2. Next, your weight.

   weight = 75 kg

3. Check for 20 seconds how many times your heart beats while resting. Type in the data.

   resting heart rate = 20 beats

4. Are you running on a treadmill?

   treadmill = no

5. Enter the running distance.

   distance = 10 km

6. Set the surface grade you are running on. It is completely flat, so

   grade = 0%

7. You can immediately see how many calories you have burned.

   calories burned = 757 kcal