Burpee Calorie Calculator

How many calories do burpees burn?

A 155 lb person burns about 88 calories in 10 minutes of steady burpees and about 129 in 10 minutes of hard burpee intervals. At a pace of 10 burpees per minute, each one costs roughly 0.9 kcal.

The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities rates vigorous calisthenics such as steady burpees at 7.5 MET and high-intensity interval training with burpees at 11.0 MET. In a lab comparison of seven bodyweight exercises, burpees produced the highest energy cost, heart rate, and blood lactate of the group.

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Burpee calories by body weight and time

Values assume you keep moving for the whole time. Short rests inside a set are fine. Leave out long breaks between sets.

How burpees compare with other bodyweight moves

In a 2024 study, 10 young adults did seven bodyweight exercises in 30-second and 45-second bouts: plank, push-ups, squats, single-leg squats, forward lunges, jumping jacks, and burpees. Burpees ranked highest for effort, heart rate, lactate, METs, and energy used after the bout. The plank ranked lowest.

The study reported total energy of 32 to 41 kcal per minute for burpees. That figure includes anaerobic energy and the extra oxygen used in recovery, spread over a very short bout, so it is not a rate you can hold for 10 minutes. Use it to rank exercises, and use the Compendium values in the calculator for session totals.

Per minute, burpee intervals at 11.0 MET match running at 7 mph. Most people cannot keep burpees going as long as a run, so the run usually burns more in total.

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How the calculator works

Calories = MET × body weight in kg × hours. Steady sets use 7.5 MET and intervals use 11.0 MET. Net calories subtract resting burn of about 1 kcal per kg per hour. If you enter a rep count, the calculator divides the session total by it to give calories per burpee.

Worked example: a 180 lb person (81.6 kg) does 120 burpees in 12 minutes at a steady pace. Calories = 7.5 × 81.6 × 0.2 = about 122 kcal, or 1.02 kcal per burpee. The same 12 minutes as hard intervals would burn about 180 kcal. Both settings count as vigorous activity. Twelve minutes of burpees counts as 24 minutes toward the weekly target of 150 minutes of moderate activity.

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How to use this calculator

Choose steady if you move at a pace you could hold for several minutes. Choose intervals if you work hard for 20 to 40 seconds and rest between rounds.

For interval workouts, enter the full block including the short rests, because heart rate and breathing stay high during them.

Burpee form varies. A full burpee with a push-up and jump costs more than a version where you step back and skip the push-up. For step-back or no-push-up burpees, use the steady setting and treat the result as a ceiling.

Burpees as interval training

Whole-body interval workouts built on moves like burpees reach heart rates similar to bike intervals. In a study of 14 inactive adults, 12 rounds of 30-second calisthenics pushed peak heart rate to 87% of maximum, close to bike intervals and higher than steady cycling. Blood lactate was higher than with either bike session, and participants enjoyed it more than steady cycling.

Over 16 weeks, 41 men did either bodyweight sprint intervals (8 rounds of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off), treadmill sprint intervals, or 30 minutes of running. Compliance was about 90% in every group, and all three were rated as enjoyable.

A full-body calisthenics circuit also raised oxygen use in the first 10 minutes of recovery more than a treadmill run matched for oxygen use, and more of the recovery energy came from fat. The extra burn was small, under 2 kcal per minute at its peak.

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Burpees and weight loss

Short burpee programs improve performance more than body composition.

In a 2024 study of 43 active adults, 5 sessions of burpee intervals, each about 8 minutes long, raised vertical jump height. Body composition, blood pressure, and aerobic capacity did not change.

A 10-minute burpee session burns about 90 to 130 calories for a 155 lb person. That helps, but a weight change depends mostly on overall intake and on how much you move across the whole day.

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Where these numbers can be off

The Compendium values describe typical efforts. Your true cost depends on pace, depth, whether you include a push-up or jump, and how long you rest. Heavier people do more work per rep, which the calculator accounts for through body weight. Very short all-out efforts draw on anaerobic energy and raise oxygen use after the workout. The calculator reports energy used during the session, so it will not match lab totals that add recovery.

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How it works

Calories = MET × body weight (kg) × hours. Steady burpees use 2024 Adult Compendium code 02020 (vigorous calisthenics, 7.5 MET). Intervals use code 02214 (high-intensity interval training with burpees, 11.0 MET). Net calories remove 1 kcal per kg per hour of resting burn. Calories per burpee = session total ÷ reps.

Practical tips

• Count working time plus short rests inside the set.
• Use the interval setting only for hard rounds with planned rest.
• Step back instead of jumping to lower impact.
• Add your rep count to see calories per burpee.
• Burpee minutes count double toward the weekly activity target.

Frequently asked questions

• How many calories does one burpee burn?About 0.7 to 1.1 kcal for most adults at 10 burpees per minute. A 155 lb person doing 100 steady burpees in 10 minutes burns about 88 kcal, or 0.88 kcal each. Heavier people and faster paces push the figure up.
• How many calories do 100 burpees burn?For a 155 lb (70 kg) person taking 10 minutes: about 88 kcal at a steady pace and 129 kcal if you work in hard intervals. At 125 lb the steady figure is about 71 kcal and at 185 lb about 105 kcal.
• Do burpees burn more calories than other bodyweight exercises?Yes. In a lab comparison of seven bodyweight exercises, burpees produced the highest heart rate, lactate, and energy cost, and the plank the lowest. Jumping jacks, push-ups, and squats fell in between.
• Are burpees better than running?Per minute, hard burpee intervals at 11.0 MET burn about the same as running at 7 mph. Few people can keep burpees going as long as a run, so a running session usually burns more in total.
• Can burpees help you lose weight?Short burpee programs have not changed body composition in trials. In one study, 5 sessions of 8-minute burpee intervals improved vertical jump but did not change body composition. Calorie intake decides most of the change on the scale.
• How do I make burpees easier?Step back into the plank instead of jumping, skip the push-up, or put your hands on a bench. Each change lowers the load and the calorie burn, so pick the steady setting in the calculator.

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References

1. Herrmann SD, et al. J Sport Health Sci 2024. 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: A third update of the energy costs of human activities
2. Poulios A, et al. J Strength Cond Res 2024. The energy expenditure associated with body-weight resistance exercises of various movement patterns performed at different durations
3. Poon ET, et al. J Sports Sci Med 2023. Acute physiological and perceptual responses to whole-body high-intensity interval training compared with equipment-based interval and continuous training
4. Schaun GZ, et al. Res Q Exerc Sport 2022. Using bodyweight as resistance can be a promising avenue to promote interval training: enjoyment comparisons to treadmill-based protocols
5. Lee EB, et al. Res Q Exerc Sport 2025. Greater excess post-exercise oxygen consumption and fat use following calisthenics vs. oxygen consumption matched steady-state exercise
6. Pérez-Ifrán P, et al. J Strength Cond Res 2024. Extremely low-volume burpee interval training equivalent to 8 minutes per session improves vertical jump compared with sprint interval training in real-world circumstances
7. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition