Calories burned climbing stairs calculator
Real stairs and the stair climber machine, worked out for your body.
Updated
Your result
For 15 minutes of climbing stairs (climbing stairs, general) at 65 kg:
95extra kcal
On top of the 15 kcal you’d burn anyway in that time. In total it uses about 110 kcal.
In your TDEE it counts as about 70–95 kcal. The low end allows for the body offsetting about 28% of exercise calories, the average in a study of 1,754 adults.
Calories burned climbing stairs: the key numbers
- 15 minutes of climbing stairs adds about 60 to 140 extra kcal for a 65 kg person, depending on your pace.
- An hour of climbing stairs (climbing stairs, general) adds about 390 extra kcal at 65 kg and 590 at 100 kg.
- The figures come from 5 rows of the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities, from 4.5 to 9.3 METs: each from published studies.
- Done on purpose, it counts in your TDEE at 72 to 100% of these extra calories, because the body offsets part of what exercise uses (Careau, 2021).
Counting it in your TDEE
If you do this on purpose, add it as exercise on the TDEE calculator. It counts there at 72 to 100% of these extra calories, because the body offsets part of what exercise uses.
For your body and time
| Activity | Extra kcal | Compendium value |
|---|---|---|
| Climbing stairs, slow | 60 | 4.5 METs, Compendium code 17133 |
| Climbing stairs, general | 95 | 6.8 METs, Compendium code 17131 |
| Climbing stairs, two at a time | 110 | 7.5 METs, Compendium code 17136 |
| Climbing stairs fast, one at a time | 140 | 9.3 METs, Compendium code 17134 |
| Stair climber machine | 140 | 9.3 METs, Compendium code 02065 |
| Walking: Moderate (3 mph, 5 km/h) | 45 | 3.8 METs, Compendium code 17190 |
Each figure uses the activity’s cost from the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities, which gives it in METs of oxygen use per kg of body weight, so the extra scales with your weight. Only the part above resting counts as extra. What you’d burn anyway comes from your own resting rate (Mifflin-St Jeor), not the standard 1 MET: in 769 adults, measured resting burn averaged 0.84 kcal per kg an hour against the standard 1 (Byrne, 2005).
Compare every activity on the calories burned calculator.
More activities: walking, running, lifting weights, swimming, cycling, elliptical, treadmill, hiking, sleeping, standing, yoga, Pilates, dancing, rowing, gardening, golf, cleaning.
Short answers
How many calories does climbing stairs burn?
It depends on your pace, and on your weight. For a 65 kg woman, 15 minutes adds about 60 kcal (climbing stairs, slow) up to about 140 (stair climber machine) on top of what she’d burn anyway. For a 100 kg man it’s about 90 to 210.
Does the stair climber burn more than real stairs?
It matches climbing real stairs fast. In 15 minutes, a 65 kg woman adds about 140 kcal on the stair climber, 140 climbing stairs fast one at a time and 95 at a general pace.
Does climbing stairs burn more than walking?
Yes, minute for minute. 15 minutes climbing stairs at a general pace adds about 95 kcal for a 65 kg woman, against about 45 walking at a moderate pace.
Should I eat back the calories from climbing stairs?
Partly. In a study of 1,754 adults, the body offset about 28% of the calories burned through activity, on average (Careau, 2021). So when 15 minutes of climbing stairs adds about 95 kcal for a 65 kg woman, count about 70–95 of it.
Sources
Checked against each source on 22 and 23 October 2026
- Herrmann SD, et al. (2024). 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: a third update of the energy costs of human activities. J Sport Health Sci 13(1):6–12. PMID 38242596
- Byrne NM, et al. (2005). Metabolic equivalent: one size does not fit all. J Appl Physiol 99(3):1112–9. PMID 15831804
- Careau V, et al. (2021). Energy compensation and adiposity in humans. Curr Biol 31(20):4659–66. PMID 34453886
- Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, et al. (1990). A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. Am J Clin Nutr 51(2):241–7. PMID 2305711