Calories burned elliptical calculator
What a session on the elliptical (cross-trainer) burns for your body, next to the other gym machines.
Updated
Your result
For 30 minutes on the elliptical (moderate effort) at 65 kg:
130extra kcal
On top of the 30 kcal you’d burn anyway in that time. In total it uses about 160 kcal.
In your TDEE it counts as about 95–130 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 elliptical: the key numbers
- 30 minutes on the elliptical adds about 130 to 270 extra kcal for a 65 kg person, depending on how hard you push.
- An hour on the elliptical (moderate effort) adds about 270 extra kcal at 65 kg and 410 at 100 kg.
- The figures come from 2 rows of the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities, from 5 to 9 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate effort | 130 | 5 METs, Compendium code 02048 |
| Hard effort | 270 | 9 METs, Compendium code 02049 |
| Treadmill: Walk, 3.5–3.9 mph (5.6–6.3 km/h) | 130 | 4.8 METs, Compendium code 17358 |
| Treadmill: Run, 6 mph (9.7 km/h) | 280 | 9.3 METs, Compendium code 12050 |
| Exercise bike or spin class: Moderate to hard | 170 | 6 METs, Compendium code 01220 |
| Rowing machine: Moderate, under 100 watts | 130 | 5 METs, Compendium code 02071 |
| Stairs: Stair climber machine | 280 | 9.3 METs, Compendium code 02065 |
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, treadmill, hiking, sleeping, standing, yoga, Pilates, climbing stairs, dancing, rowing, gardening, golf, cleaning.
Short answers
How many calories does the elliptical burn?
It depends on how hard you push, and on your weight. For a 65 kg woman, 30 minutes adds about 130 kcal (moderate effort) up to about 270 (hard effort) on top of what she’d burn anyway. For a 100 kg man it’s about 210 to 410.
Does the elliptical burn more than the treadmill?
It depends on what you do on each. In 30 minutes, a 65 kg woman adds about 130 kcal on the elliptical at a moderate effort, about 130 walking briskly on the treadmill at 3.5–3.9 mph and about 280 running at 6 mph.
Should I eat back the calories from the elliptical?
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 30 minutes on the elliptical adds about 130 kcal for a 65 kg woman, count about 95–130 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