How Many Calories Burned Doing Burpees? | Fast Facts Guide

Calories Burned From Burpees Per Minute: Realistic Ranges

Calories from this move come from a high MET value paired with whole-body effort. The Adult Compendium assigns high-intensity interval exercise—burpees a value of about 11 METs, which is on the vigorous end of the scale. That number means the task costs roughly eleven times resting energy use. The definition of one MET traces back to resting oxygen uptake at 3.5 ml/kg/min, which exercise pros commonly convert into a calorie formula for field estimates.

Here’s the quick math many coaches use: calories per minute ≈ MET × 3.5 × body weight (kg) ÷ 200. Drop in 11 for the MET, plus your body weight, and you’ll get a tight ballpark. The Compendium page lists burpees under conditioning exercise with that high-intensity tag, and the CDC explains the MET concept clearly for context. Linking both gives you the what and the why in one place.

Burpees Calories Calculator Table (Early, Broad View)

This table gives a wide look at per-minute and 10-minute totals across common body weights using a MET of 11 for vigorous sets.

Body Weight (kg)	Calories Per Minute (MET 11)	Per 10 Minutes
50	9.6	96
60	11.6	116
70	13.5	135
80	15.4	154
90	17.3	173
100	19.3	193

Totals change with training load, but the formula stays steady. Once you set your daily calorie needs, you can slot burpee sessions where they make sense without guesswork.

What Counts As One Rep And Why Pace Matters

A standard rep includes a squat, hands to floor, a quick kick-back to plank, a push-up to lockout, a pop to feet, then a vertical jump with arms overhead. Switching to a step-back version lowers the cost per minute. Adding a tuck jump or a lateral hop pushes it up. Rep speed sets the tone: twenty solid reps in a minute lands near the mid range; thirty crisp reps with full jumps nudges you toward the upper band.

Work–rest structure plays a big part. A minute on with a minute off spreads the cost across two minutes, which lowers your average. Short rests compress effort, lifting the per-minute number even when total time stays the same. Form quality matters too. Clean planks and honest push-ups add muscular demand that your heart and lungs must support.

How To Calculate Your Own Burn

Step-By-Step Method

1. Convert body weight to kilograms (lbs ÷ 2.2046).
2. Pick a MET: 11 for vigorous sets with a jump; 8 works for slower step-back work drawn from vigorous calisthenics.
3. Use calories per minute = MET × 3.5 × weight (kg) ÷ 200.
4. Multiply by total active minutes. For intervals, sum the work periods only if you want the “on-time” burn, or include rests to get session average.

Worked Example

Body weight 70 kg. Vigorous sets with a jump: MET ≈ 11. Calories per minute ≈ 11 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 ≈ 13.5. Ten active minutes lands near 135 calories.

For a step-back version at MET ≈ 8, the same person lands near 9.8 calories per minute and ~98 calories for ten active minutes. The math tracks what many see on heart-rate devices once pace stabilizes.

For a clear description of METs, see the CDC’s MET overview. For the activity code that includes burpees under high-intensity conditioning, check the Compendium entry.

Factors That Change Your Burpee Burn

Body Weight And Composition

Heavier bodies cost more energy to move per rep. If two people move at the same pace with the same form, the heavier athlete will usually post a higher per-minute number. Lean mass shifts the picture during hard sets because muscle chews through more fuel under load.

Rep Quality

Locked-out push-ups, upright landings, and full arm reach raise the cost. Soft standards cut range and lower the per-minute score. If you want honest numbers, lock the form first, then nudge pace.

Work–Rest Structure

Long breathers drop session averages even when your “on” minutes look spicy. Tabata-style 20:10 blocks spike the minute you’re moving; EMOM (every minute on the minute) sets trend steadier. Both work. Pick the one that fits your goal for the day.

Surface, Footwear, And Room Temp

Hard floors and slick shoes waste energy on bracing. A grippy mat with stable shoes keeps force going into the jump. Hot rooms raise heart rate quicker at the same output, which may skew watch readings if you rely on HR-only estimates.

Sample Burpee Workouts With Estimated Calories

Use the same 70 kg example. Values below use MET 11 during work and count only the active segments. Your numbers shift up or down with weight and pace.

• EMOM × 10: 12 reps every minute for 10 minutes (~10 minutes of work if you finish close to the buzzer). ≈ 135 calories.
• 30-15 Intervals × 12: 30 seconds on, 15 off. Six minutes of work total. ≈ 81 calories.
• Descending Ladder 10→1: 55 total reps at steady pace (~4–5 minutes of work). ≈ 54–68 calories.
• Tabata 20:10 × 8: 160 seconds of work. ≈ 36 calories, with a big spike during the last rounds.

Technique Tweaks That Change Calorie Cost

Ways To Lower Impact

Step back to plank instead of jumping back. Keep the push-up on knees. Replace the jump with a reach overhead. These swaps hold patterning without hammering joints, and the MET slides toward the 8 range.

Ways To Raise The Burn

Add a tuck jump, turn the push-up into a hand-release, or slide a lateral hop across a line. Shorten rests. Pair with mountain climbers. The Compendium brackets these in the same high-intensity family, which lines up with the upper calorie band you saw earlier.

Safety, Scaling, And Who Should Modify

Wrist or shoulder gripes call for elevated hands on a solid box or bench to flatten the angle. Low-back tightness often shows up when the hips sag in the plank; brace hard and keep ribs down. New lifters can use sets of five with full breath control and longer rests to build clean patterns before chasing speed.

If breath control disappears or landings get noisy, you’re past the quality threshold. Cut the set a rep early and finish the round with a march in place. You’ll keep the average moving without teaching messy reps that load joints the wrong way.

Mid-And-Late Session Planning Table

Pick a plan, then glance at the rough totals so your session fits your day. Estimates assume MET 11 during work.

Plan	Active Time	70 kg Estimate
4×2:00 With 1:00 Easy	8 minutes	~108 calories
6×1:00 With 0:30 Easy	6 minutes	~81 calories
10×0:30 With 0:15 Easy	5 minutes	~68 calories
EMOM × 15 (10–12 Reps)	~12–14 minutes	~162–189 calories

How Burpees Compare To Other Bodyweight Work

Many calisthenics moves land in the moderate-to-vigorous bucket. Classic circuits with push-ups, squat jumps, and mountain climbers sit near the same neighborhood on the Compendium’s conditioning list. That’s why a short, sharp set of mixed bodyweight drills feels close to a focused burpee block on your watch.

Form Cues That Keep Output High

Set Up

Feet under hips, eyes forward, chest tall. As you fold, sit the hips back before hands touch the floor. This loads glutes and spares knees.

Plank

Land hands under shoulders, squeeze glutes, and keep a straight line from ears to ankles. No sag, no pike. A tight midline lets you snap the feet in efficiently.

Pop And Jump

Plant feet under your center, then jump just high enough to clear the floor with a soft, quiet landing. Reach fully overhead. That small reach adds a bit of work across the shoulders and trunk.

Tracking Your Numbers Without Guesswork

Heart-rate watches estimate cost from pulse curves, which can drift during intervals. The MET method linked above gives a steady baseline; you can then cross-check with your device after a few sessions. If you keep sets consistent, your watch trends will tighten around the math.

For more structure across the week, a light nudge near the end helps: try our calorie deficit guide to pair sessions with targets that match your goals.

Credits And Methods

MET values and activity codes come from the Adult Compendium’s conditioning section that lists burpees among other high-intensity drills. The definition of MET and the common field formula are widely used in sports-medicine teaching sheets and public-health notes. You can read the Compendium’s conditioning page and the CDC overview directly using the links included earlier in this piece.