How To Convert Steps To Calories Calculator
Your phone counts steps, not calories. The bridge between the two is distance: steps times stride length gives how far you walked, and distance times weight times an activity factor gives the energy it cost.
Calories burned
245
- Distance in kilometres
- 7
- Distance in miles
- 4.3496
- Calories per 1000 steps
- 24.5
Values update as you type. This calculator covers the single scenario its formula assumes — see Common Mistakes for what it leaves out.
The formula this calculator uses
calories = steps x stride x weight x factor
- steps
- The number of steps taken, as reported by a pedometer
- stride
- Your average step length in metres, roughly height x 0.42
- weight
- Body mass in kilograms, the single biggest lever on the answer
- factor
- Energy cost per kilogram per kilometre, about 0.5 walking and 1.0 running
How to check the result by hand
- 1
Find your stride length
Walk ten normal paces, measure the distance, divide by ten. A 1.75 metre person usually lands near 0.73 metres. If you cannot measure, multiply your height in metres by 0.42.
- 2
Multiply steps by stride to get metres
Ten thousand steps at 0.70 metres each is 7000 metres. Keep the units consistent, because mixing centimetres with metres throws the answer out by a factor of a hundred.
- 3
Convert metres to kilometres
Divide by 1000. Seven thousand metres becomes 7 kilometres. This step is only a convenience, but it is the unit the calorie factor expects.
- 4
Multiply by your body weight
Seven kilometres at 70 kilograms gives 490 kilogram-kilometres. This product is the work done, and it scales linearly with how heavy you are.
- 5
Multiply by the activity factor
Walking uses about 0.5, so 490 times 0.5 is 245 kilocalories. Running the same distance uses about 1.0 and doubles the figure to 490.
For worked examples, common mistakes and the limits of this formula, read the full How To Convert Steps To Calories page.