Weighted Vest Calorie Calculator

How a Weighted Vest Changes Calorie Burn

MET-based calorie formulas scale directly with body weight — carrying extra weight during an activity effectively increases the "weight" side of that calculation without changing the activity itself, so a weighted vest raises calorie burn roughly in proportion to how much extra weight you're carrying relative to your body weight. A 10kg vest on a 70kg person adds about the same relative burn as if that person weighted 80kg for that session.

How to Use This Calculator

Enter your body weight, your vest's weight, the activity you're doing, and how long you're doing it for. The calculator shows total calories burned both with and without the vest, and the extra amount the vest itself accounts for.

How We Calculate It

Calories = METs × body weight (kg) × duration (hours), calculated once using just your body weight and once using your body weight plus the vest. The difference between the two is the extra calorie burn from the added weight.

A Few Notes

This model assumes the vest doesn't change your movement efficiency or form, which isn't perfectly true in practice — added weight can shift your gait and posture, especially on stairs or hills, sometimes burning slightly more than a pure weight-scaling model predicts. Start with a lighter vest (around 5-10% of body weight) and build up gradually, since a heavy vest too soon can strain joints and alter form in ways that increase injury risk rather than just training benefit.