Calories Burned Climbing Stairs Calculator
See how many calories you burn on the stairs — by weight, time and pace, with per‑step and per‑flight numbers and a flights‑to‑miles estimate.
Slow, a normal climb, fast/double-time, or a stair machine.
Descending still burns about 3.5 MET.
Calories burned
196
kcal in 20 min
Representative staircase — for illustration; calories depend on your weight and time, not these dimensions.
Per minute
9.8
kcal/min
Per step
0.1
kcal
Per flight
1.6
≈ 16 steps
Miles equivalent
2.23
mi walked
MET
8
intensity
Estimates use MET values (8.0 for a normal climb up, 3.5 down) scaled to your weight and time — a guide, not a medical figure.
How many calories does climbing stairs burn?
Climbing stairs is a vigorous activity — about an 8.0 MET effort at a normal pace. A MET (metabolic equivalent) is a multiple of your resting energy use, so the calories you burn scale with your body weight and the time you spend climbing:
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × weight(kg) ÷ 200
For a 70 kg (≈154 lb) person at a normal pace that is roughly 10 kcal per minute, so a brisk ten‑minute climb burns on the order of 100 calories. The pace and direction you choose change the MET value the calculator uses:
| Pace | MET | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Slow / leisurely climb | 4.0 | Strolling up, frequent pauses |
| Normal climb (general) | 8.0 | A steady, continuous pace |
| Fast / vigorous | 8.8 | Double‑time, taking it as exercise |
| Stair machine | 9.3 | StairMaster or stepmill |
| Descending | 3.5 | Going down — lighter, but real work |
Stairs vs walking and running
Stairs pack a lot of work into a small footprint because you are lifting your whole body weight vertically, against gravity, on every step. That makes them far more intense than walking and competitive with a run:
- Walking on the flat is about a 3.0–3.5 MET activity — roughly the same as descending stairs, and well under half the intensity of climbing them.
- Climbing stairs at ~8.0 MET sits between a brisk jog and a run, which is why a few flights leave you breathing hard so quickly.
- Running ranges from about 8 MET (a slow jog) to 11+ MET (a fast pace), so a hard stair session is in the same ballpark as a moderate run — minus the joint impact of pounding pavement.
The calculator above also shows a miles‑equivalent figure, expressing your climb as the distance you would have to walk on the flat to burn the same calories — a useful way to compare a stair workout to a walk.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories does climbing stairs burn?
Climbing stairs is about an 8.0 MET activity, so a 70 kg person burns roughly 8–10 calories a minute. Stairs Calc scales that to your exact weight, time and pace (slow, general, fast or a stair machine).
How many calories per flight of stairs?
A single flight burns only a small amount — about 2–5 kcal for most people — but it adds up quickly over a day of climbing.
How many flights equal a mile?
As a rough rule one flight is about 10 ft of vertical climb, and a long run of flights is often equated to roughly a mile of effort. Stairs Calc shows a flights‑to‑miles estimate based on your climb.
Does going down stairs burn calories?
Yes. Descending is lighter work but still about a 3.5 MET activity, so you keep burning calories on the way down — just fewer than going up.
Related stair calculators
Written by the Stairs Calc editorial team. Methodology and code references: see our methodology.
Built and maintained by builders, drafters and engineers who plan stairs for a living — every code limit is transcribed from the published standard and cited to its exact section.
Last reviewed 2026-06-20 against IRC 2021/2024
Stairs Calc gives accurate geometry and checks it against published building-code limits, but results are estimates for planning. Codes are adopted and amended locally and change over time. Always confirm dimensions against your local adopted code and a licensed professional before you build.