Stair climber calorie calculator

Stair machine or real stairs

The 316 calorie example, worked out

Calories equals MET times body weight in kilograms times hours. On the Compendium page defining MET, checked October 13, 2026, 1 MET is 1 kilocalorie per kilogram per hour.

Pounds become kilograms by dividing by 2.2046. Minutes become hours by dividing by 60. For the default stair machine entry, 150 pounds is 68.04 kilograms and 30 minutes is 0.5 hours. Multiplying 9.3 times 68.04 times 0.5 gives about 316 calories.

Calories burned on a StairMaster by time and weight

The Compendium list for conditioning exercise, checked October 13, 2026, contains only one entry whose description names a stair machine.

StairMaster is a brand name. The Compendium's entry is named stair treadmill ergometer and names no brand. This page uses that entry for a stair machine.

The stair machine entry has one general value. Its calorie estimate rises in step with minutes and body weight because the formula multiplies both. The Compendium page lists no slow or fast version of this entry.

Calories burned climbing stairs by listed entry

These are every entry on the Compendium walking list, checked October 13, 2026, whose description names stair climbing or descending stairs. None of these seven entries or the stair machine entry in the calculator is marked as an estimated value on the Compendium pages.

For 150 pounds and 30 minutes, the real stairs estimates start at about 119 calories for descending stairs, code 17070. Slow pace, code 17133, gives about 153 and the general entry, code 17131, gives about 231. Two steps at a time, code 17136, and ascending and descending stairs, code 17138, each give about 255. The ladder entry, code 17130, gives about 272, and fast pace one step at a time, code 17134, gives about 316.

Slow pace belongs to code 17133 and fast pace to code 17134. Neither pace is stated as a number. The fast pace description also says one step at a time, while code 17136 says two steps at a time. Code 17070 names descending stairs, code 17138 names both ascending and descending, and code 17130 names a ladder.

The stair machine and fast pace tables match cell for cell at 9.3 MET. The two steps at a time and ascending and descending tables also match, at 7.5 MET. Across the tables, 50 is the lowest calorie result, for code 17070 at 125 pounds for 15 minutes. The highest is 949, for codes 02065 and 17134 at 225 pounds for 60 minutes.

Upstairs entries that include a load

The Compendium walking page says "Specific Activity Codes in red are estimated MET values. All other values are supported with published literature."

The five stated load ranges rise from 5.5 MET for 1 to 15 lb to 12.0 MET for more than 74 lb. The general entry lists 8.3 MET. The three heaviest load entries are the ones marked as estimated.

Step height and rails are outside these entries

No entry used here states step height, machine level or anything about holding the rails. The calculator therefore has no input for them.

This page does not cover how any machine's own calorie display is worked out.

The Compendium unit conversions page prints a separate stepping equation that takes step rate and step height, which this page does not use.

The source's limits on individual estimates

On its page about corrected METs, checked October 13, 2026, the Compendium states the following.

"The Compendium was not developed to determine the precise energy cost of activities within an individual."

"However, the Compendium is frequently used outside of its original scope."

"It does not correct the MET levels for age, body mass, and sex."

Beyond stairs

For another machine, open the elliptical effort calculator or the treadmill walking and running calculator. Outdoor entries are available in the hiking calorie calculator, running calorie calculator and cycling calorie calculator.

A distance or step count can be entered in the mile walking calorie calculator or the steps to calories calculator. The daily energy expenditure calculator estimates a daily total.

A calorie and macro food log

TrueCal is available on iPhone, Android and the web for tracking food calories and macros. Manual calorie logging is free. Macros and logging from a typed description, voice, a photo or a barcode are Pro features.

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Stair calorie questions

How many calories does 30 minutes on a StairMaster burn?

Code 02065 gives about 316 calories at 150 pounds for 30 minutes and 633 for 60 minutes. At 200 pounds, the same entry gives about 422 for 30 minutes and 844 for 60 minutes.

How many calories does climbing stairs burn?

At 150 pounds for 30 minutes, the formula gives about 153 calories for slow pace code 17133, 231 for general code 17131 and 316 for fast pace code 17134.

Does the calculator account for machine level or holding the rails?

No entry states machine level or holding the rails, so neither is an input.

Is walking down stairs counted the same as climbing?

Descending stairs code 17070 is 3.5 MET, while stair climbing, general code 17131 is 6.8 MET. For 150 pounds and 30 minutes, their results are about 119 and 231 calories, respectively.

Sources for stair entries and calculations

• Conditioning exercise and the stair treadmill entry, checked October 13, 2026.
• Walking and the real stairs entries, checked October 13, 2026.
• Unit conversions and the MET definition, checked October 13, 2026.
• Corrected METs and the Compendium's scope, checked October 13, 2026.