Calories Burned Climbing Stairs Calculator

Work out calories burned climbing stairs instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Calories Burned Climbing Stairs Calculator

Stair climbing is one of the few activities where the physics is straightforward: work equals weight times gravity times height. Human climbing efficiency is about 23%, so the metabolic cost is roughly four times the mechanical work. Twenty three-metre floors lifts a 70 kg body 60 m, needing 41 kJ of work and about 43 kcal of food energy.

Formulas

Mechanical work

W = m x g x height

Metabolic cost

kcal = W / 4184 / 0.23 at 23% efficiency

Worked example

With the default values below, Calories Burned Climbing Stairs Calculator returns Calories Burned Climbing of 42.8. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Body weightminimum 1 kg: 70 kg
Floors climbedminimum 0: 20
Height of each floorminimum 0.1 m: 3 m

Results

Calories Burned Climbing: 42.8 kcal
Vertical Height Gained: 60.0 m
Mechanical Work Done: 41.188 kJ
Calories Per Floor: 2.140 kcal

Step by step

1Values used
2Mechanical work
3Metabolic cost
4Calories Burned Climbing= 42.8 kcal
5Vertical Height Gained= 60.0 m
6Mechanical Work Done= 41.188 kJ
7Calories Per Floor= 2.140 kcal

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
This is an estimate from population-average equations, not a medical or diagnostic assessment. Individual results vary with genetics, training history and technique. Seek advice from a qualified coach or clinician before making significant changes to training.
This is an estimate for general information and not professional medical advice. See the full disclaimer for the limits that apply to this kind of calculator.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

This is an estimate from population-average equations, not a medical or diagnostic assessment. Individual results vary with genetics, training history and technique. Seek advice from a qualified coach or clinician before making significant changes to training.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is only 23% of the energy useful?

Muscle converts chemical energy to mechanical work at roughly that efficiency; the rest becomes heat, which is why climbing makes you hot quickly.

Does descending burn calories too?

Some - about a third of the ascent cost, since the muscles work eccentrically to control the descent rather than lifting anything.