Exercise and calories: how our tools calculate
Where the exercise tools get their figures: the Dutch activity guideline, MET values, the calorie formula, converting steps and official sources.
Three tools here calculate with physical activity: Physical Activity Guideline Calculator, Calories Burned Calculator and Steps to Miles, Kilometres and Calories. This article explains where the figures come from, what they do and do not say and where to find the official information. It concerns the Dutch guidelines of the Health Council of the Netherlands (Gezondheidsraad) and the Netherlands Nutrition Centre (Voedingscentrum); the tools follow them.
The Dutch physical activity guideline
The Health Council of the Netherlands (Gezondheidsraad) set the physical activity guideline in 2017. It is the guideline in force: we found no revision, and Statistics Netherlands (CBS) still measures against it.
- Adults and older people: at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity, spread over several days. At least twice a week, something for muscles and bones. For older people this includes balance exercises.
- Children aged 4 to 18: at least an hour of moderate-intensity activity every day and, at least three times a week, something for muscles and bones.
- For everyone: as little prolonged sitting as possible.
The guideline is a minimum. Anyone who meets it can gain even more health benefit by being more active. A separate guideline is coming for children aged 0 to 4.
Moderate and vigorous intensity
We express how demanding an activity is in MET: how many times your resting energy use the activity takes. Rest is 1 MET. The Voedingscentrum calls an activity moderate at 3 to 5.9 MET and vigorous from 6 MET. A practical measure is the talk test: if you can still speak whole sentences, it is moderate.
The Dutch guideline counts every minute that is at least moderate once. The WHO, the British NHS and the American CDC count a minute of vigorous activity as two minutes of moderate. Our Physical Activity Guideline Calculator follows the Dutch guideline.
How we calculate calories
We use the formula of the Voedingscentrum: MET × 3.5 × weight (kg) × 200 = kcal per minute. An example from their encyclopaedia: someone weighing 75 kg who does 8 MET for an hour burns 630 kcal.
The MET values for walking, cycling and swimming are those of the Voedingscentrum. For running by speed, walking in nature and hills, and swimming lengths we use the Compendium of Physical Activities (2024 version), the international standard.
The result is an estimate. Actual energy use depends on fitness, muscle mass, technique and conditions and can deviate by 20 to 30 per cent. Sports watches use other formulas and therefore give other numbers.
How we convert steps
The Dutch guideline gives no number of steps, only minutes. For the conversion we estimate your step length with a rule of thumb: 0.415 times your height for a man and 0.413 times for a woman. That is a common convention, not an official standard. If you know your own step length, you can enter it.
A brisk walk is moderate from about 100 steps a minute. This follows from research on walking speed (Tudor-Locke et al., 2018). It is a rounded rule of thumb, not a hard limit.
What the tools do not do
- They give no medical judgement. For a condition, symptoms or questions about exercise or weight loss, a GP or a dietitian is the person to ask.
- They calculate for adults. Other MET values apply to children; the Physical Activity Guideline Calculator does know the guideline for children.
- Your input is not stored and not put in the link.
Official information and tests
All pages below are in Dutch unless stated otherwise.
- Beweegrichtlijnen 2017, Health Council of the Netherlands
- Beweegrichtlijnen and Beweegrichtlijnentest, Knowledge Centre for Sport & Physical Activity: with the test you can check in a few minutes whether you meet the guideline.
- Ik wil gezond bewegen, Thuisarts.nl (patient information from Dutch GPs)
- Bewegen, RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment)
- Bewegen, Voedingscentrum: with the MET values and the formula for energy use.
- WHO guidelines on physical activity (in English)
We check this article and the tools every year for a new version of the guideline. How we calculate and stay current in general is described in How we calculate.
The Sumish editorial team
More guides
- How we workHow our calculators work and how reliable a result isHow a result comes about, what indication or worked example means, how we round and how we check the formulas.
- How we workHow we keep everything currentWhich data updates itself, which rates we check by hand every year and what Last reviewed means on a tool.
- How we workHow we make sure data stays current and checkedWhat you can see of the review date, the values with an effective date and the data that updates itself, and what we do when a source goes quiet.