SnapCalorieBurn — free MET-based calorie calculators
How many calories does 10 minutes of stair climbing burn? 85–150 kcal by weight. Full table plus staircase workout tips.
Ten minutes of stair climbing burns approximately 85–150 calories — making it one of the most time-efficient exercises you can do without equipment.
Stair climbing is a high-intensity functional movement that targets your quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves while elevating your heart rate. Ten minutes of continuous stair climbing is equivalent to roughly 20–30 flights of stairs (about 60–90 stories). Because you're lifting your full body weight against gravity with every step, the calorie burn per minute rivals running.
Ten minutes of stair climbing burns about 1.5 times as many calories as 10 minutes of flat walking and approaches the burn rate of running. It surpasses cycling and swimming at moderate intensities for the same timeframe.
Take the stairs instead of the elevator at work for a quick calorie boost. If you have access to a stairwell, a 10-minute stair workout during lunch burns more calories than most people realize. Start with 5 minutes and build up as your legs adapt.
Direct answer: 10 minutes of climbing stairs burns an estimated 87–153 calories, depending on body weight (180 lb / 82 kg: ~120 kcal). Intensity assumed: Fast, continuous climbing (MET 8.8). This is an estimate, not a measurement.
| Body weight | Calories burned |
|---|---|
| 130 lb (59 kg) | ~87 cal |
| 155 lb (70 kg) | ~103 cal |
| 180 lb (82 kg) | ~120 cal |
| 205 lb (93 kg) | ~136 cal |
| 230 lb (104 kg) | ~153 cal |
Example: At MET 8.8, a 180 lb (82 kg) person doing 10 minutes of climbing stairs burns approximately 120 calories: 8.8 × 82 × 0.17 h ≈ 120 kcal.
There is no single universal calorie figure for this activity. At 180 lb (82 kg) and the same 10 minutes:
| Style / effort | MET | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Descending stairs | 3.5 | ~48 cal |
| Slow climb | 4 | ~55 cal |
| Moderate climb | 5.5 | ~75 cal |
An estimated 87–153 calories, depending on body weight. A 180 lb (82 kg) person burns about 120 kcal, calculated as MET 8.8 × 82 kg × 0.17 hours.
About 12.0 kcal per minute for a 180 lb (82 kg) person, or 1.5 kcal per kilogram of body weight across the whole session.
Because the MET formula scales directly with body mass: a 130 lb person burns about 87 kcal here versus 153 kcal for a 230 lb person — a 76% spread for the identical session.
From the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities, the reference database of measured MET intensities for physical activities. Every figure on this page uses that value in the formula Calories = MET × body weight (kg) × duration (hours).
They are estimates from population averages, not measurements. Individual results commonly land within about ±15% of the figure shown; actual intensity and pace, body composition and fitness, terrain and technique all shift the real number. The values are gross calories, so they include the energy you would have burned at rest.
Open the climbing stairs calorie calculator to enter your own weight, intensity and duration.