Steps to Calories Calculator

Some apps and devices count the number of steps we take. But how do we know how many calories we burned by walking 1000, 5000, or 10000 steps?

This calculator can help you calculate the estimated number of calories burned not only based on the number of steps, but also on your height, weight, and average walking pace.

Calories burned per step

An average person burns about 0.04 kcal per step.

This means, they can burn about:

• 4 kcal per 100 steps
• 40 kcal per 1000 steps
• 80 kcal per 2000 steps
• 120 kcal per 3000 steps
• 260 kcal per 6000 steps
• 400 kcal per 10000 steps

However, these values ​​can vary significantly, depending on, among others, weight, height, or walking speed.

To calculate the approximate amount of calories burned by a person, use the calculator at the top of this article.

How many calories does 1000 steps burn?

1000 steps can burn approximately 40 calories.

It depends, however, on the person’s weight, height, and walking speed.

Didn’t find your height or weight? Use the calculator at the top of this article.

How many calories does 5000 steps burn?

5000 steps is enough to burn a decent number of calories. During my weight loss (when I lost over 60 lbs) I tried to take at least 5000 steps each day.

Taking such a number of steps is not excessively time-consuming, because at an average walking pace it takes about half an hour.

5000 steps should allow you to burn about 200 calories.

Here’s the table in which you can see the estimated values for people of different weights and heights.

How many calories does 10000 steps burn?

You’ve probably heard that we should take at least 10000 steps a day.

In fact, even fewer steps may be very beneficial (1), but if you have enough time, taking 10000 steps can allow you to burn about 400 calories, depending on your height, weight, and your walking speed.

How many calories does 15000 steps burn?

Not many people are able to take 15000 steps a day. It should take about 2 hours, and some people may have a problem with walking such a long distance, especially in one go.

However, if you take 15000 steps, you can burn around 600 calories.

Calculator: How many steps to burn 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, or 1000 calories?

Wonder how many steps you need to take to burn a certain number of calories?

You can calculate it with this calculator:

For example, an average 5’7 person weighing 160 lbs would have to:

• Take about 2570 steps at an average speed to burn 100 calories.
• Take about 5141 steps at an average speed to burn 200 calories.
• Take about 7711 steps at an average speed to burn 300 calories.
• Take about 10282 steps at an average speed to burn 400 calories.
• Take about 12852 steps at an average speed to burn 500 calories.
• Take about 25704 steps at an average speed to burn 1000 calories.

If you want to check these values for a different weight, height, pace, or change the number of calories you plan to burn, use the calculator above.

7 ways to increase your number of steps

1. Walk whenever you can

Got a moment off? Try to use it for walking. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, over the course of the day, you can burn a lot more calories.

Here is my case:

I work in front of my computer. Throughout the working day, I have an average of 6 breaks of 10 minutes each.

I used to spend my break time scrolling through social media, but lately, I’ve been doing something else.

I set the timer for 10 minutes and walk around my room. During this time I usually listen to some podcasts, so I don’t get too bored. It’s a bit weird, but incredibly effective because it allows me to take about 1000 steps each time.

Now, here is where things get interesting: even though I have a sedentary job, I take additional 6,000 steps each working day. In my case, thanks to this simple method, I burn about 275 calories (which is ~200 calories more than I would burn sitting)! Not to mention, it’s way better for my health when I move a bit instead of sitting for a whole day.

2. Walk instead of driving a car

You probably move somewhere from time to time. Perhaps you commute to work or school, or occasionally visit a friend who lives near you.

Open a notebook and write down a list of places you regularly commute.

Think about what you can replace with walks.

For example, if you can walk to your workplace in 30 minutes, why not get up a little earlier to burn some extra calories?

3. Set a time block for a walk each day

This one was a game-changer in my case.

I’ve opened my Google Calendar and added a recurring block dedicated to walking after work. I promised myself that during that time I will not play computer games, or do any other things related to my hobby, instead, I will go for a walk.

It turned out that during the whole year I skipped the walk maybe 10 times. Mainly due to malaise or very bad weather (it took me a while to notice that walking around the house isn’t so bad.).

After a while, it became my habit and I started to like it. If you struggle with consistency, I highly recommend the x-effect.

It’s basically about creating a certain number of empty squares on a piece of paper (e.g. 90 squares if you want to walk for 90 days). After each day you go for a walk, you can tick the X in the box for that day. If you put this card in a visible, important place, you probably wouldn’t want to break the chain after a few days of consistently going for walks. Thanks to this method, you will make it easier for yourself to develop a new habit.

4. Increase your walking speed

It is no secret that by increasing the intensity of a given exercise, we can increase the number of calories burned. After all, by walking faster, we can take e.g. 700 steps instead of 500 at the same time.

If you don’t have much time, but want to burn more calories, try walking faster, or consider running.

5. Stop using elevators

Do you live or work on a high floor and use an elevator?

A great idea to burn an extra few dozen or maybe even a few hundred calories each day may be to start using stairs.

The number of calories burned shouldn’t be the only benefit. Sometimes, when there is a very long wait for the elevator, it is really much faster to take the stairs!

6. When possible, change the sitting to walking

You probably sometimes talk on the phone or, for example, listen to podcasts while sitting down. This is one of the many activities you might as well do while walking.

If you can, next time, try to get up from your chair and start walking. You can burn up to 200 calories by walking during a 30-minute conversation. Not to mention that many people (myself included) can focus much better while walking!

7. Measure the number of steps

Who doesn’t love games and competition?

Probably many people. However, if you like it, I recommend you to regularly measure the number of taken steps. You don’t have to buy a pedometer, because usually, an app on your phone should be good enough.

Personally, I like the Step Counter – Pedometer app for Android, but you can as well use any other popular, working app of this kind (there are plenty for iOS too).

You can define your goal, track your progress, and easily check how many calories you burn while walking.

According to the Step Counter – Pedometer app, since I’ve installed it I’ve burned more than 214,000 calories and taken almost 4,000,000 (millions!) steps which is 1737 miles (2799 kilometers).

My goal was to be in the top 1% of the best users, and I was motivated to achieve it:

Now I’m working towards unlocking my last available achievement:

Although, I now walk mainly for pleasure and weight maintenance. Hopefully, I will get there soon!

How to convert Steps to Calories?

The easy way:

To get the estimated number of calories burned while walking, divide the number of steps by 25.

For example:

A person took 1000 steps, so they’ve burned about 40 calories, because 1000 / 25 = 40.

The more advanced way used in the calculator:

In practice, the number of calories you burn while walking is not constant. It depends, among other things, on height, weight, and walking speed.

To achieve slightly more accurate results, the calculator takes these parameters into account. As a standard person burning 0.04 calories per step, we assume a person with a height of 182 cm (~5’11) and a weight of 70 kg (~ 154 lbs) walking at average speed.

Then we calculate the difference:

Difference = [(height in cm – 182) / 182 * 100] + [(weight [kg] – 70) / 70 * 100]

After that, we can calculate the estimated number of calories burned:

Result [calories] ≈ [(steps * 0.04) + (steps * 0.04 * (difference / 100))] * speed

Where speed is equal to:

• 0.8 for slow
• 1 for average
• 1.2 for fast

Here’s an example:

Question: The person weighs 180 lbs and is 5’10 tall. How many calories did they burn by walking 5,000 steps at a moderate speed?

First, let’s convert the units:

• 180 lbs ≈ 81.64 kg
• 5’10 ≈ 178 cm

Now, let’s calculate the difference:

Difference = [(178 – 182) / 182 * 100] + [(81.64 – 70) / 70 * 100]

Difference ≈ 14.43

Now, we can calculate the number of calories:

Result ≈ [(5000 * 0.04) + (5000 * 0.04 * (14.43 / 100))] * 1

Result ≈ 229 calories

Answer: The person burned about 229 calories by walking 5000 steps at a moderate speed.

Sources and interesting external links

Some of the interesting links and sources that helped to create the math formula used in the above calculators and calculations.

• https://www.verywellfit.com/pedometer-steps-to-calories-converter-3882595
• https://www.livestrong.com/article/320124-how-many-calories-does-the-average-person-use-per-step/
• https://www.quora.com/How-many-calories-do-I-burn-per-step