The average number of calories burned while sitting is 10 calories per every ten minutes of sitting. There are scientifically accurate ways of calculating the exact amount of calories burned that rely on specific factors that differ from person to person.
The following article will teach you how to calculate the number of calories burned while sitting down.
Calories burned While Sitting Calculator
How Many Calories Do You Burn While Sitting?
The average adult (those between the ages of 20 – 60) to burn 10 calories per 10 minutes as a minimum. An accurate number of calories burned while sitting down can be calculated by applying a certain formula that depends on a person’s weight against the MET value (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) of sitting.
The Compendium of Physical Activities assigns a number representing the metabolic equivalent (MET) for activities performed, This helps to calculate how many calories you burn within specific timeframes.
A 1.5 MET, for instance, would be assigned to someone sitting all day, whereas working on a treadmill desk or walking is assigned a 2.3 MET.
The calculation is as follows:
A person weighs 180 pounds (81.65kg) and sits down (MET value of 1.5) for 1 hour (60 minutes).
Calories burned sitting (per minute) = (1.5 x 81.65 x 3.5) ÷ 200 = 330.92 ÷ 200 = 1.84
These calculators can successfully provide a general guideline and a quick answer to certain questions using this formula. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that, on average, adult women need between 1,600 and 2,400 calories a day and adult men between 2,000 and 3,000 calories.
New evidence has found the bodies metabolism to play a greater part in determining how many calories we burn, and that it goes through four distinct life phases.
- Newborns have a metabolism similar to adults. When they are about a month old, their metabolic rate starts rapidly increasing, so that between 9 and 15 months, it is more than 50% higher than an adult’s – the equivalent of a grown-up burning around 4,000 calories a day.
- Energy expenditure declines from approximately age 1 to around age 2 and continues to drop until approximately age 20.Â
- From the age of 20, it remains constant over the next 40 years, even through pregnancy and menopause; at 55, you burn calories as efficiently as you did at 25.Â
- Energy expenditure begins to drop again around age 60 and remains low until the end of our lives.
Does Standing Burn More Calories Than Sitting?
Yes, standing does burn more calories than sitting. An hour of standing can burn between 100 and 200 calories. The answer may vary depending on your sex, age, height, and weight.
It’s evident that the human body burns more calories during movement as opposed to just sitting down. Standing activates our muscle mass, which helps burn calories that can add up over long periods of time.
If trying to adopt a healthier lifestyle, you can burn anywhere between 120 to 210 more calories just by trading in 3 hours of sitting for standing up.
How Many Calories Do You Burn Sitting for One Hour?
Research shows the average adult burns between 60 – 130 calories per hour when sitting down. Additionally, according to the MET value of calculating, as shown above, a person weighing 180 lbs would burn 112 calories when sitting down for 60 minutes (1.84 x 60 = 110.4).
The body uses food and drink to create energy through metabolism. This complex process releases energy from food and beverages into your body by combining them with oxygen. It’s often thought the most effective way to burn calories that build up in the body is via movement and exercise.
It’s strange to imagine that the human body can even burn calories whilst doing something as inactive as sitting down. However, as you can see from the above evidence, it most certainly can.
