What an Hour of Anything
Actually Burns.
Stop relying on wildly optimistic gym cardio displays. Model true net calorie burn using the scientific Compendium of Physical Activities, adjust for baseline resting metabolism, and audit machine overcounts.
Compendium MET Standards
Grounded in clinical metabolic equivalent values rather than smartwatch proprietary algorithms.
Net vs Gross Accounting
We subtract the resting baseline calories your body would have burned on the couch anyway.
Gym Equipment Reality Check
Ellipticals and treadmills routinely inflate burns by 20% to 40%. We give you the calibrated truth.
Energy Expenditure Engines
Validated physiological models for athletes, runners, and weight management.
Activity Burn Calculator
Calories burned for 50+ activities by weight and duration — net and gross, with MET values shown.
Machine Calories Reality Check
What treadmill and elliptical displays really mean — the optimism factor, and the honest number behind the screen.
Steps & Activity Equivalent Calculator
Convert between steps, miles, and activity minutes — what 10,000 steps equals, and what else earns the same.
Exercise Comparison Tool
Side-by-side burn for up to four activities at your weight — what an hour of each really costs and earns.
The Truth About Calorie Burning
Deep dives into constrained energy expenditure models, EPOC afterburn, and cardio myths.
What Is a MET? The Unit Behind Every Honest Calorie Number
One MET is sitting quietly. Everything else is a multiple of it. Where the numbers come from, and why your watch argues with them.
Why Exercise Burns Less Than You Think (And Why That's Fine)
The 20–40% machine markup, the net-vs-gross gap, and the compensation effect — the honest arithmetic of exercise for weight management.
10,000 Steps: The Marketing Number That Became Health Doctrine
A 1965 Japanese pedometer slogan became a global target. What the actual dose-response research shows — and the number that captures most of the benefit.