A MET (metabolic equivalent of task) is a measure of exercise intensity: how much energy an activity uses compared with the energy you use sitting at rest. One MET is your resting rate, so a 4-MET activity uses about four times the energy of sitting still (Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2018). MET minutes multiply that intensity by time, which gives you one number for how much exercise you did, whether you walked, lifted, or ran.
Most health guidelines are built on MET minutes, and so is FITIV's points system. This guide explains how METs work, how to calculate MET minutes, how many you need each week, and where METs fall short.
What Is a MET?
A MET is a ratio. It compares the energy you use during an activity with the energy you use at rest. Researchers define 1 MET as an oxygen use of about 3.5 milliliters per kilogram of body weight per minute, which works out to roughly 1 kilocalorie (what food labels call a Calorie) per kilogram of body weight per hour (Byrne et al., 2005).
Because it's a ratio, a MET describes intensity, not total effort.
Sitting quietly is about 1 MET. A brisk walk is about 4. A steady run is about 10. The number tells you how hard the activity is relative to rest, no matter how long you do it.
METs, MET Minutes, and Calories
Calories and METs both measure energy, but they answer different questions:
- Calories tell you how much energy you burned. That number depends heavily on your size, age, and sex. A heavier person burns more calories on the same walk than a lighter one.
- METs tell you how hard you worked relative to your own resting rate. Two people of very different sizes walking at the same brisk pace are both working at about the same number of METs.
That's why METs are useful for comparing effort between people, and why public health guidelines use them instead of calories. For more on what calorie numbers can and can't tell you, see our post about calories.
How Many METs Is Your Workout?
The standard reference is the Compendium of Physical Activities, a research database that lists average MET values for hundreds of activities. The values below come from the 2011 edition (Ainsworth et al., 2011). The 2024 update shifts some of them by a few tenths (a brisk 3.5 mph walk is 4.8, a 6 mph run is 9.3), but the intensity bands stay the same (Herrmann et al., 2024). A few common ones:
| Activity | Approximate METs | Intensity |
|---|---|---|
| Sitting quietly | 1.3 | Sedentary |
| Walking, 3 mph | 3.5 | Moderate |
| Brisk walking, 3.5 mph | 4.3 | Moderate |
| Weight training, moderate effort | 3.5 | Moderate |
| Weight training, vigorous effort | 6.0 | Vigorous |
| Cycling, 12–13.9 mph | 8.0 | Vigorous |
| Running, 6 mph (10 min/mile) | 9.8 | Vigorous |
| Running, 8 mph (7.5 min/mile) | 11.8 | Vigorous |
The US Physical Activity Guidelines group activities into three intensity bands (Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2018):
- Light: less than 3 METs
- Moderate: 3 to 5.9 METs
- Vigorous: 6 METs or more
These are averages for a typical adult. Your own number for the same activity depends on your pace, the terrain, your technique, and above all how fit you are. A walk that's moderate for one person can be vigorous for someone just starting out.
What Are MET Minutes?
MET minutes combine intensity and time: the METs of an activity multiplied by the minutes you spent doing it.
How to Calculate MET Minutes
The math is simple:
MET minutes = METs × minutes
A few examples:
- A 30-minute brisk walk at about 4.3 METs is roughly 130 MET minutes.
- A 45-minute moderate weight session at about 3.5 METs is roughly 160 MET minutes.
- A 30-minute run at 6 mph (about 9.8 METs) is roughly 295 MET minutes.
Notice how the run earns more than twice the walk in the same time. MET minutes reward both working harder and working longer, so a long easy session and a short hard one can land in the same place.
How Many MET Minutes Do You Need Per Week?
The US Physical Activity Guidelines recommend that adults get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity, or a mix of the two (Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2018). In MET minutes, that target works out to about 500 to 1,000 MET minutes per week.
Some ways to get there:
| Weekly routine | Approximate MET minutes |
|---|---|
| 30-minute brisk walk, 5 days | 645 |
| 30-minute brisk walk, 5 days, plus 2 moderate strength sessions of 45 minutes | 960 |
| 30-minute run at 6 mph, 3 days | 880 |
| 45-minute ride at 12–14 mph, 3 days | 1,080 |
The guidelines also say that more activity beyond this range brings additional health benefits. Think of 500 as the floor and 1,000 as a solid target, not a ceiling. The guidelines also recommend muscle-strengthening work on at least two days a week, on top of the aerobic target.
Mixing Moderate and Vigorous Exercise
Because MET minutes count intensity, vigorous minutes count roughly double. That's where the guideline's "150 moderate or 75 vigorous" comes from. If your schedule is tight, a few harder sessions can cover the same ground as more frequent easy ones. Easy work still matters, though: steady aerobic training is what builds your base. Our Zone 2 training guide explains why.
Why METs Are Useful
METs have stuck around for decades because they solve a few real problems:
- They put every activity on one scale. Walking, cycling, lifting, and swimming can all be added up in MET minutes, so you can see your total week instead of separate tallies for each sport.
- They're fairer for comparing people. Calories favor bigger bodies. METs express effort relative to each person's resting rate, so a friendly competition between a 120-pound runner and a 220-pound lifter is closer to even.
- They match the research. The physical activity guidelines and much of the research behind them are expressed in MET minutes, so tracking them lets you check your week against the evidence directly.
The Limits of METs
METs are a useful shortcut, but they're an approximation:
- The resting baseline is an average. The standard 3.5 mL/kg/min figure doesn't fit everyone. Studies have found that many people's measured resting rate is lower, so table values can overstate how hard an activity is relative to your own rest (Byrne et al., 2005).
- Table values ignore fitness. The Compendium gives one number for "running at 6 mph". For a trained runner that's an easy jog; for a beginner it's close to their limit. Your actual intensity depends on your fitness, which is why your VO2 max is often expressed in METs too.
- Activity labels are rough. "Weight training" covers everything from slow machine circuits to heavy compound lifts. A single table value can't capture how hard your session was.
This is where heart rate helps. Your heart rate rises with how hard your body is actually working, so it reflects your fitness, the day's conditions, and the real effort of the session, not an average for the activity. That's the approach FITIV takes.
How FITIV Uses METs
FITIV Pulse estimates METs for each workout from your heart rate, rather than looking up an average value for the activity. Using your heart rate data and your heart rate settings, it estimates how much energy you used during the workout compared with your resting energy use. The result is the workout's average METs, which the app describes as "the ratio between your active metabolic rate and your resting metabolic rate."
FITIV Points Are MET Minutes
Every eligible workout earns FITIV Points: your average METs multiplied by the workout's minutes. In other words, one FITIV Point is about one MET minute. Harder and longer workouts earn more points, and a tough strength session earns points the same way a run or a ride does.
A few things to know:
- Only workouts that average 3 or more METs earn points, in line with the guideline threshold for moderate activity.
- Points come from heart rate, so workouts need heart rate data. Manually logged workouts don't earn points.
- Because points are MET minutes, you can hold your weekly total up against the 500 to 1,000 MET-minute guideline range as a rough benchmark. Keep in mind that FITIV's heart rate–based METs reflect your own effort, so they won't exactly match the table-based estimates the guidelines were built on.
Where You'll See METs and Points in FITIV
- During a workout: you can show METs and FITIV Points as live metrics on your iPhone or Apple Watch.
- After a workout: the summary shows your FITIV Points and average METs, and you can compare them with your recent 7-, 30-, and 90-day workouts.
- In your workout history: each workout lists its points and METs, so you can spot your hardest sessions at a glance.
- On leaderboards: FITIV Points is one of the metrics you can rank by, along with distance, workout time, workout count, and active calories, over a week, month, or year. Points also count toward Career levels and Points-based challenge badges. See Challenges and Leaderboards.
Points measure effort, not whether you're ready for more of it. On days when your recovery is low, keep the session easy: you'll add fewer points, but you won't dig a deeper hole. The recovery guide covers how to balance the two.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 1,000 MET minutes a week good?
Yes. The US Physical Activity Guidelines' aerobic target of 150 to 300 moderate minutes a week works out to roughly 500 to 1,000 MET minutes, so 1,000 puts you at the top of that range. The guidelines note that going beyond it brings additional benefits, so 1,000 is a solid target rather than a maximum.
How many METs is walking?
It depends on pace. In the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities, a casual walk at about 3 mph is roughly 3.5 METs, and a brisk walk at 3.5 mph is about 4.3 METs, both in the moderate range. Faster walking or walking uphill pushes the number higher.
Are METs the same as calories?
No. Calories measure the total energy you burned, which depends heavily on your body size. METs measure intensity relative to your resting rate, so two people of different sizes doing the same activity at the same relative effort get about the same METs, even though the larger person burns more calories.
What is a high MET value?
Anything at 6 METs or above counts as vigorous activity under the US guidelines. Running, fast cycling, and hard interval sessions typically land between about 8 and 12 METs or more. Very fit endurance athletes can sustain much higher values than untrained people.
Does strength training count toward MET minutes?
Yes. Weight training is listed in the Compendium at about 3.5 METs for moderate effort and about 6 for vigorous effort, so it adds to your weekly MET minutes. The guidelines also recommend muscle-strengthening work on at least two days a week, in addition to the aerobic target.
