CamaleoHow many calories do tennis, badminton or squash burn?
Between a relaxed doubles match and a game of squash, the burn doubles. Pick your step carefully.
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Hourly expenditure
| Weight | Easy · 4.5 MET | Moderate · 7.3 MET | Hard · 10 MET |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 kg | 221 kcal | 397 kcal | 567 kcal |
| 70 kg | 257 kcal | 463 kcal | 662 kcal |
| 80 kg | 294 kcal | 529 kcal | 756 kcal |
| 90 kg | 331 kcal | 595 kcal | 851 kcal |
Estimated additional burn
What moves the number
These three share a category because they share a mechanic — short accelerations, stops, restarts — but their values run from 4.5 MET (tennis doubles, casual badminton) to 10 MET (squash). Squash is, alongside skipping, one of the two most expensive activities on the list. Dead time between points is already included in these values: count the length of the match, not of the rallies.
Why this number is lower than elsewhere
The MET formula gives TOTAL expenditure during effort, rest included — an hour sitting down is already 1 MET. Most calculators display that gross figure. The problem: your basal metabolism is already counted in your daily calorie needs. Showing the gross number counts it twice.
We subtract the resting MET and report only what the effort cost ON TOP. Thirty minutes of walking gives roughly 100 kcal here, against 140 elsewhere. It is less flattering, and it is the only number that does not contradict itself when you step on the scale a month later.
It is also why these calories are never handed back to your food budget in the app: a workout is not a licence to eat.
Where the number comes from
A MET measures the cost of an activity relative to rest: 8 MET is eight times what a still body burns. The values used here come from the Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al., 2011), the reference table of physical activity research.
Expenditure is then: (MET − 1) × 3.5 × weight in kg × minutes ÷ 200. Weight matters because you have to move it; duration matters more than anything else.
These are population estimates. Two people of the same weight doing the same effort can differ by 10 to 15 %: fitness, technique, temperature. Use these numbers to compare sessions with each other, not to balance a day to the calorie.
See also
Running
Minute for minute, running is the most expensive of the sixteen. Here is what it actually costs at your weight and pace.
Cycling
Cycling has the widest gap between “a ride” and “an effort” of any activity here: triple, end to end.
Walking
Walking is the most underrated activity here: cheap by the minute, but the one you do for the longest.
General, informational benchmarks based on published values validated on the general population. Real expenditure varies between two people with the same profile. These numbers do not replace a doctor or dietitian.