Stairs & Floors Climbed Calorie Calculator

How to use this calculator

1. Choose Imperial (lbs) or Metric (kg).
2. Enter the number of floors you climbed — check Apple Health's "Flights Climbed" for today's count if you're not sure.
3. Enter your weight.
4. Click Calculate.

Tip: The "equivalent walking steps" result shows how many flat steps you'd need to walk to burn the same calories — a quick way to appreciate how efficient stair climbing is compared to walking.

How it works

The MET formula for stair climbing

This calculator uses MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) methodology from the Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al., 2011). Stair climbing is assigned a MET value of 8.0 — significantly higher than level walking at 3–3.5 mph (MET 3.5–4.3). The formula is: Calories = MET × weight (kg) × time (hours). Time is estimated from floors climbed, assuming 16 steps per floor (standard floor height of ~3 meters) and a climbing cadence of 90 steps per minute — consistent with measured stair-climbing rates in occupational health research.

Why stairs burn more than walking

Stair climbing burns approximately 2–3× more calories per minute than walking on flat ground, making it one of the most calorie-efficient forms of incidental exercise available. A 70 kg adult climbing 10 floors (approximately 160 steps) burns roughly 15–18 calories — equivalent to 375–450 walking steps in calorie terms. The iPhone tracks floors climbed automatically via its barometric pressure sensor, which detects elevation change and is reported to Apple Health as "Flights Climbed."

Track it with StepGoals

StepGoals displays floors climbed as one of the four metric cards on the main screen, pulling data directly from Apple Health's Flights Climbed data type. If you've set a floors goal, the card shows a theme-colored border when you hit it — giving stairs the same visual recognition as your step count and other daily targets.

Floors climbed also appears in your weekly bar chart and detailed reports, so you can track whether your stair habits are consistent across the week or concentrated on certain days. If you work in a building with an elevator, even setting a modest floors goal — say, 5 flights per day — adds meaningful calorie burn and cardiovascular benefit over time.