Quarantine Activity Calculator — MET References

Gross reference energy (kcal) = MET × weight (kg) × minutes ÷ 60. This worksheet uses the convention 1 MET ≈ 1 kcal/kg/hour, rather than the alternative oxygen-based conversion.

Example: household walking, code 17150, 2.3 MET, 70 kg and 30 minutes: 2.3 × 70 × 30 ÷ 60 = 80.5 kcal. Another 30 minutes of vacuuming, code 05043, 3 MET, gives 105 kcal. Together: 60 minutes and 185.5 gross reference kcal.

The 2024 Adult Compendium is a reference for adults aged 19–59. Standard METs use a common resting reference, not measured individual energy expenditure. Age, body composition and how an activity is performed can affect actual energy expenditure.

The evidence criteria exclude pregnancy, chronic diseases and disabilities restricting activity. This reference is not presented as a suitable model for those groups, children or older adults. The form does not automatically check those conditions.

Use only the description matching the recorded activity. Generic cooking is not a substitute for the specified light-effort protocol; moderate circuit training is not every bodyweight exercise.

• Walking, household: code 17150, 2.3 MET
• Vacuuming, general, moderate effort: code 05043, 3 MET
• Cooking, standing or sitting, manual appliances, light effort: code 05050, 2 MET
• Gardening, general: code 08066, 2 MET
• Yoga, general: code 02175, 2.3 MET
• Jazz dancing, general: code 03078, 4.5 MET
• Circuit training, moderate effort: code 02035, 5 MET
• Stretching, mild: code 02101, 2.3 MET

The total covers only the entered activity intervals. It includes the standardized resting component during those intervals; it is neither extra energy above rest nor a full-day energy requirement. Simply adding it to a whole day's resting energy would double-count that resting component.

The number does not predict weight change, immunity, mental illness outcomes or exercise suitability during illness. “Quarantine” remains in the historical page name; the worksheet does not assess illness or create a training plan.

• Enter minutes that match the named activity description.
• Do not count overlapping time twice: cooking and cleaning during the same minutes are not separate intervals.
• Blank or 0 omits an activity. Negative, partial or nonfinite numbers are rejected.
• The entries need not describe a whole day. There is no generic daily-hours fitness classification.
• Changing weight or minutes clears the previous result.

• 2024 Adult Compendium — 19–59
• Compendium: 1 MET ≈ 1 kcal/kg/hour
• Herrmann et al., 2024: scope and standard MET limitations
• WHO/Europe, 2020-03-25: self-quarantine guidance scope

Sources accessed and codes checked: 2026-09-30. These sources do not certify individual kcal measurements or exercise suitability.