Walking or cycling: which burns more calories?

The answer depends on what you compare: an hour of each, or the same distance. Cycling covers ground three or four times faster than walking, so it wins per hour and loses per mile. Which one matters depends on whether you are short of time or have a set distance to cover.

The short answer

Per hour, cycling at a steady pace burns more: about 480 calories an hour at 10 to 12 mph (16 to 19 km/h) for a 70 kg (154 lb) adult, against about 270 for walking at 3 mph (4.8 km/h). Gentle cycling under 10 mph burns about the same as walking.

Per mile, walking burns about twice as much: about 90 calories a mile walking against about 40 cycling, for the same adult. A bike carries your weight and turns your effort into speed, so each mile costs less.

Calories per hour

These figures use the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities, the standard reference that researchers use for the energy cost of activities, in METs (multiples of resting energy use). Calories are MET × body weight in kg × hours, and include the energy your body uses at rest.

Activity	MET	60 kg (132 lb)	70 kg (154 lb)	85 kg (187 lb)
Walking, 2.8 to 3.4 mph (4.5 to 5.5 km/h)	3.8	230	270	320
Walking, brisk, 3.5 to 3.9 mph (5.6 to 6.3 km/h)	4.8	290	340	410
Cycling, leisure, under 10 mph (16 km/h)	4.0	240	280	340
Cycling, 10 to 11.9 mph (16 to 19 km/h)	6.8	410	480	580
Cycling, 12 to 13.9 mph (19 to 22 km/h)	8.0	480	560	680

Calories per hour, rounded to the nearest 10.

Calories per mile

Dividing by speed turns the same figures into a cost per mile, at a typical speed within each band:

Activity	60 kg (132 lb)	70 kg (154 lb)	85 kg (187 lb)
Walking at 3 mph (4.8 km/h)	about 75	about 90	about 110
Walking briskly at 3.7 mph (6 km/h)	about 80	about 90	about 110
Cycling at 11 mph (18 km/h)	about 35	about 45	about 55
Cycling at 13 mph (21 km/h)	about 35	about 45	about 50

For walking, the cost per mile barely changes with pace, which matches what our calories per mile page finds with a different model. For cycling, going faster burns more per hour but covers the miles so quickly that the cost per mile stays low.

Which should you choose?

• If your time is short, cycling at a steady pace burns more in the same hour.
• If you have a set distance, like a commute, walking it burns more than cycling it, but takes three or four times as long.
• If you want steps, only walking gives them. A bike ride adds no steps to your phone’s count, though most fitness watches record it as a workout.
• E-bikes sit in between. The Compendium puts riding with high electric assistance at 4.0 METs, about the same as walking at a moderate pace.

Both count toward the weekly 150 minutes of moderate activity the guidelines ask for, as long as the effort is at least moderate. Mixing them is a good way to get there.

A reason to walk today

Most of us know we should walk more and still skip it, because “go for a walk” has no finish line. reTrek gives you one: pick a famous route, like the Camino de Santiago or the Inca Trail, and every walk moves you further along it, with a short film about the place waiting at each milestone. You stop looking for a spare moment to walk and start walking to reach the next milestone.

Everest Base Camp is free. Get reTrek.