🔥 What every effort costs in calories
Energy expenditure by survival activity for a 70 kg person, based on Metabolic Equivalents (MET) from the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities. Used to calculate how much you need to forage to cover a day of effort.
★ A day of chopping wood with an axe (8 h) burns about as much as 247 leached acorns.
★ Shivering at rest burns almost 3 times more calories than sitting quietly (2.7×): the cold alone exhausts you.
★ Trekking through deep snow without snowshoes costs more energy than rock climbing.
★ Carrying a 20 kg pack more than doubles the energy cost of the same walk unburdened (MET 3.0 → 7.0).
MET : Metabolic equivalent, resting baseline = 1
Notes per row
- Walking in deep snow (without snowshoes) — Sinking in with every step (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Swimming in cold water — Swimming + cold-induced thermogenesis (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Steep incline climb (300 m elevation gain/h) — Sustained mountain ascent (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Snowshoeing — Packed to medium snow, moderate pace (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Cross-country skiing, moderate pace — Cross-country, moderate effort (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Chopping wood with an axe (brisk pace) — Wood chopping, fast pace (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Climbing (rock climbing) — Rock climbing ascent (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Walking in sand (dune) — Loose sand, moderate pace (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Walking through dense forest / jungle (bushwhacking) — Moving through thick vegetation (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Walking with 20 kg backpack — Loaded hiking, moderate terrain (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Rowing (moderate pace) — Rowing, moderate effort (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Hand-sawing wood — Manual sawing (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Walking in mud / swamp — Waterlogged terrain (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Building a shelter — Earthwork, carrying, assembling (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Carrying water (moderate load) — Load carrying, back and forth (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Paddling a canoe (recreational pace) — Canoeing, light effort (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Fishing (line, active motions) — Standing fishing, steady movement (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Shivering (standing, moderate cold) — Shivering thermogenesis, cold physiology (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Flat walking, 4 km/h — Walking on firm surface, normal pace (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Foraging (fruits, plants) — Standing gathering, repeated movements (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Resting seated, quietly — Still sitting position (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))
- Sleeping — Basal metabolic rate during sleep (Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 (Herrmann et al.))