Steps → Distance & Calorie Converter
＋More features: steps left to your goal, calculate with your measured stride
How many steps to your goal?
Enter your goal and current steps, and the remainder is converted into km, minutes and kcal (using the height and weight above).
Calculate precisely with your own stride
Enter your actual stride (distance of 10 steps ÷ 10) to recalculate the distance with it.
Just enter your step count and height to see how far you walked today. Add your weight to also get an estimate of the calories you burned. Perfect for turning the number in your pedometer app into a real sense of “how many km and kcal”.
How to use
- Enter the step count from your phone or pedometer.
- As soon as you enter your height, the distance appears right below (stride estimated as height × 0.45).
- Add your weight to also see an estimate of the calories burned.
How it is calculated
- Estimated stride = height × 0.45 (a common rule of thumb for walking at a normal pace; about 77 cm for 170 cm tall)
- Distance = steps × stride / estimated time = distance ÷ 4 km/h (a normal walking speed)
- Calories burned = 1.05 × 3.0 METs × time × weight (the METs value for walking and the formula from the exercise guidelines of Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare)
- Example: 10,000 steps, 170 cm, 60 kg → about 7.7 km, about 115 minutes, about 360 kcal
Sources and assumptions
- Walking (4 km/h) = 3.0 METs is from the National Institute of Health and Nutrition (Japan), “METs table of physical activities” (in Japanese), and the calorie formula is from the exercise guidelines of Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Stride = height × 0.45 is a common rule of thumb.
Assumptions and notes
- Stride varies with walking speed and leg length (about height × 0.5 for a fast walk). For accuracy, walk 10 steps, measure the distance and divide by 10.
- Phone step counters themselves have errors (around ±10% depending on pocket position and so on).
Frequently asked questions
Should I walk 10,000 steps a day?
Japan's national health plan, Health Japan 21 (third phase), gives 8,000 steps a day as a guide for adults. Adding just 1,000 steps (about 10 minutes) to your current count is said to bring health benefits, so starting with a goal you can keep up is recommended.
How much weight can I lose with 10,000 steps?
For a 60 kg person it is about 360 kcal, or roughly 50 g of body fat. Kept up daily, that adds up to about 1.5 kg worth of calories in a month, but actual weight change depends heavily on your diet.
The distance differs from what my phone shows.
Phones estimate distance on their own from GPS and motion sensors. This tool is a simple “steps × estimated stride” calculation, so it differs by however much your stride differs from the estimate. Using your measured stride makes it more accurate.