MET: Allowing You To More Accurately Gauge Your Level of Intensity in Leisure Activities

Moderate Activity 3.0 to 6.0 METs (3.5 to 7 kcal/min)

Vigorous Activity Greater than 6.0 METs (more than 7 kcal/min)

• Swimming—recreational
• Treading water—slowly, moderate effort
• Diving—springboard or platform
• Aquatic aerobics
• Waterskiing
• Snorkeling
• Surfing, board or body

• Swimming—steady paced laps
• Synchronized swimming
• Treading water—fast, vigorous effort
• Water jogging
• Water polo
• Water basketball
• Scuba diving

• Playing on school playground equipment, moving about, swinging, or climbing
• Playing hopscotch, 4-square, dodgeball, T-ball, or tetherball
• Skateboarding
• Roller-skating or in-line skating—leisurely pace

• Running
• Skipping
• Jumping rope
• Performing jumping jacks
• Roller-skating or in-line skating—fast pace

• Fishing while walking along a riverbank or while wading in a stream—wearing waders

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• Playing instruments while actively moving; playing in a marching band; playing guitar or drums in a rock band
• Twirling a baton in a marching band
• Singing while actively moving about

• Playing a heavy musical instrument while actively running in a marching band

• Gardening and yard work: raking the lawn, bagging grass or leaves, digging, hoeing, light shoveling (less than 10 lbs per minute), or weeding while standing or bending
• Planting trees, trimming shrubs and trees, hauling branches, stacking wood
• Pushing a power lawn mower or tiller

• Gardening and yard work: heavy or rapid shoveling (more than 10 lbs per minute), digging ditches, or carrying heavy loads
• Felling trees, carrying large logs, swinging an ax, hand-splitting logs, or climbing and trimming trees
• Pushing a nonmotorized lawn mower

• Moderate housework: scrubbing the floor orbathtub while on hands and knees, hanging laundry on a clothesline, sweeping an outdoor area, cleaning out the garage, washing windows, moving light furniture, packing or unpacking boxes, walking and putting household items away, carrying out heavy bags of trash or recyclables (e.g., glass, newspapers, and plastics), or carrying water or firewood
• General household tasks requiring considerable effort

• Heavy housework: moving or pushing heavyfurniture (75 lbs or more), carrying household items weighing 25 lbs or more up a flight or stairs, or shoveling coal into a stove
• Standing, walking, or walking down a flight of stairs while carrying objects weighing 50 lbs or more