Active Calories
Active Calories is an estimate of the energy expended through physical activity above resting metabolic rate. The metric represents calories burned due to movement and exercise, excluding the basal metabolic rate (BMR) that would be expended at complete rest. Active calories are one component of Total Calories (Total = BMR + Active).
Typical Adult Ranges
kcalBased on population studies. Individual needs vary by age and health status.
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Key Takeaways
Represents estimated energy expended through physical activity.
Excludes resting metabolic rate (BMR).
Higher values indicate more active days.
Estimated from movement data and user characteristics.
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How It's Measured
Oura estimates Active Calories using algorithms that combine accelerometer data (measuring movement intensity and duration) with user characteristics (age, weight, height, sex) to calculate energy expenditure.
Common Influences
Activity volume: More movement produces higher active calorie counts.
Deep Dive
Active Calories represents the additional energy expenditure attributed to physical activity. It indicates how much caloric output occurred due to movement beyond basic metabolic functions.
A useful framing is that active calories measure the energy cost of movement. While the body burns calories constantly for basic functions (heart beating, breathing, maintaining temperature), active calories capture the extra expenditure from walking, exercising, climbing stairs, and other physical activities.
Energy expenditure varies with activity intensity. Resting metabolism maintains basic physiological functions. Physical activity requires additional energy from muscle contraction, increased cardiac output, elevated respiration, and thermoregulation.
The relationship between movement and calorie expenditure depends on body size, movement intensity, efficiency, and the specific activities performed. Larger bodies expend more calories for equivalent movement; higher-intensity activities expend more per unit time than lower-intensity activities.