Work out roughly how many calories and kilojoules a game of darts burns, based on your body weight and how long you spent throwing — and see why the honest answer is "not very many."
Darts is a very low-intensity activity, with a MET value of just 2.5 — lower than a slow, easy walk. Calorie burn is estimated as calories = MET × body weight (kg) × time playing (hours). An 80 kg player throwing for a 60-minute session burns roughly 200 kcal, about 837 kJ. Almost none of that comes from the throwing action itself, which is a brief, light arm movement — most of it comes simply from standing rather than sitting for the session, plus the short walks back and forth to the oche and the board to retrieve darts and mark the score. Darts is genuinely enjoyable and social, but it should not be counted on as meaningful exercise.
| Session Length | Calories | Kilojoules |
|---|
The calculation multiplies three inputs together: a MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) value for darts, your body weight, and the time you actually spent playing. The Compendium of Physical Activities lists "darts, wall or lawn" with a MET value of 2.5, which the calculator multiplies by your weight in kilograms and your playing time in hours to produce an estimated calorie figure, then converts that to kilojoules for Australian food-label comparison.
It helps to be upfront about where the modest energy cost of darts actually comes from, because it isn't the throw. Releasing a dart is a brief, controlled flick of the wrist and forearm — over in a fraction of a second and requiring very little muscular effort compared to almost any other activity on this site. What genuinely nudges the calorie count above resting level is standing upright rather than sitting for the length of the session, the light postural effort of repeatedly stepping up to the oche and holding a stance while aiming, and the short walk to the board and back every time you and your opponents finish a leg, to collect darts and update the score on the board. None of this adds up to much, but it is the honest explanation for the small number the calculator returns rather than any myth about the throwing action itself being a workout.
Darts is, however, a genuinely popular activity in Australia — it just belongs in the social and recreational column rather than the fitness column. It's a fixture in pubs, clubs and RSLs across the country, where casual games are played for fun over a drink, and there is a real competitive layer underneath that: state and territory darts associations run structured pennant competitions and leagues, and dedicated club players take the game seriously as a skill-based pastime. That popularity and competitive depth are worth celebrating on their own terms — darts rewards accuracy, focus and consistency the way many precision sports do — but it would be dishonest to oversell it as exercise just because a lot of people enjoy it. If your goal is calorie burn or cardiovascular fitness, darts is not the tool for that job; if your goal is a fun, social night with mates that happens to keep you on your feet a little longer than sitting at the bar would, it does that well.
This table holds session length constant at 60 minutes of darts, so you can see how much body weight alone changes the total.
| Body Weight | MET | Calories (60 min) | Kilojoules |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 kg | 2.5 | 150 kcal | 628 kJ |
| 70 kg | 2.5 | 175 kcal | 732 kJ |
| 80 kg | 2.5 | 200 kcal | 837 kJ |
| 90 kg | 2.5 | 225 kcal | 941 kJ |
| 100 kg | 2.5 | 250 kcal | 1,046 kJ |
Because body weight is a straight multiplier in the formula, a 100 kg player burns two-thirds more than a 60 kg player over the identical hour of darts — but even at the top of that range, the totals stay well below what an hour of almost any other tracked activity would burn.
Here body weight is fixed at 80 kg while session length changes, since darts sessions vary enormously — a handful of quick legs, a full club night, or a long tournament session all take very different amounts of time.
| Session Length | Hours | Calories | Kilojoules |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 minutes | 0.5 | 100 kcal | 418 kJ |
| 60 minutes | 1.0 | 200 kcal | 837 kJ |
| 90 minutes | 1.5 | 300 kcal | 1,255 kJ |
Australian nutrition panels list energy in kilojoules, not calories, so it helps to see your session in the same unit your food and drink packaging uses. Multiply your calorie figure by 4.184 to get kilojoules. An 80 kg player throwing for 60 minutes burns about 200 kcal, which is roughly 837 kJ — a modest number worth keeping in mind next to the energy value printed on a pub snack or a round of drinks enjoyed alongside the game.
How many calories does darts burn?
For an 80 kg player throwing for a typical 60-minute session, darts burns roughly 200 kcal, about 837 kJ. This uses a MET value of 2.5, one of the lowest MET values used across our calorie calculators, and scales directly with your own body weight and time spent playing — use the calculator above for a figure based on your details.
Is darts good exercise?
Not really, and it's worth being honest about that. With a MET of 2.5, darts sits below the intensity of a slow walk, so while it's a fun and skilful pastime, it burns very few calories and provides minimal cardiovascular benefit. If your goal is fitness or meaningful calorie burn, darts shouldn't be relied on as your exercise — treat it as a social activity that happens to keep you on your feet rather than a workout.
Why is the MET value for darts described as "estimated" rather than confirmed by research?
The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities flags the specific darts code used here (code 15180, "darts, wall or lawn") as an estimated MET value, shown in red in its source table. That means the figure has been assigned by the Compendium's editors as a reasonable approximation rather than measured directly through dedicated published research, unlike some other activities that have specific studies behind their MET values. It's still the best available published figure, but it should be treated as a planning estimate rather than a precise, lab-confirmed number.
Where does the calorie burn in darts actually come from?
Almost none of it comes from the throwing action itself, which is a quick, light flick of the wrist and forearm. The main contributors are standing upright for the session instead of sitting, the light postural effort of holding your stance at the oche while aiming, and the short walks back and forth to the board to retrieve darts and update the score. It's a modest energy cost built from lots of small, low-effort movements rather than one significant physical exertion.
Is darts popular in Australia?
Yes, genuinely so. Darts is a common fixture in Australian pubs, clubs and RSLs, where casual games are played socially over a drink, and there's a real competitive scene underneath that casual popularity too, with state and territory darts associations running structured pennant competitions and leagues for dedicated club players. It's popular as a social and skill-based pastime — that popularity just doesn't translate into a meaningful fitness benefit.
How does darts compare to other activities for calorie burn?
Darts burns markedly fewer calories than nearly every other activity covered on this site. Its MET of 2.5 is lower than walking at an easy pace, well below moderate activities like cricket or golf, and a small fraction of what running, cycling or most team sports burn per hour. If you're comparing activities for their fitness value, darts sits at the very low end of the scale.
Does throwing more competitively or in a tournament change the calorie burn?
Not meaningfully. Whether you're playing a relaxed pub leg or a focused tournament match, the physical demand of the throwing action itself stays much the same — the main variable that changes your total calorie burn is simply how long the session runs, since a tournament night or long league match involves more total time on your feet than a quick casual game.
What are the limitations of this calorie estimate?
This calculator uses a single population-average MET value — one the Compendium itself flags as estimated rather than research-confirmed — multiplied by your body weight and playing time. It can't account for how much you moved around during breaks, how long you stood versus sat between turns, your individual fitness level, or extra activity like standing at the bar or walking between multiple boards at a venue. Treat the result as a rough planning figure for a low-intensity social activity, not a precise or clinically measured number.