Estimate calories and kilojoules burned on a gym ski machine or ski ergometer — such as a Concept2 SkiErg or a NordicTrack-style cross-country ski simulator — based on your body weight, effort level, and session length. This calculator uses three tiers drawn from the Conditioning Exercise section of the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: general ski machine use, cross-country double poling at a slow-to-moderate speed, and cross-country double poling at a fast-to-maximum speed. This page covers the indoor gym machine that mimics the double-poling motion of cross-country skiing — it is not about skiing outdoors on snow. If you're after real outdoor cross-country skiing, see our dedicated Cross-Country Skiing Calorie Calculator instead.
Ski machine calorie burn is estimated with calories = MET × body weight (kg) × duration (hours), using three MET values from the Conditioning Exercise section of the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: general ski machine (MET 6.8), ski ergometer cross-country double poling at a slow-to-moderate speed (MET 10.5), and ski ergometer cross-country double poling at a fast-to-maximum speed (MET 18.0). An 80 kg person over a 30-minute session burns around 272 kcal (about 1,138 kJ) on general ski machine settings, around 420 kcal (about 1,757 kJ) doing moderate-pace double poling, and around 720 kcal (about 3,012 kJ) at fast-to-maximum double poling effort. All three MET values used on this page are literature-supported figures in the Compendium, not flagged as estimated — though as explained below, that top fast-to-maximum tier represents a genuinely elite, near-maximal effort level that most recreational users won't sustain for long.
| Effort Level | MET | Calories | Kilojoules |
|---|
The calculation uses a MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) value for your effort level, your body weight, and how long you trained. This calculator uses three MET tiers taken directly from the Conditioning Exercise section of the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities — general ski machine (code 02080, MET 6.8), ski ergometer cross-country double poling at a slow-to-moderate speed (code 02082, MET 10.5), and ski ergometer cross-country double poling at a fast-to-maximum speed (code 02084, MET 18.0). Because ski machine sessions are usually measured in minutes rather than hours, the calculator takes your minutes input and converts it to hours (hours = minutes ÷ 60) before applying the formula.
| Effort Level | MET | Calories (80 kg, 30 min) | Kilojoules |
|---|---|---|---|
| General ski machine | 6.8 | 272 kcal | 1,138 kJ |
| Double poling, slow-to-moderate speed | 10.5 | 420 kcal | 1,757 kJ |
| Double poling, fast-to-maximum speed | 18.0 | 720 kcal | 3,012 kJ |
A ski machine, also called a ski ergometer or SkiErg, is a gym cardio machine that reproduces the double-poling motion used in cross-country skiing: you pull two cable handles downward and back in a rhythmic, full-body drive that engages the arms, shoulders, back, core and legs together, rather than isolating any single muscle group. Unlike a treadmill or exercise bike, which mostly load the lower body, a ski machine asks the upper body and core to do a large share of the propulsive work on every stroke, which is part of why its calorie-burn rate can climb so steeply once the pace picks up. The Concept2 SkiErg is probably the best-known example in Australian gyms, alongside NordicTrack-style consoles that pair a ski-simulator arm mechanism with an incline deck.
The three tiers on this page track that same machine at increasing effort. General ski machine use (MET 6.8) covers a steady, moderate session — the kind of pace someone might hold during a mixed cardio circuit or an easy recovery day, comparable in intensity to a brisk row or a moderate cycling effort. Double poling at a slow-to-moderate speed (MET 10.5) steps up the stroke rate and the force behind each pull, closer to a sustained, purposeful interval effort. Double poling at a fast-to-maximum speed (MET 18.0) is a different category altogether: this is the pace and force output of a competitive or near-maximal sprint effort, the kind of number you'd expect to see from an athlete pushing hard in the closing stages of a race or a short, all-out interval — not a pace typically maintained for a casual gym session.
A ski machine is often mentioned in the same breath as a rowing machine, an elliptical, or even real outdoor cross-country skiing, but each is a genuinely different activity with a different calorie-burn profile. A rowing machine drives primarily through a leg-then-back-then-arms sequence and tends to load the posterior chain and legs more heavily per stroke — see our Rowing Machine Calorie Calculator for MET values specific to rowing. An elliptical trainer is lower-impact and typically keeps the arms and legs moving through smaller, more continuous ranges of motion rather than the explosive pull-and-recover pattern of double poling — our Elliptical Calorie Calculator covers that machine on its own terms. And real outdoor cross-country skiing on snow adds variables a gym machine simply doesn't have — terrain, snow conditions, gliding technique, cold-weather thermoregulation and balance demands — which is why it uses its own separate MET values on our Cross-Country Skiing Calorie Calculator rather than the indoor ski-machine figures used here. This page is scoped specifically to the stationary gym ski machine or ski ergometer, not to skiing outdoors — use whichever calculator actually matches what you did.
The table below holds the effort level constant at the general ski machine tier (MET 6.8) for a 30-minute session, so you can see how much body weight alone changes the total.
| Body Weight | MET | Calories (30 min) | Kilojoules |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 kg | 6.8 | 187 kcal | 782 kJ |
| 65 kg | 6.8 | 221 kcal | 925 kJ |
| 75 kg | 6.8 | 255 kcal | 1,067 kJ |
| 85 kg | 6.8 | 289 kcal | 1,209 kJ |
| 95 kg | 6.8 | 323 kcal | 1,351 kJ |
Ski machine sessions can run anywhere from a short warm-up block to a full interval workout. Here body weight is fixed at 80 kg while session length and effort level both change, so you can compare how much a longer session and a harder pace each add to the total.
| Session Length | General (MET 6.8) | Slow-to-Moderate Double Poling (MET 10.5) | Fast-to-Maximum Double Poling (MET 18.0) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 minutes | 136 kcal / 569 kJ | 210 kcal / 879 kJ | 360 kcal / 1,506 kJ |
| 30 minutes | 272 kcal / 1,138 kJ | 420 kcal / 1,757 kJ | 720 kcal / 3,012 kJ |
| 45 minutes | 408 kcal / 1,707 kJ | 630 kcal / 2,636 kJ | 1,080 kcal / 4,519 kJ |
| 60 minutes | 544 kcal / 2,276 kJ | 840 kcal / 3,515 kJ | 1,440 kcal / 6,025 kJ |
Australian nutrition panels list energy in kilojoules, not calories, so it's worth converting your ski machine session into the same unit your food packaging uses. Multiply your calorie figure by 4.184 to get kilojoules. An 80 kg person doing a 30-minute general ski machine session burns about 272 kcal, which is roughly 1,138 kJ — a useful figure to weigh up against the energy value of a recovery snack or post-workout drink, and one that climbs fast if you push into the higher double-poling tiers.
How many calories does a ski machine burn?
It depends on effort level and session length. Using this calculator's three tiers for an 80 kg person over a 30-minute session: general ski machine use (MET 6.8) burns about 272 kcal (1,138 kJ), double poling at a slow-to-moderate speed (MET 10.5) burns about 420 kcal (1,757 kJ), and double poling at a fast-to-maximum speed (MET 18.0) burns about 720 kcal (3,012 kJ). Lighter or heavier people, and shorter or longer sessions, will see proportionally lower or higher totals, so enter your own weight and session length above for a personalised estimate.
How is calories burned on a ski machine calculated?
The calculator multiplies a MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) value for your effort level by your body weight in kilograms and your session duration in hours: calories = MET × body weight (kg) × duration (hours). Because most ski machine sessions are measured in minutes rather than hours, the calculator takes your minutes input and divides by 60 before running the formula. The three MET values used — 6.8 for general ski machine (code 02080), 10.5 for double poling at a slow-to-moderate speed (code 02082), and 18.0 for double poling at a fast-to-maximum speed (code 02084) — come directly from the Conditioning Exercise section of the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. The kilocalorie result is then multiplied by 4.184 to give the equivalent figure in kilojoules, the unit used on Australian food labels.
Why is the fast-to-maximum double-poling tier so much higher than general ski machine use?
Because it reflects a genuinely different level of physical output, not a rounding quirk. MET 18.0 for fast-to-maximum double poling is an extremely high, elite-level intensity value — roughly 2.6 times the general ski machine tier (MET 6.8) — and it's a literature-supported figure in the Compendium, not an inflated or estimated one. But that doesn't mean it's a typical result: sustaining fast-to-maximum double-poling force for a full session is a near-maximal cardiovascular and muscular effort that most recreational gym-goers simply can't hold for long, closer to what a trained athlete produces during short, all-out intervals. If your own session felt hard but sustainable rather than an all-out sprint, the slow-to-moderate double-poling tier (MET 10.5) is very likely the more accurate choice for you.
Is a ski machine a good full-body workout?
Yes. A ski machine's double-poling motion pulls the arms, shoulders, back & core into the movement on every stroke alongside the legs, which is why it's frequently described as one of the more genuinely full-body cardio machines in a typical gym. Even at the general use tier (MET 6.8), it engages considerably more upper-body musculature per session than a treadmill or exercise bike, and at the higher double-poling tiers it becomes a serious combined strength-and-cardio effort.
Does body weight affect how many calories a ski machine burns?
Yes. Because calories equal MET multiplied by body weight in kilograms multiplied by duration in hours, body weight is a direct multiplier in the formula. At the general ski machine tier (MET 6.8) for a 30-minute session, a 95 kg person burns roughly 323 kcal compared with about 187 kcal for a 55 kg person completing the identical session at the identical effort level.
What are the limitations of this calorie estimate?
This calculator uses fixed MET values that represent population averages for each effort tier — it doesn't account for your individual fitness level, technique efficiency, stroke rate consistency, resting metabolic rate, age, sex, or muscle mass, all of which genuinely affect real-world energy expenditure. It also can't tell the difference between a smooth, well-paced session and a stop-start one at the same average intensity. Treat the result as a reasonable planning estimate rather than a precise, lab-measured figure — a heart-rate monitor or a machine's own power/wattage output, where available, can offer a more personalised read on effort.
How does a ski machine compare to a rowing machine or elliptical for calorie burn?
All three are genuine full-body-leaning cardio machines, but they load the body differently rather than one simply being "better" than the others. A rowing machine drives through a leg-then-back-then-arms sequence and tends to place more emphasis on the legs and posterior chain per stroke — see our Rowing Machine Calorie Calculator for its specific MET values. An elliptical trainer keeps the arms and legs moving through smaller, more continuous, lower-impact ranges of motion rather than the explosive pull-and-recover pattern of double poling. A ski machine sits closer to rowing in overall intensity range but leans more heavily on the shoulders, arms and core through its distinctive downward pulling action. Matching body weight and duration across each calculator on this site is the fairest way to compare them directly rather than relying on general assumptions.
Is using a gym ski machine the same as cross-country skiing outdoors?
No — they share a similar arm-and-core movement pattern, but they are different activities with different MET values and different calculators on this site. A gym ski machine or ski ergometer is a fixed, stationary device that isolates the double-poling motion under controlled resistance. Real outdoor cross-country skiing on snow adds gliding technique, varied terrain and snow conditions, balance demands, and cold-weather thermoregulation, all of which change the energy cost. If you actually skied outdoors, use our dedicated Cross-Country Skiing Calorie Calculator rather than this page, which is scoped specifically to the indoor gym machine.