Compendium of Physical Activities Speed Bag MET Value

The safest 2026 answer is 5.8 MET, using the official 2024 Adult Compendium sports row for Boxing, punching bag, code 15110. The 2024 table does not publish a separate row named speed bag. If your speed-bag work is faster than steady bag work, use the Compendium cadence rows for punching bag: 7.0 MET at 60 punches/min, 8.5 MET at 120 punches/min, or 10.8 MET at 180 punches/min.

Calories per hour = MET x weight in kg. Using the 2024 Compendium punching-bag value of 5.8 MET, speed-bag-style bag work burns about 342 calories/hour at 130 lb, 394 calories/hour at 150 lb, 447 calories/hour at 170 lb, and 526 calories/hour at 200 lb. A typical 15-25 minute speed-bag session lands around 85-220 calories depending on body weight, pace, and rest between rounds.

Official 2024 Adult Compendium boxing rows: punching bag 5.8 MET, punching bag at 60 punches/min 7.0 MET, sparring 7.8 MET, punching bag at 120 punches/min 8.5 MET, simulated boxing round 9.3 MET, punching bag at 180 punches/min 10.8 MET, and boxing in ring 12.3 MET. Speed bag is best treated as punching-bag work unless you can estimate cadence.

The Compendium of Physical Activities is a reference catalog of MET values for ~800 activities, maintained by Drs. Ainsworth, Haskell, Whitt, Irwin, Schmitz, Strath, et al. since 1993. Major updates 2000, 2011, 2024. Used in: (1) Physical activity research — converting questionnaire responses to energy expenditure. (2) Calorie tracking apps (MyFitnessPal, Cronometer, Fitbit, Apple Health). (3) ACSM clinical guidelines. (4) Public health campaigns (CDC, WHO). (5) Fitness wearables for activity classification. Limitations: (1) Population averages — individual variation 15-30% from listed value. (2) Static rate, doesn't account for fitness level (fitter people burn LESS for same activity). (3) Does NOT include resting metabolism (subtract 1 MET = ~50 cal/hr for 150-lb adult to get NET calorie burn).

Speed bag work is commonly used for hand-eye coordination, shoulder endurance, rhythm, timing, and upper-body conditioning. The calorie estimate on this page is a MET-based energy estimate, not a medical or performance guarantee. Actual training effect depends on skill level, round length, rest, punch cadence, coaching, and whether the session is part of a broader boxing or conditioning program.

Common adult intensity bands are sedentary at about 1.0-1.5 MET, light below 3.0 MET, moderate from 3.0 to 5.9 MET, and vigorous at 6.0+ MET. The 2024 punching-bag row is 5.8 MET, right below the vigorous threshold, while faster bag cadence rows from 7.0 to 10.8 MET are vigorous.

Standard boxing round = 3 minutes work, 1 minute rest. Using the 2024 punching-bag value of 5.8 MET, a 175-lb / 79-kg athlete burns about 23 calories during a 3-minute work round. Add about 1 calorie for the rest minute, so one work-plus-rest round is about 24 calories before accounting for individual fitness, cadence, and arm motion.

Use the official 2024 Adult Compendium at pacompendium.com/adult-compendium/ and the 2024 Adult Compendium Tracking Guide. For this page, the relevant sports rows are 15110 boxing, punching bag; 15113, 15115, and 15118 boxing, punching bag by cadence; 15120 sparring; 15125 simulated boxing round; and 15100 boxing in ring.