Fitness · topic 1 of 5
METs vs MET-hours
One is how hard, the other is how much
The difference in one line
A MET is intensity: one MET is you at rest, four METs is a brisk walk. A MET-hour is volume: four METs held for half an hour is two MET-hours. Verve tracks both, and never adds them together.
Video walkthrough — METs vs MET-h
In production, coming soon
METs — how hard
A Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) is the energy your body uses per kg of body weight per minute, relative to rest. 1 MET = sitting quietly, using 3.5 mL of O₂/kg/min. Every activity — walking, running, lifting — gets a METs value showing how many times harder it is than sitting still.
MET-h — how much
MET-hours (MET-h) multiply intensity by time:METs × hours. It's the session's training volume, not its intensity. 1 MET-h ≈ 1 kcal burned per kg of body weight (the energy cost of one hour at rest, scaled by your weight) — so MET-h isn't the same number for everyone at the same intensity.
Worked example
A 36-minute strength session averaging 3.4 METsis classified moderate intensity (it's the METs value that sets the label). Its volume is 3.4 × 0.6 hours (36 min) =2.0 MET-h — a completely separate number answering "how much," not "how hard."
Same minutes, different MET-h
WHO/AHA define weekly dose in minutes — but two people hitting the same minutes at different intensities log very different volume:
METs tells you how intense an activity is; MET-h tells you how much of it you did. Verve computes both for every logged and background activity — METs decides its light/moderate/vigorous label, MET-h is its training volume.