Basal Metabolic Rate

Do you have any clue how many calories your body burns in one day? Do you even care?
Should you care? Why should you know your BMR?
Your Basal Metabolic Rate, or BMR, is the amount of calories your body burns in a given day. Your body has to burn calories to maintain all the biological processes that occur to support life. Since the majority of people don’t remain perfectly still for the entire day, you then have to factor in your activity level. I show you how to do this below.

I tend to think that knowing your BMR is a good idea if you have true goals for fat loss or size gains. It’s not completely necessary, however. You could simply eat less or eat more, depending on your goal. It may sound simple, but it works. Remember, losing weight is predicated on being in a caloric deficit while gaining weight is predicated on caloric surplus. Using your keenest observational skills, step on a scale once a week for one month. If you’ve stayed the same weight, you’re pretty much in balance. If you’ve lost weight, you’re probably in a deficit and using more calories than you take in. If you’ve gained weight, your body is taking in extra calories and either storing them as fat or using them for muscle gain. Probably a little of both, depending on your weight training habits.

The following equation can give you an estimation of your BMR. Remember, it’s just an estimation, but it’s a pretty good one.

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) – ( 4.7 x
age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) – ( 6.8 x age
in year )

Once you have your BMR, you then need to multiply it by one of the numbers below; depending on your activity level. Most people over-estimate their activity level, so I’d err on the side of being conservative in assigning your level. If you think you’re in the middle of two possible choices, multiply by a number in between the two levels you are looking at.

BMR x 1.2 If you are sedentary- you do little or no exercise in a day
BMR x 1.375 If you are lightly active- light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week
BMR x 1.55 If you are moderately active- moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week
BMR x 1.725 If you are very active- hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week
BMR x 1.9 If you are extra active- very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x
training

Once you’ve come up with your final calorie count, you may be surprised by how few calories you need or how many you burn. Think of how much you eat in a day and compare the numbers. Better yet, track your food intake for a couple days and then compare. Once you have an idea of where you’re at, it’s much easier to make the necessary changes that support your goal. Truthfully, the easy part is KNOWING what changes to make. The hard part is following through.

Share on Facebook