How to calculate BMR

The acronym “BMR” stands for Basal Metabolic Rate. BMR is a term that is commonly affiliated with medicine in the day to day life. According to the definition, Basal Metabolic rate is the amount of energy needed by you in a resting state, in a temperate environment during the post-absorptive state when your digestive system is inactive. In simpler words, BMR is the calculation of the amount of energy required by your body early morning, when you have not eaten anything for the past few hours and you are resting. BMR is also the calculation of the energy required by all your vital organs which include the heart, lungs, kidneys, the nervous system, intestines, liver, lungs, sex organs, muscles, and skin. As per Medical experts BMR usually decreases with age and increases with muscle mass.

How to calculate BMR easily?

Measuring the BMR can be a challenge under the condition when you are awake, hence there is no  possible way in which the BMR can be measured accurately. However, there are certain values that give a close to an accurate value of your BMR easily.

Three Easy Steps to Calculate Your BMR

The following steps will allow you to measure your BMR quite accurately and easily.

Step 1: Stand against a wall and mark your height in order to measure it. Measure your body height in centimeters if possible. If you know your height in inches, you can multiply it by 2.54 in order to convert it into centimeters.

Step 2: Measure your body weight using an accurate weigh scale. Preferably in kilograms. You can multiply your weight by 0.454 in order to convert it from pounds to kilograms if necessary.

Step 3: Use the BMR formula or equation. The BMR formula varies slightly to calculate BMR for males and females, .

BMR Formula for Males:

BMR = 66 + (13.8 x weight in kg.) + (5 x height in cm) – (6.8 x age in years)

BMR Formula for Females:

BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg.) + (1.8 x height in cm) – (4.7 x age in years).

 

BMR formula using body fat

In case you know your body fat value or percentage. You can use an alternate formula to calculate the BMR. The alternate formula to calculate your BMR is given as:

BMR = 370 + (21.6 x lean body mass in kg)

where, Lean body mass refers to the total mass of your body minus the body fat.

The BMR which is calculated by these formula or equations gives a value in kcals (kilo calories) per day.

Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).

As the name suggest it is the amount of total energy in the form of calories you burn in a day. It is useful to know how much calorie you should intake in the form of food to meet your daily routine.

Once, you have calculated your BMR, you can easily convert it into your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). The way to do so is to multiply your BMR value by a multiplying factor depending upon the amount of activity that you perform on a daily basis.

The Multiplying factor is given in Table below:

 

TDEE= BMR x Multiplying Factor

Calculating BMR is important to find out how much physical intervention you need to keep your body fit and in a perfect shape. Hope this post helps you in calculating BMR accurately and enlighten you for your better health.