What is BMR? How to calculate BMR to lose weight, gain weight effectively

What is BMR? How is your BMR calculated to help you manage your weight effectively? All these questions will be clarified by SignsSymptomsList in the article below, stay tuned!

If you are interested in health and fitness, the term BMR is certainly familiar to you. This is one of the most commonly used tools to estimate how much you will need to reach your weight goal. However, the details of BMR as well as its calculation and importance are not well known.

How is your BMR calculated to help you manage your weight effectively?

What is BMR?

What is BMR? BMR is the basal metabolic rate of the human body. This number tells us the minimum amount of energy your body needs to function properly.

When resting or even sleeping, the activities of organs such as respiration, circulation, and nerves are still active to maintain life, and the activity of the heart, brain, liver, and kidneys will also consume energy. The sum of all activities necessary to maintain life in the body, excluding external movement, is collectively known as BMR.

How to calculate BMR

A popular formula for estimating BMR is the Harris Benedict formula. The basic factors for calculation are weight, height, age and gender.

• For women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 × weight in kg) + (1.8 × height in cm) - (4.7 × age).
• For men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 × weight in kg) + (5 × height in cm) - (6.8 × age).

Factors that affect basal metabolic rate

In addition to the factors included in the BMR calculation formula, there are many other factors that affect the BMR. These include body temperature, age, gender, race, emotional state, climate, or circulating hormone levels.

Heredity (race)

Some people are born with faster metabolism genes and some are born with slower metabolism genes. Indians and Chinese seem to have lower BMR than Europeans. It is also possible that there are differences in eating habits between different ethnic groups. According to expert studies, people living in tropical climates have a higher BMR.

Sex

Men have more muscle mass and a lower percentage of body fat than women. Therefore, the basal metabolic rate (BMR) of men is higher than that of women. Women's BMR declines faster than men's between the ages of 5 and 17.

 The basal metabolic rate (BMR) of men is higher than that of women

Age

BMR decreases with age, i.e. inversely proportional to age. Children have higher BMR than adults. After 20 years, this rate declines by about 2% per decade.

Weight

Changes in BMR are highly dependent on an individual's body weight. The heavier you are, the higher your BMR. For example, obese women have a 25% higher metabolic rate than lean women.

Body surface area coefficient

This is a reflection of each person's height and weight. The higher the body surface area coefficient, the higher the BMR. Tall and thin people have a higher BMR when comparing a tall person with a short person of the same weight. Meanwhile, both follow a diet to control calorie intake in order to maintain weight. As a result, short people can gain up to 7 kg a year.

Body fat percentage

The lower the body fat percentage, the higher the BMR. A lower percentage of body fat in men is one of the reasons why men have a 10 to 15% higher BMR than women.

Diet

Fasting or sudden calorie reduction can significantly reduce your BMR by up to 30%. Low-calorie weight loss diets can also lead to a reduction in BMR by up to 20%. Vegetarians have an 11% lower BMR than meat eaters.

Body temperature

For every 0.5 degree Celsius increase in body temperature, BMR increases by about 7%. In fact, chemical reactions in the body take place faster at higher temperatures. Thus, a patient with a fever of 42°C will have a BMR increase of about 50%. Elevated body temperature due to fever increases BMR by 14 to 15% per degree Celsius. This is clearly due to the increased rate of the body's metabolic response.

Outside temperature

The temperature outside the body also affects the basal metabolic rate. Exposure to cold temperatures increases BMR. This is how the heat is generated to maintain the body's internal temperature. Short-term heat exposure has little effect on the body's metabolism. Because it is mainly compensated by the increase in heat loss. But prolonged exposure to heat can increase BMR.

The outside body temperature also affects the basal metabolic rate

Practice

Exercise affects body weight by burning calories. It also enhances BMR by building more lean tissue. Lean tissue requires more metabolism than adipose tissue. As a result, the number of calories burned during sleep also increases. If you burn more calories than you expend, you will create a calorie deficit. This is the most important factor in losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight.

Increasing exercise with the right program is the best way to support weight loss. Applying BMR creates a separate program. Everyone's physique is different, to ensure effective weight loss needs to be calculated separately, BMR will help you lose weight faster, shorten time and improve efficiency.

Hopefully, the above information has helped you answer the question of what is bmr index. Understanding your BMR and the total calories you burn each day are positive steps toward reaching or maintaining your weight goal. This also makes it easier to change habits in your life.