Anyone who is trying to lose weight, start a fitness routine or track their calorie consumption most probably has come across the term BMR. So, what exactly is BMR?
BMR or basal metabolic rate is the amount of minimum calories you require on a daily basis in order for your body to function properly, when the body is completely at rest. In other words, basal metabolic rate is the minimum calories required by the body if you spend the whole day without doing any work or physical movements i.e. lying down all day.
Your body performs a lot of functions even when you are resting or sleeping. From pumping blood to all the organs to breathing to maintaining the temperature of your body to the other involuntary functions your body performs, everything requires energy and thus accounts for calorie consumption. These processes are ever going and are carried out even when you are asleep. The calories required to maintain all these functions optimally is the basal metabolic rate.
The Basal Metabolic rate BMR is affected by a variety of factors such as height and weight, age, gender, body muscle and fat mass, body mass index (BMI), daily activity levels, diet and health.
Age:
The BMR of your body is inversely proportional to your age, which means the metabolic rate slows down as you age.
Gender:
Men generally have a higher BMR as compared to women owing to the generally higher muscle mass in men.
Body Muscle Mass:
Body muscle mass and fat percentage plays a huge role in your metabolic rate. People with higher lean muscle tissue have a higher BMR as compared to people with a low muscle tissue or a high body fat percentage.
Exercise:
Exercise is a great way to increase your BMR. Exercise also helps in improving BMR by reducing the fat percentage of your body and improving body mass index i.e. BMI. BMI is an indicator of body fat based on your height and weight. Exercise also helps increase the lean muscle mass of the body.
Environment Factors:
Environmental factors such as heat or cold also fluctuates the BMR. The body expends energy in order to regulate the temperature of the body.
Food and Diet:
Food and diet have a huge influence on your BMR. What you eat or how you eat largely affects your BMR. Crash dieting or improper diet may slow down your metabolism in order to conserve energy. Dietary deficiencies may also affect your BMR. For example, a diet deficient in iodine may result in slowing down of thyroid function and thus slow down the metabolism.
Other factors such as illnesses, genetic disposition and drugs such as caffeine and nicotine do affect your BMR.
The Bottom Line:
Determining your BMR may play an important role in your weight loss and fitness journey. It definitely helps to know your basic calorie requirements in order to figure out the intake required for the desired goal. So, the question is how do you calculate your BMR? There are options such as BMI calculator and BMR calculator. For more check out Finserv MARKETS.
