Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Calculator
Calculate your basal metabolic rate (BMR) for free
How to Find Out Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
It’s simple to find out your basal metabolic rate by using our free online BMR calculator.
Simply choose which units you’d like to use (imperial or metric), then input your age, gender (at birth), height, and weight, then hit calculate to get your result!
To find out what Basal Metabolic Rate is and what your results mean, keep reading below to find out more.
For more important health stats, a workplace health check can give you plenty of insight. Click below to learn more about workplace health checks.
What is Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)?
When you’re resting, you burn calories through essential bodily functions like breathing, pumping blood around the body, processing nutrients and digestion, and producing new cells.
BMR, then, is the amount of calories your body needs to make all of these things happen.
What do your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) results mean?
Once you’ve calculated your BMR using the calculator above, you can then work out the rough number of calories you require each day based on how active you are.
This encompasses all the extra things you do during the day that burn energy. Examples including walking around the house, getting in and out of your car, grabbing some food from the fridge etc. Essentially, calories are burned when doing basic daily activities, and even minor things like fidgeting or scratching an itch!
In addition to this, you’ll also need to consider any exercise you do. This includes things like brisk walking, jogging, strength training, strenuous chores (like gardering and DIY), and anything else that raises your heart rate and increases your breathing.
Once you have a rough idea of this, you can use the following formulas to approximate the total calories you’ll need in a day to maintain your current bodyweight:
- Sedentary – You get minimal or no exercise. Multiply your BMR by 1.2.
- Lightly active – You get some light exercise 1-3 days a week. Multiply your BMR by 1.375.
- Moderately active – You get moderate levels of exercise 3 – 5 days a week. Multiply your BMR by 1.55.
- Very active – You engage in intense exercise 6-7 days a week. Multiply your BMR by 1.725.
- Extemely active – You engage in very intense exercise 6-7 days a week, or have a very physically active job. Multiply your BMR by 1.9.
How to improve your BMR
Improving your metabolic rate isn’t necessarily a cut and dry science, as there are a lot of factors that can affect it. Additionally, it can vary throughout the day.
Generally speaking, the easiest ways to improve your BMR are by maintaining a healthy body weight, reducing your body fat percentage, and increasing your muscle mass.
A great way to learn more about these stats is by having a health check. If you’re over 40 and live in the UK, you can have a health check for free with the NHS. There are also private providers available, as well as workplace-based providers like New Leaf Health – check out the link below to find out more.
Workplace Health Checks
In addition to learning your BMR, a workplace health check gives you other key health stats, such as blood pressure, body fat percentage, muscle mass and metabolic age. Click below to learn more.
Please note, the information on this page is for educational purposes only. You should always speak to your healthcare professional before undertaking any changes to lifestyle, or before adopting a new diet or exercise programme.