Still with me?
Back to BMR. This is the minimum amount of energy required by your body to sustain BASIC functions. BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate is the standard measure for energy expenditure (calories burnt) and is expressed in terms of daily rates of energy expenditure.
The problem with testing for BMR is that it is very very specific. BMR is measure for an individual at rest, laying on their back, who has slept for 8 hours and has fasted for 12 hours. All this to measure the minimum amount of energy needed to carry on basic bodily functions, such as breathing and digestion.
Just lay here for 8 hours after fasting for 12 hours, then we cant test your BMR!
While reading literature or listening to health shows, keep in mind the BMR is also known as RMR. RMR stands for Resting Metabolic Rate, and unlike BMR does not require you to fast, sleep and lay on your back to find. Your real metabolic rate is always significantly higher than your RMR. For my blogs purpose, please use BMR and RMR interchangeably.
BMR is also affected by several measures. For instance, the more muscle you have the higher your BMR is, even at rest. That’s right our average Joe needs to eat more when he is jacked. Why? Muscle has a very high metabolic activity. Now ladies, because generally speaking we have a higher fat mass then men, our BMR will be less, to a male of equal weight. Crappy I know, hens why we all need to increase our fat free mass!
Build zee muscle for an increase in BMR
Body surface also affect the rate of your BMR. The more surface area you have, the more energy expenditure there is. Why might you ask? The more skin, the more heat loss, the more energy that is needed to maintain your body temperature… simple!
Age is also a major player in BMR. Unfortunately the older you get, the more your fat free mass will turn into, gulp… fat mass. Sad but true. Another reason why you need to build a strong base in your youth, and maintain it throughout your life. And remember it is never too late to start!
It’s never too late to get that BMR up!
The next three factors might sound familiar to anyone who has read up on fat burners. This will make sense more in my next blog (hint for next week…. discovering the ingredients to fat burners!). BMR is affected by body temperature. It increases the hotter your temperature is. Many factors such as exercise, warmer climates, spicy food and of course thermogenics will increase the bodies regular temperature. Psychological stress also will increase your BMR, due to this increase in activity of your nervous system… ever heard of fight or flight. This leads to an increase in hormone response, which leads me to the next factor of hormones. Hormones such as adrenaline released in stress situations increases your BMR. Also thyroid hormones raise the body’s natural BMR. Pregnancy will also alter your BMR, but that is another story for another day.
Typically, BMR and RMR rates range between 1,200 calories and 2,400 calories a day. Now since you are all exercising, this rate of course increase to 1,800 to 3,000 calories a day. Very elite athletes can have BMRs as high as 10,000 calories a day. Just think about the amount of food you would need to fuel this kind of activity!
PS. All the crash dieters out there… your BMR is slowed down every time your crash diet! When you skip meals or crash diet, your metabolism slows to conserve your energy. Losing weight too quickly will cause your body to think that it is threatened with starvation and goes into survival mode. It will fight to SAVE your fat stores, and any weight loss comes mostly from water or worse, hard earned muscle. Kind of counter intuitive if you ask me.
