BMR

Our BMR is our Basal metabolic rate, which is responsible for burning around 70% of our energy on a daily basis.

But what is it? BMR is the number of calories your body uses to maintain vital functions, such as breathing, heart rate, and brain function.

You may expect then that someone who is overweight has a lower BMR than the average person (or a poor metabolism you might have heard that before). However, this incorrect. Someone who is overweight has a higher BMR because the body needs to work harder/burn more energy to perform these functions. Which is why when you use the calorie calculator to work out your calorie target for fat loss, people who are simply bigger, taller, heavier will get a higher target.

So, what part does it play?

Firstly, this energy is being burned by your body regardless. If you choose to lay in bed all day you are still going to use 70% of the energy you would in a day anyway. So, you don’t need to beat yourself up every time you miss a workout or have a lazy Sunday. It’s not as bad as you think. This is how people in Comas or who are ill, and bed bound can still lose weight!

Secondly – you can increase it. Obviously, the goal isn’t for your BMR to be higher because you have more excess fat, but you can also increase your BMR by gaining lean muscle mass. Which is one of the many reasons why your training programmes are predominantly based around resistance exercises.

Not only does it help you feel stronger, get in better shape, it also makes it easier to stay in better shape because your body is burning more calories – so you can eat more without gaining weight.