What is Basal metabolic rate (BMR)?
BMR is the number of calories your body needs at complete rest to keep basic functions like breathing and circulation going.
Also called: BMR, resting metabolic rate, RMR.
Basal metabolic rate, or BMR, is the energy your body uses just to stay alive: breathing, pumping blood, keeping organs working and maintaining body temperature. It is what you would burn if you lay in bed all day without moving.
BMR depends on your age, sex, height, weight and body composition. Online calculators use formulas such as Mifflin-St Jeor to estimate it. For example, a 30-year-old woman who is 160 cm and 60 kg may have a BMR near 1,300 calories. It is only an estimate, and it is the base from which TDEE is built.
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General information, not medical advice. All terms.