icon-account icon-glass

Popular Searches

Popular Products

The Lean Protein
Whey protein powder for weight-loss.
The Energy Booster
Pre/intra-workout powder with BCAAs.

CATEGORIES

Knowing Your BMR Is The Key To Building Muscle or Losing Weight

27th April 2021

Fitness Health

27th April 2021

By Shivraj Bassi

What is BMR?

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), also sometimes referred to as Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is the metric used to measure your body’s metabolism. Your BMR refers to the number of calories that your body requires to keep your body functioning at rest, and how much energy your body burns at rest.

You may be under the impression that you need to adopt a gruelling exercise regime to achieve your fitness goals – but this definitely isn’t the case. (Phew!)

Depending on your fitness goals, you may want to calculate your BMR to ensure you are getting the best results from your dietary behaviours and workouts. Any increase to your metabolic weight, such as exercise, will increase your BMR, and therefore increase your body’s energy and fat burning efficiencies.

A lot of people try and ‘speed up’ their metabolism (which is a set of processes in your body responsible for a whole host of things, including energy and fat-burning) when trying to lose weight– but this isn’t strictly possible. By calculating your BMR, you can work out exactly what your body needs, and learn how to increase the rate at which your body burns fat that way.

The key here is to note that whilst you can’t control how fast your body naturally burns fat, you can control how many calories you burn through exercise – and calculating your BMR will give you the knowledge necessary to accurately and safely achieve this – if that’s your fitness goal. Calculating your BMR isn’t only beneficial to those looking to lose weight, though, and we’ll get into that shortly.

In short: knowing your BMR is the key to building muscle or losing weight.

What is a ‘normal’ BMR?

As with all body and health-related factors, what is normal for one person won’t be normal for another, so it’s important not to get hung up on these statistics. But, if you’re looking for a starting point, or an average, the average BMR for a man is 7,100kJ, and for a woman: 5,900kJ (kilojoules). This refers to energy, and notes the average energy-burning rate for each sex.

To break it down simply, if you have a low BMR, this means that your metabolism is slower - you need to eat a lower amount of calories to be able to lose body mass. On the flip side, if you have a high BMR, you’re going to need to burn more calories to lose weight, as your metabolism is faster. Highly active individuals such as athletes will typically have a high BMR, purely due to the amount of daily exercise they do.

It can be frustrating as someone trying to lose weight to learn that their metabolism is just naturally slower than other people, and sometimes disheartening. But please don’t be demotivated, these factors are often out of our control, and it doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to lose weight.

What affects our BMR?

  • Body size
  • Your growth rate
  • Your gender
  • Your weight
  • Your age
  • Your ethnicity
  • Hormones
  • Any dietary deficiencies
  • The amount of exercise you do
  • Your environmental temperature (yes, really!)

This is why it’s important that there is no ‘normal’, and you should concentrate on your BMR and how you can use this information to reach your individual fitness goals – whatever they are.

BMR and Weight-Loss

With the recent decline in physical activity as a result of COVID-19 and the drastic changes to our lifestyle, many people have started to calculate their BMR to make positive changes to their health. Worryingly for our overall health, a recent study found that 42% of people reported gaining weight since the pandemic began.

It’s predicted that the after-effects of this drop in exercise will continue long after the pandemic ends – so it’s important that we take the necessary steps to take back control of our health and dietary behaviours.

A great way of doing this is to calculate your BMR so that you are informed to be able to make healthy choices – The McKinsey Global Institute state that we could reduce disease and obesity risk by as much as one third if we introduce weight management into our daily routines.

Calculating Your BMR

Calculating your BMR can be pretty complex and can be done through a calculation that takes into account your gender, weight in kilograms, height in centimetres and age and amount of daily exercise you currently do or aim to do.

Calculating your BMR is the first step in discovering your metabolic rate, and can set you up nicely to make any necessary changes to your diet to achieve your fitness goals and improve your performance and overall well-being.

Calculating your BMR can enable you to achieve a range of fitness goals, including:

  • Weight Loss
  • Weight Maintenance
  • Weight Gain

How To Calculate Your BMR

However, due to the complexity and range of factors involved, many people choose to use a simple BMR calculator to gain an automatic BMR estimate.

You’ll find when using these online calculators that many refer to a ‘calculation formula’, typically either Mifflin St. Jeor or Harris-Benedict – both named after the researchers that purposed them. Either can be used to calculate your BMR, so it is generally up to personal preference – but many researchers recommend Mifflin St. Jeor, claiming higher accuracy rates. 

Ready to try one out? Simply enter your info into the calculator below to get an approximation of your BMR.

From here, you can use this result as an estimation to set your needs. Now it’s time to decide on your diet, workouts and supplements to assist you on your fitness journey.

Summary

Calculating your BMR is a great place to start in your fitness journey – or even a perfect technique to implement into your existing routine if you want to further improve your performance. This calculation means you are completely in-the-know when it comes to your body’s performance and physical health, allowing you to control and monitor your well-being.

When making dietary changes as a reflection of calculations such as BMR – be sure not to do anything too drastic, too quickly. Make small, manageable and healthy changes that are manageable and be consistent for the best results.

Happy calculating!

References

  • Frankenfield, D. C., Muth, E. R., & Rowe, W. A. (1998). The Harris-Benedict studies of human basal metabolism: history and limitations. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 98(4), 439-445. Click here.
  • Frankenfield, D., Roth-Yousey, L., Compher, C., & Evidence Analysis Working Group. (2005). Comparison of predictive equations for resting metabolic rate in healthy nonobese and obese adults: a systematic review. Journal of the American Dietetic association, 105(5), 775-789. Click here.
  • Hall, G., Laddu, D. R., Phillips, S. A., Lavie, C. J., & Arena, R. (2020). A tale of two pandemics: How will COVID-19 and global trends in physical inactivity and sedentary behavior affect one another?. Progress in cardiovascular diseases. Click here.
  • Linzer, K., Remes, J. & Singhal, S. (2021). How Prioritising Health Is A Prescription For US Prosperity. McKinsey Global Institute. Click here.
  • Mifflin, M. D., St Jeor, S. T., Hill, L. A., Scott, B. J., Daugherty, S. A., & Koh, Y. O. (1990). A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 51(2), 241-247. Click here.
  • Slightly More Than 6 in 10 U.S. Adults (61%) Report Undesired Weight Change Since Start of Pandemic. (2021). APA Organisation. Click here.
< Older post Newer post >

Need Expert Advice?

Take the quiz

Take the quiz

If you're not sure where to start, take our 5 minute health consultation to get product recommendations tailored to your goals.
Read more

Other Insights

Halal Logo

The Complete Guide To Halal Protein Powder

When it comes to improving your fitness levels, lifestyle and nutrition are key. From the number of hours of sleep you get each night to your daily nutrition and everything in between, each is as important as the other. This extends to finding the right protein powder to fuel your workout routine. Yet today more than ever, what goes into that shaker bottle now goes beyond macros and muscle; more and more people are asking themselves – ‘how does this protein powder align with my religious values and beliefs?’ While we’ve spoken before about our clean, research based and ethically sourced ingredients here at Innermost, this time we want to get a little more specific with a focus on halal and halal protein powder. With so many voices and fluff information around, it can be difficult to know exactly what protein is and isn’t halal friendly. That’s why we’ve put together this nifty guide. We’re going to break down all the myths and everything you need to know about halal protein. What you should be looking out for, what makes proteins like whey halal friendly as well as the benefits that halal friendly protein can offer to your body.  Right, let’s get into it. What is halal protein? I’m sure most of you are already aware of halal, but for the 1% of you that might not be, let’s take a step back and ask: what is halal protein? Halal – meaning ‘permissible’ in Arabic – refers to any food product that complies with Islamic dietary laws as stated within the Qur’an and Islamic jurisprudence. This makes it a core element of Islamic faith and a key cornerstone of their commitment to leading a pure and disciplined life under the guidance of Allah. Some of the key guidelines for halal foods include: Halal friendly ingredients – certain ingredients are not permissible under a halal diet, including pork (and any byproducts), alcohol and blood. Other animal products can be halal as long as they are killed in accordance with the ethical treatment guidelines below. Ethical treatment of animals – For non-pork meats to be considered halal, animals must be treated humanly and responsibly during their life. This includes: Having access to clean water and nutritious food. Being raised in a free-range and stress-free environment. Not being subjected to cruelty, abuse, or unnecessary suffering. The process of killing any animal must also be quick and humane to be considered halal, with any suffering kept to the complete minimum. Importantly, to be considered halal, the name of Allah must be pronounced during the humane killing to ensure the sanctity of life is recognised throughout the process. No cross contamination - During the preparation process, halal foods must never come into contact with non halal foods. This means no cross contamination between preparation surfaces, equipment used, the handling of foods and storage. As such, ingredients such as milk can be halal however it depends on the production process and if additional non-halal additives (such as gelatin) are added. So, what does this mean for protein?  Essentially any animal protein is halal as long as it adheres to the guidelines we’ve mentioned. The best way to tell is that products – such as Innermost proteins - will be certified halal friendly on the packaging. Is protein powder halal? So, with that said you might be wondering: is my choice of protein powder halal? The truth is that protein powder can absolutely be halal, however it entirely depends on the ingredients used as well as the overall production process. Common protein sources like whey, casein, egg white, and plant-based proteins (such as pea, soy, or rice) can all be halal if they are sourced and manufactured in compliance with halal standards. While many of the larger brands do not meet these standards and cannot claim to offer halal protein, our range of Innermost protein powders and supplements are all certified halal, emphasising our dedication to ethical sourcing our use of clean sourcing without additives. From our pea protein fuelled (and vegan) The Health Protein, The Fit Protein, to our whey protein powered The Strong Protein and The Lean Protein, all our products are sourced in a halal-compliant manner. Benefits of halal protein powder You hear it all the time when it comes to ethical and dietary beliefs – ‘a vegan diet isn’t good for you’ or ‘a vegetarian mix can’t possibly have the nutrients you need. The reality is, that adhering to these sorts of values within your fitness routine and diet can have great benefits for the body. Halal protein powders are no different; they offer a range of benefits for individuals who are conscious of both their health and dietary requirements. Just some of the benefits of halal protein powder are: Clean ingredients: With halal protein powders, you can be confident that there will be no harmful or questionable ingredients/ additives such as silica. What does this mean? Your body has an easier job digesting and absorbing all the good stuff, ensuring you get the most out of your supplements. Quality protein: Halal protein powders use complete protein sources, ensuring your body gets all the amino acids it needs for effective muscle repair and growth.  Ethical production: We’ve mentioned plenty of times already, but that’s just how key ethical and clean production is to making protein halal. By avoiding things such as additional additives and cross contamination, your body is fuelled with a safer and more trustworthy supplement. Supports fitness and wellness goals: Whatever your fitness goals; halal protein has you covered. From building muscle to losing weight, the absence of excess sugars or fillers ensures you are best placed to smash your targets. Common misconceptions about halal protein powders With so much noise and no real answers around halal proteins, we thought it would be helpful to list of some of the key misconceptions regarding the diet and what the actual truths are. All vegan protein powders are halal Given that so much of halal is driven by animals and their ethical treatment, you might just assume every vegan protein powder is halal because it is made of.. well, plants. The reality however is that vegan proteins aren’t necessarily halal – it all comes down to the production process. While Innermost vegan proteins are proudly halal certified, other protein powders can be produced with alcohol-based flavourings, non-halal emulsifiers, or might be processed in facilities that handle haram products – leading to cross contamination – not good! Is whey protein halal? On the other side of the spectrum, whey protein – being a byproduct of milk – is generally considered to be haram. Again, the truth is that whey protein can be halal provided that the milk is taken from cows that were treated ethically and within halal principles. Today, there are many halal-certified whey protein powders that are safe and effective for Muslim consumers. Halal certification doesn’t matter There is often an assumption made that if the ingredients look clean then the protein must be halal – regardless of certification. The truth is that what makes something halal goes beyond ingredients. Production and sourcing our also key factors that many companies do not consider. With halal certification on your favourite protein powders, you can be sure that every step—from sourcing and production to packaging and distribution—has been reviewed and approved according to strict halal standards.  Is Innermost protein powder halal? In short, yes. We at Innermost make it our mission to not only aid in muscle growth and recovery, but also to create protein supplements that are ethically sourced and rigorously tested to ensure individuals of any faith can smash their fitness goals.  Unlike competitors, our proteins are clean and built with the highest quality of ingredients and free from unnecessary additives and artificial ingredients.   We are proud to say that all our products are officially halal certified making them a suitable choice for those following the halal beliefs. This certification ensures that all ingredients and manufacturing processes meet Islamic dietary laws, with no use of haram substances such as pork derivatives or alcohol. With this in mind, why not check out our range of Innermost supplements to find out more about our halal proteins?    
Read more
Our Top Tips To Freshen Up Your UAE Fitness Routine

Our Top Tips To Freshen Up Your UAE Fitness Routine

Even in a city as energetic and inspiring as Dubai, falling into a workout rut is something everyone experiences at least once. So, we’ve put together some pointers to help you keep plugging away at your goals. 
Read more