Active Metabolic Rate

Active metabolic rate

Healthy Explorer says...... Having an understanding of your Active Metabolic Rate (Energy used whilst moving), is key to maintaining a healthy weight, high energy levels and optimal physical performance. The “Harris Benedict formula” is a useful tool to estimate how many calories you need to support your energy needs for survival and physical activity.

Example........ If we continue with the example we used in my previous post.

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Our Examples Basal Metabolic Rate is 13182 Kilo Calories. It’s very straight forward to calculate, all you have to do is multiply it by one of the 5 (bold text) following that applies to the individual’s physical activity levels.

1)    Sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2

2)    Lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375

3)    If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55

4)    If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725

5)    If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

Say our example is exercising 4 times a week at moderate intensity, their Active Metabolic Rate Would Be.

13182×1.55= 20432.1 (Kilo Calories Per day)

Pros and Cons...... Of this method it’s hard to distinguish exactly what equates as light/moderate/high intensity of physical activity as a certain type of exercise maybe difficult for one person, but easy for some else. If you use running for example, a highly trained runner may find running 1 kilometre in 5 minutes relatively easy, however a sedentary person may find this exhausting. The trained runner may burn fewer calories due to being more efficient than the sedentary person (Exercise efficiency is something I will cover in later posts). The great thing about the “Harris Benedict formula” is that it’s a really easy way to estimate how much energy you need to consume as a guide to achieve your fitness goals.

A simple tip...... to lose weight aim to reduce your calorie intake by 500 Kilo Calories a day, if you need to gain weight increase by 500 Kilo Calories.

One last thing to remember...... is that the Active Metabolic Rate formula is just a guide, but certainly a helpful guide and I will cover  ways on how we can get a more accurate measure of activity levels.