What is resting metabolic rate?
What is resting metabolic rate (RMR) and why is it important?
Your resting metabolic rate (RMR) is a measure of the number of calories you burn whilst completely at rest i.e. if you were to lie in your bed all day and not move.
You can use your RMR value to calculate how many calories you need per day to lose/maintain/gain weight. You can also use your RMR value to figure out how much carbohydrate and fat you burn at rest thus figuring out how fast/slow your metabolism is.
It gives a pretty incredible insight into your resting physiology!
How is it measured?
The most accurate way to measure your RMR is via breath by breath analysis using a metabolic analyser. The metabolic analyser will measure the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide you breathe in and out. From this, it calculates how many calories you burn and how much of that is carbohydrate and fat.
An RMR is relevant to anyone who is looking to lose weight, gain weight, maintain weight, maintain or build muscle mass or just generally improve their health. It combines extremely well with a metabolic exercise test.
Metabolic analysis is considered the gold standard method of exercise testing and RMR recording. To find out more info on metabolic testing, click the button below for a read of a previous blog post.
It’s one of the easiest tests to perform. You simply lie on the ground for 10 minutes and chill!
Here is the information you get from an RMR test.
Daily energy requirements
You can figure out how many calories you need per day. From this you can calculate how much food you need to eat per day to lose/maintain/gain weight.
How much carbohydrate and fat you burn at rest
For any healthy individual, you should be using approximately 70% fat and 30% carbohydrate at rest. If you are using more carbohydrate than fat then this is a sign of poor dietary intake and poor health.
The rate of your metabolism
The speed of your metabolism is another useful metric it records.
If for example, you are trying to lose weight but you have noticed your weight loss has stagnated, then an RMR test may highlight that you have a slow metabolism. With this information, you can apply the appropriate nutritional and exercise intervention to help you increase the rate of your metabolism and subsequently lose weight.
What do the test results look like?
Once you have your report, we will meet for an online video call where I will analyse and review the report and the raw data. Using the test results, I will provide evidence based recommendations to help you improve health and performance. The image below is an example of a RMR test report.
My aim is to educate you on your results so you understand the purpose behind the recommendations.
AI diet plan
A very interesting addition to the RMR test is the option of getting an AI diet plan from PNOE. This plan is bespoke and changes throughout the day depending on your consumption and exercise. It also includes cheat days and cheat food and it is fully customiseable.
If you’re sick of those one off diet plans that are too structured and don’t allow for much flexibility or wide range of foods, the AI diet plan is for you.
If you’re interested in the RMR test and want more info on how it can help you with your health, performance, and weight goals, just drop me a message or book in for a consultation.