Occupation baseline

This is your default activity level from your job and non-exercise movement.

• Desk / seated – office work, study, mostly sitting.
• Mixed – mix of sitting, standing and walking.
• Active (light manual) – retail, hospitality, light physical work.
• Manual labor / very active – trades, construction, farming, full-time physical work.

Choose the option that matches an average workday, ignoring your workouts.

Exercise days per week

Count how many days per week you do a planned workout: gym, sport, running, swimming, classes, etc.

Light walks or casual movement you do every day are captured by daily steps and occupation, not here.

Session duration

Use the duration that matches your average training session on the days you work out.

• None / <20 min – very short warm-ups or occasional mini workouts.
• 30–45 min – most people’s standard gym session.
• 60–90 min – longer strength or sport practices.
• >90 min – long or multiple sessions in one day.

Session intensity & RPE

RPE stands for Rate of Perceived Exertion. It’s a 1–10 scale for how hard a session feels:

• RPE 3–4 (Light) – easy pace, you can talk in full sentences.
• RPE 5–6 (Moderate) – working but comfortable, short sentences.
• RPE 7–9 (Hard) – demanding, you’re breathing hard, only a few words at a time.

Pick the option that best matches the average difficulty of your workouts, not the hardest set of the week.

Daily steps

This captures your background movement outside of structured workouts: walking to work, around campus, errands, etc.

• <5k – mostly sedentary days.
• 5–8k – light to moderate daily movement.
• 8–12k – high daily movement.
• >12k – very active lifestyle (on your feet most of the day).

Training type

This adjusts for the extra recovery cost of heavy lifting vs endurance training.

• Mostly endurance – running, cycling, swimming, cardio-based sports.
• Mixed – roughly equal cardio and strength work.
• Mostly resistance – strength, bodybuilding, power/olympic lifting, calisthenics.

Choose based on what you do most often across the week.

Effort (MET)

MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task. It’s a way of expressing how hard an activity is compared to resting.

1 MET is roughly your resting energy use (sitting quietly). 2 MET means about double that, 8 MET is about eight times your resting energy, and so on.

In Athlete Mode, MET is used to estimate how many extra calories your training burns on top of your BMR. The activity dropdown gives typical MET ranges, but you can tweak the value if you know your sport or effort level better.

Body Fat % for this calculator

This BMR calculator uses your lean body mass, so you’ll need an estimate of your body fat percentage first.

For body fat % measurements, the usual accuracy order is:

• DEXA scan – most accurate.
• Skinfold calipers – very good when done correctly.
• Circumference formulas – useful when you don’t have calipers or DEXA.

We recommend using the Body fat % calculator first, then entering that value here.

How environment affects BMR

Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the energy your body uses at rest to keep you alive. Climate can shift this slightly because your body works to keep your core temperature stable.

Use these guidelines when choosing a setting:

• 🔥 Very hot – you live/work in very hot conditions most days, often without air-con.
• ☀️ Hot – warm climate most of the year or lots of time in warm environments.
• 😐 Neutral – mostly climate-controlled indoors around 20–24 °C (typical office/home).
• 🧣 Cold – regular exposure to cool weather (about 5–15 °C) or unheated spaces.
• ❄️ Very cold – frequent time in near-freezing conditions or working outside in winter.

If you’re unsure, choose Neutral. The overall difference in BMR from climate is modest compared with your activity level and body composition.