Your metabolic rate determines how many calories you burn on a day to day basis. Your metabolic rate is important because the higher your metabolism is the easier it is to lose weight, good news on the most part, but bad news if you’re trying to build muscle as you need to eat more calories than you burn to build muscle.

To lose weight SUBTRACT about 500 calories from your maintenance calories. To gain weight ADD 500 calories to your maintenance calories

When you find out what your metabolic rate is you can change your diet accordingly so that you can lose fat or build muscle. There are several formulas to work this out but an accurate one, especially for individuals who are leanier or have more muscle mass is the Cunningham equation. This is a predictor of your needs and may not be 100% accurate but it is definitely a good guideline.

Here’s how it works:

The Cunningham Equation

Resting Metabolic Rate = 500 + (22 x Fat Free Mass)

RMR=500 + (22 x FFM)

Step 1: Determine Your Resting Metabolic Rate

RMR is how many calories you burn in order to just survive – imagine laying in bed all day!

I am 74.2kg @ 14.5% BF and 179cm and 22 years old.

So for me my RMR = 500 + (22 x FFM)

RMR = 500 + (22 x 63.4)

RMR = 1894.8 calories

Step 2: Find out the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)

Protein requires more energy to digest, so if you have a moderate protein diet you will use a factor of 0.1 if you have a high protein diet then use a factor of 0.15.

TEF = RMR x 0.15

TEF = 1894.8 calories x 0.15

TEF = 284.22 calories (don’t add to RMR yet)

Step 3: Determine Your Activity Level

To determine your Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)
You’ll need to use one of these NEAT factors:

1.2- 1.3 for bed- or chair-ridden individuals
1.4- 1.5 for sedentary occupation without daily movement
1.5- 1.6 for sedentary occupation with daily movement
1.6- 1.7 for occupation with prolonged standing
1.9-2.1 for strenuous work

When you have your NEAT factor:

RMR + NEAT = RMR x NEAT factor

RMR+NEAT= 1894.8 calories x 1.5

RMR+NEAT =2842.2 calories

Now add your TEF.

RMR + NEAT + TEF = 2842.2 + 284.22 = 3126.42 calories to maintain weight.

Ok, so how does this help me?

When you know what your maintenance calories are, you can then adjust your caloric intake dependant on your goals. The cunningham equation predicts I MAINTAIN my weight at 3126.42 calories, so for me to gain muscle I’d eat around 3500 calories. For me to lose fat I’d cut down to about 2500 calories. There are several other factors including genetics, age, sex etc. but this figure is a good starting point. The above figure doesn’t include calories burnt through exercise, on training days it would probably predict I should eat 4000 calories – however from personal experience I know that for me that would be too much at this moment in time. When I gain more muscle then a 4000 calorie diet is likely to be needed.

Bottom line, yes this is a complicated equation but its the best for hardgainers and those with a lot of muscle. Use this as a guideline and adjust it accordingly.

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Kirthi (Kirt) Nandakumar is a Personal Trainer based in Huddersfield. Kirt is based in the Misguided Muscle Personal Training studio in the Town Centre of Huddersfield. Kirt guarantees results with all his services, whether it’s personal training, buddy training or online coaching.

To enquire about personal training click HERE.

To enquire about online coaching click HERE.

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