Health & Fitness calculators

Estimate body composition, energy needs, and training targets with the standard clinical and sports-science formulas.

What a body measurement can and cannot tell you

Every metric here is an estimate produced by a formula fitted to a population, not a measurement of you. BMI is the clearest case: it is mass divided by height squared, a ratio devised in the 1830s as a population statistic. It says nothing about what the mass is made of, which is why a muscular athlete and a sedentary person of the same height and weight receive the same number and the number means something different in each case.

The same caution applies to body fat estimated from tape measurements, to ideal weight formulas that predate modern body composition research, and to any single threshold that sorts people into categories. These are useful for tracking change in one person over time, which is what they are good at. They are weak at classifying one person at one moment.

Energy: BMR, TDEE and what a deficit means

BMR is what the body uses at complete rest to run its basic functions — the floor, not the target. TDEE is BMR multiplied by an activity factor, and it is the figure that maintenance actually depends on. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation, used here, was fitted in 1990 and is generally more accurate for modern populations than the older Harris-Benedict equations it replaced, though both carry error bars of several hundred calories for any individual.

A deficit is simply intake below TDEE. The common rule that 3500 calories equals a pound of fat is a linear approximation that holds early and drifts later, because TDEE itself falls as body mass falls. This is why a deficit that worked for two months stops working in the third: the target moved.

Frequently asked questions

Is BMI accurate for athletes or very muscular people?

No, and this is its best known limitation. BMI uses only height and weight, so it cannot distinguish muscle from fat. Muscle is denser, so a well trained athlete frequently lands in the overweight or obese range while carrying low body fat. For that population a body fat estimate or a waist to hip ratio carries far more information. BMI remains useful for tracking one person over time, where the composition changes slowly and the trend is what matters.

What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?

BMR is the energy your body uses at complete rest — breathing, circulation, cell maintenance — measured over 24 hours doing nothing at all. TDEE is BMR multiplied by an activity factor that accounts for everything else: moving around, exercising, and the energy spent digesting food. TDEE is always the larger number and is the one to compare intake against. BMR is the floor beneath it.

Why do two calculators give me different calorie numbers?

Because they use different equations fitted to different populations. Mifflin-St Jeor, Harris-Benedict and Katch-McArdle each produce different figures for the same person, and Katch-McArdle needs a body fat estimate the others do not use. None is authoritative. The practical approach is to pick one, treat its output as a starting point, and adjust based on what actually happens to your weight over several weeks.

Can these replace advice from a doctor or dietitian?

No. Everything here is a published formula applied to numbers you typed, with no knowledge of your medical history, medications, or anything a clinician would ask about. The estimates are educational and are useful for framing a conversation, not for replacing one. Anything involving pregnancy, a medical condition, or a significant change in eating or training warrants a professional who can see the whole picture.