RMR Test in Manchester

No. Unlike DEXA, an RMR test requires no medical referral. Book a slot at The Performance Space, Salford Quays (M5 3LW), follow the pre-test guidelines and turn up. No GP appointment, no waitlist, no extra steps.

The test itself takes around 20 minutes lying still under a metabolic canopy. Including setup, your results walkthrough and targeted goal advice, plan for 30 to 40 minutes at The Performance Space, Salford Quays. Free on-site parking is available. Your full medical PDF report follows by email within 48 hours.

A standalone RMR test is £110. The DEXA + RMR bundle is £210 and is the most popular option for clients focused on nutrition and body composition. See our bundles page for multi-test options.

Calorie calculators (Harris-Benedict, Mifflin-St Jeor, MyFitnessPal estimates) use population-average formulas. For any individual they can be off by 200 to 500 kcal per day, enough to undermine months of dieting or training. An RMR test measures your actual oxygen consumption and CO2 production, which is a direct physiological measurement, not an estimate. If you are making nutritional decisions based on a calculator, you are working from a guess.

Yes. You should fast for at least 4 to 6 hours before your test: no food, no caloric drinks, no caffeine. Avoid intense exercise for at least 12 hours beforehand and arrive in a rested, calm state. Full pre-test guidelines are sent when you book. Following them matters more for RMR than for almost any other test: recent food, caffeine and exercise all temporarily elevate your metabolic rate and will push your result above your true baseline.

Your RMR (in kcal/day) is the number of calories your body burns at complete rest. It accounts for roughly 60 to 70% of total daily energy expenditure for most people. From your RMR, your report includes estimated total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) at different activity levels, giving you a realistic daily calorie target for maintenance, fat loss or muscle gain. Your result also includes your respiratory exchange ratio (RER), which indicates whether your body is predominantly burning fat or carbohydrate at rest.

Several factors can depress RMR below population-average estimates: prolonged calorie restriction (metabolic adaptation), low muscle mass, thyroid dysfunction, certain medications, and age-related hormonal changes, particularly in women around perimenopause and menopause. If your measured RMR comes back lower than predicted, the TELOMYX team will discuss the likely contributing factors and what that means for your calorie targets going forward.

It depends on your goal. If your primary question is about calorie targets or why your current approach is not working, RMR alone answers it. If you also want to understand your body composition, specifically how much of your weight is fat, muscle and bone, then the DEXA + RMR bundle gives you both in a single session at The Performance Space. Most clients focused on body recomposition, weight management or metabolic health book both, because knowing your calorie burn without knowing your body composition gives you half the picture.

RMR is relatively stable over time. Most clients retest every 6 to 12 months, or when something significant changes: a major shift in weight, a meaningful change in training volume, starting or stopping medication, or a hormonal transition such as perimenopause. Clients managing weight or fuelling across a Manchester race season often retest at the start of each main training block.

Yes, particularly for athletes in high-volume training. RMR gives you the calorie floor, the minimum intake required to maintain basic physiological function. Athletes who underfuel relative to training load commonly experience suppressed performance, slower recovery, increased injury risk and, over time, hormonal disruption. Knowing your RMR and applying an accurate total energy expenditure multiplier means you can fuel your training properly rather than by feel or generic online estimates.

No. They measure completely different things. A DEXA scan measures what your body is made of: fat mass, lean mass and bone mineral density. An RMR test measures how much energy your body burns at rest. They complement each other well, which is why the DEXA + RMR bundle is our most popular option. DEXA tells you your body composition; RMR tells you your calorie baseline. Together they give you the two numbers most nutrition plans need but rarely start from.

The respiratory exchange ratio is the ratio of CO2 you produce to O2 you consume. At rest, an RER near 0.7 indicates predominantly fat burning; near 1.0 indicates predominantly carbohydrate burning. Most people fall between 0.75 and 0.90 at rest. A high resting RER can reflect high carbohydrate intake in the hours before the test (which is why fasting matters), chronic stress, or a metabolic state where the body struggles to access fat stores efficiently. Your report includes your RER with a plain-English interpretation.