Who does not like the idea that you get something for free, especially when it comes to physical exercise and burning calories. Here we are referring to the phenomenon of 'afterburning' or 'afterburn': burning extra calories after you have exercised . The concept assumes that you also burn extra calories thanks to intensive exercise after you have stopped being physically active ...
EPOC: Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption
It is certainly true that your body burns calories longer than you actually are and it also has an official name, namely: Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption , or EPOC. However, it seems that the effects of EPOC or afterburning are all too often exaggerated.
When you do physical exercise, for example by exercising, your body cells also do a kind of training . After the exercise, your cells return to the state they were in before you started moving. This requires a lot of oxygen, for which additional oxygen production is required, ie heart-lung functionality, so energy, and therefore calories.
You burn about 15% of the total number of calories that you burn during your exercises, thanks to EPOC. This means that you can use up to 300 kilocalories per 30 minutes of intensive exercise (depending on the form and intensity) and 45 kilocalories during the 2 hours after your training by 'restoring' your cells.
Increased resting metabolism thanks to muscle mass
Incidentally, EPOC is not the same as the extra calories you burn due to the formation of additional muscle mass (even by muscle mass that is not or barely visible). If you do a lot of sport you will get more muscles, mainly due to strength training (heavy weights & high resistances).
Finally
The calorie consumption by means of physical activity does NOT stop as soon as you stop moving. Not only thanks to your EPOC or afterburning, but also because of the increase in muscle mass and the associated acceleration of your resting metabolism , fat burning and overall metabolism!
Sports all in all means a long-lasting or even lasting increase in your energy consumption , even if you are now watching TV on the couch for a long time. That seems like a good motivation to be active with fitness a few times a week; both cardiofitness and power training ... Also for beginning fitness enthusiasts!
What do you think of EPOC, afterburning or afterburn? And how do you face the increased resting metabolism thanks to muscle building? Share your views and findings about burning calories after your training ...
And muscle tissue burns a lot of calories compared to fat tissue . Moreover, this effect lasts much longer than afterburning or Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption and, unlike EPOC, actually continues continuously; even if you are lazy on the couch or sleeping. That is why you should always do strength training in addition to cardio.
