The AFTERBURN: What is it and how do we take advantage of it

The “afterburn effect” is technically referred to as “excess post-exercise oxygen consumption” or EPOC. In general, EPOC is the ability of the body to continue to burn calories after exercise. What was that I said?! Yes, more calories burned AFTER exercise without doing anything! Sounds like a good deal right?

There is a lot of science behind the EPOC phenomenon but, in general, when you exercise you heart rate goes up and your oxygen consumption goes up. Then, once you are done exercising your body wants to return to a resting state. EPOC is the oxygen consumption above that resting level that the body uses to return to the resting level.

EPOC increases with the increase in intensity and duration of the exercise you do. For example, you will burn more calories post-exercise when you do interval training (sprint, jog, sprint…) versus steady-state cardio performed for the same period of time because the interval training increases your metabolic rate more than jogging.

In order to take advantage of the “afterburn effect” you should increase the intensity of your workouts. Long breaks in between sets or walking on the treadmill wont cut it if you want to tap into the afterburn. Instead go for shorter, high intensity, interval workouts that incorporate cardio with strength and resistance training.