Afterburn and Exercises

Heavy breathing and sweating are common effects after a bout of vigorous exercise and are often associated with exercise afterburn. Also called EPOC -- excessive post-exercise oxygen consumption -- this side-effect of exercise can help you increase your metabolism as your body heals itself and adapts to the exercise stress, which makes this an effective method to reduce body fat and increase your stamina.

  1. What is the Afterburn?

    • EPOC refers to the amount of oxygen you consume above resting level and the process of returning your body's physiology to its pre-exercise state. The elevated metabolism is necessary to heal damaged soft tissues, balance hormones, remove lactate, decrease body temperature and deliver nutrients to all cells. Exercise physiologist Len Kravtiz of the University of New Mexico states that the magnitude and duration of EPOC is dependent on exercise intensity and duration. Other factors that contribute to the degree of EPOC are gender, fitness status and adaptive response. A 2003 review published in "Sports Medicine" observed that past studies that yielded minimal EPOC effects correlate with low-intensity or short-duration exercise. If you want to continue to burn more calories after your workout, rev up your intensity or duration, which vary per individual. In fact, a 2011 study published in "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise" stated that young men who performed 45 minutes of vigorous cycling sustained EPOC for about 14 hours.

    Training Methods

    • Don't just stick to doing cardio only to help you burn fat and improve your physique. Studies have shown that various strength-training methods can stimulate EPOC in very similar ways. A 2005 study published in "European Journal of Applied Physiology" showed that a group of women who performed circuit training -- doing a series of exercises that worked on different muscle groups and movements with no rest in between -- had very similar oxygen consumption levels as the group of women who performed treadmill exercises. However, the amount of EPOC in the circuit-training group was significantly higher than the other group in the first 30 minutes after exercise, and EPOC levels were almost the same in 60 minutes after exercise. In the strength-training world, superset training -- doing two strength exercises that work on different muscle groups consecutively without rest in between -- yielded higher caloric expenditure than doing one exercise at a time during and after exercise, according to a 2010 study in "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research."

    Load and Training Effects

    • Sometimes exercise intensity has a greater effect on EPOC duration and magnitude than exercise duration. Subjects who performed a higher volume and load in strength training burned almost twice the number of calories than performing a lighter volume and load, according to a 2013 study in "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research." However, EPOC in both workout levels didn't affect the resting metabolic rate, which is the amount of energy you expend when you're at rest.

    Nutrition Influences

    • Nutrition plays an indirect role in helping you enhance EPOC and performance. Since your body relies primarily on carbohydrates and oxygen to initiate the fat-burning process, consuming a meal consisting of carbohydrates and protein after a workout can enhance muscle recovery and future performance training. A 2011 study published in "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research" concluded that groups that consumed a carbohydrate-protein drink -- in the form of chocolate milk -- had a higher muscle recovery rate within four hours after exercise and scored higher performance in the cycling test than the group that had a placebo drink, which contained no nutrients. Dr. Kravitz suggests you consume a post-workout meal within 45 minutes after exercise to maximize your recovery.