Getting More Bang for
Your Buck
As we have explained before, the notion of the fat-burning
zone is a misunderstood concept, and that a higher intensity of exercise yields
more results than a low-intensity session (when we look at it from the caloric
expenditure standpoint). If fat loss is one of your goals, caloric intake and
expenditure is something you should be mindful of, and burning more calories
during exercise will help to increase that expenditure and subsequent weight
loss. But since the majority of our workouts at Sweat Factory fall under 20
minutes, many may think that doing longer steady-state cardio work might be the
best way to really accelerate their fat loss. It is true that an hour on the
treadmill may indeed burn more calories than some heavy lifting followed by
“Helen,” but you will reach that conclusion only if you look at a very small
piece of the whole picture.
To understand this, we need to address the concept of excess
post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC. Oxygen consumption serves as an
approximation of your metabolic rate, and therefore how many calories you are
burning in a given period of time. EPOC, then, is the effect seen following
exercise in which the body is burning more oxygen (and more calories) for a
period of time anywhere from a few minutes to more than a day. This results in
an elevated metabolism and creates what we call an ‘afterburn.’ A study
performed in 2002 at Ohio University found that following heavy resistance
training circuits, EPOC was significantly elevated over baseline for 38
hours.
Using this data, let’s go back to that treadmill example.
Suppose the machine tells you that you burned 300 calories in your hour spent
on the treadmill. EPOC occurs as a result of aerobic training as well, but the
magnitude and duration of the increase is less than that seen with
resistance or interval training. Now let’s say that at the same time you were
on the hamster wheel, your friend did the aforementioned heavy lifting followed
by Helen. It’s likely that he didn’t burn as many calories as you in his
exercise session, but let’s now look at the whole picture, i.e. all
of the time following the workout. If your friend worked hard enough to bump
his EPOC up to where he’s burning a paltry eight additional calories per hour,
38 hours later when his oxygen consumption returns to normal, he’s burned more
calories than you, and he accomplished it in a much shorter workout. And then
think of how it would affect him if he went and worked out the next day too!
Would EPOC go even higher? It is not certain whether EPOC is cumulative, but
even without an additive affect, the benefits are easy to see. Would you rather
be burning more calories in the 23 hours a day you’re not at Sweat Factory, or
just burning the same old amount as usual in the 23 hours you’re not at a
traditional gym (not to mention that you’d only be running and not developing
your strength, flexibility, accuracy, etc.)?
If you have a weight loss goal, don’t resist your strength
work. Stick to the program and talk to your coaches about making minor
modifications to your fitness and nutrition programs to help you achieve your
results most efficiently.
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