EPOC?

For the last couple of days I have been receiving mails and messages from my former clients about what exactly is excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. Now believe me, I have been over this subject with every single one of them, it’s just that they have forgotten all about it. Maybe because I didn’t call it EPOC but AFERBURN!

Our bodies don’t burn calories only while training. They burn them every single second of our lives to provide sufficient energy for growth, recovery and increased activity. Let’s say that I go for a medium intensity workout like a medium challenge TRX workout at the local gym. In those 45 minutes I burn roughly 450-500 calories, and my heart rate is pretty much constant during the whole workout. Considering this wasn’t a rough exercise for me, my heart rate went down to its normal pace relatively soon after the workout has ended.

Now on the other hand let’s say that I go for a high intensity TRX workout with my trainer Peter Bele from the Sportclub welness center in the faculty of sports in Ljubljana. My heart rate will be high most of the time and during the workout I will burn around 550-600. And that isn’t all! After an intense workout like that the body increases its metabolism to repair itself and to refuel. Some studies suggest that a high intensity workout can increase the metabolism up to 15% for a few hours, resulting in even more calories burned.

So tell me, what type of exercise would you like to do? A medium or a high intensity workout?

Until next time, stay strong and be kind!