EPOC: Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption for maximum fat burning!

Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) refers to increased calorie burning after exercise. This means that you burn more calories not only during your workout itself, but also after it.

Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption is also called the afterburn effect. It is therefore a process that tends to consume more oxygen than usual. Increased oxygen consumption is also accompanied by an above-average calorie consumption, which is why the afterburn effect can be helpful during weight loss.

EPOC is the result of an increased consumption of oxygen after training, than is expected in the body while not exercising. Accordingly, the human metabolism is boosted or ramped up. As a result, the energy consumption in the idle state is also increased temporarily. The consequence of this is an increased consumption of calories.

During an intense workout, your body and more precisely your muscles, need more oxygen. Your body achieves this by increasing your heart rate and speeding up your breathing. This means you gasp for air more and you can feel your heart beating fast. The ramped-up metabolic processes need more energy to cool down to normal levels and thus more calories are burned.

The effects of EPOC are highest directly after a workout and then decrease more and more over time. 48 hours after exercise your metabolism is no longer influenced by your exercise. Essentially, EPOC can be divided into 3 different phases:

The first phase of EPOC lasts about an hour. During this phase, your body is regulating your circulation and returning to a normal level. Among other things, your hormone balance, your breathing and your metabolism in general will be normalised again.

In the second phase of EPOC your metabolic activity has dropped back to a normal level. The increased calorie consumption in this phase is due to the energy needed to build muscles and regenerate the stressed muscles. As a result, more energy is needed to source and process the proteins for your muscles.

In the third stage of EPOC the calorie consumption is only slightly above average and already almost returned to the normal level.

The last phase lasts up to 48 hours after an intense workout and is due to the increase of tension of the muscles after training.

Various factors affect the intensity of EPOC:

• The duration of the training
• The intensity of the training
• The type of training

The duration and intensity of training is crucial. It makes a difference whether you train for 5 minutes or a whole hour. It is also crucial whether your training is exhausting or easy for you to complete. 

The difference is due, among other things, to the different levels of stress hormones. Everyday movement, such as walking, is important, but releases significantly less stress hormones, such as adrenaline, in comparison to a fast run.

The more intense the training is, the more the metabolic processes, such as the oxygen supply, are unbalanced and a higher EPOC follows accordingly. But most importantly, the type of training also affects the effect of subsequent calorie burning:  

An important indicator by which you can measure that you induced EPOC with your training is breathlessness. Of course, you shouldn’t be so out of breath that you’re about to fall over, but you shouldn’t be able to talk easily if you are subjecting yourself to an appropriate training load. That is, a gentle run, during which you can talk with your running partner without much difficulty will not cause a noticeable EPOC.

It makes more sense to make endurance training a little more strenuous. Here are a few ways to get the maximum excess post-exercise oxygen consumption out of your cardio session:

• Interval runs with short sprints in between
• High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
• Tabata (20 seconds of high load followed by 10 seconds of rest)

The heart rate is decisive here: in order to achieve the highest possible EPOC, it makes sense to complete the training mainly in the anaerobic range. The muscles are not directly supplied with oxygen, but stored carbohydrates from your body are used to generate energy. The greater the resulting oxygen deficit, the greater the following EPOC.

If you want an increased calorie consumption, intensive strength training should be a top priority for you! You have a high load on your body during the exercise and a phase of rest during the set break – so very similar to interval training.

In addition to the increased oxygen consumption during and after strength training, you are also building muscles at the same time and this building process and the regeneration of the muscles also consumes energy. In addition, muscles also burn calories at rest, even if you are not actively using them. Accordingly, your basic energy metabolism also increases as you build up muscles and you burn more calories in the long term.

After reading this article carefully, applying the mentioned tips diligently during your next training session and doing your best to make your training as intense as possible, what exactly can this resulting EPOC do for you anyway?

As already described, EPOC is equivalent to an increased energy consumption. Increased energy consumption can help you lose weight. Basically, a calorie deficit is crucial for weight loss, i.e. a state in which you burn more calories on average per day than you consume through food and drink. If you now burn additional calories due to EPOC, your calorie consumption increases and your calorie intake is ultimately lower, you will lose weight.  

Of course, the goal should not be to aim for the highest possible calorie consumption and at the same time the lowest possible calorie intake, but the few extra calories burned by EPOC can sometimes help the tip of the scales when it comes to losing weight – in the truest sense of the word.

EPOC is a great tool to further boost your weight loss success. But it also requires one thing above all: for you to leave your comfort zone in training and to overcome your inner couch potato. Going beyond your own limits can sometimes be painful and takes a lot of effort, but it’s worth it!

In addition to the weight loss advantage, it is also a good feeling for your mental health to have done something strenuous that you can be proud of. You feel balanced, confident and motivated after an intensive workout!

But EPOC can help not only people who want to lose weight. It can also prevent weight gain by leaving you with more available calories throughout the day than your metabolism alone. And who would object to being able to treat themselves to the odd ice cream, for example?