The "Afterburner" Effect (Burn 500 More Calories AFTER Your Workout?) | Quick Wits

Transcript

Philip Pape: 0:00

Have you ever heard the concept that certain types of workouts might keep burning a ton more calories long after you've left the gym for many hours afterward? Well, today we're tackling this topic, sometimes a hot topic called the afterburner effect, or the idea that you can keep burning calories long after your workout is over. And in scientific terms, we are talking about EPOC excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. And the question is is this effect real? Can it significantly impact your fat loss and, if so, how can you maximize it in your training? Let's break it down and separate fact from fiction in today's Quick Wits. Welcome to the Wits and Weights podcast. I'm your host, philip Pape, and this twice a week podcast is dedicated to helping you achieve physical self-mastery by getting stronger, optimizing your nutrition and upgrading your body composition. We'll uncover science-backed strategies for movement, metabolism, muscle and mindset, with a skeptical eye on the fitness industry, so you can look and feel your absolute best. Let's dive right in. Today we're talking about the afterburner effect, the idea that burning more calories after your workout is possible, and it can be ramped up depending on the type of workout. Oftentimes, high intensity interval training is what is proposed. This is EPOC E-P-O-C excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. It came up in my lifting circles and I did some research into it to see is it real or not and to what extent. And it turns out that it is a real physiological phenomenon. It's not just hype but, as with many of these things, the reality is somewhere in the middle of probably extremes, as you heard, which is no, it doesn't happen at all versus oh yeah, it's the best secret out there for losing fat. So what is it? What is EPOC? In simple terms, it's the increased rate of oxygen intake that occurs after some form of activity, usually strenuous activity. Your body is using extra oxygen to restore itself to homeostasis, to a resting state, and also to adapt to what you just did. This, of course, requires energy, and that requires burning additional calories, even after you're done with your workout. So it happens.

Philip Pape: 2:15

But here's where it's interesting the amount of that phenomenon, which some people call the afterburner effect. It isn't the same for all type of exercises, but it is proportional to the total amount of work done, which some people call the afterburner effect. It isn't the same for all type of exercises, but it is proportional to the total amount of work done. So if you normalized it for the total amount of work. It actually would be the same for all types of exercises. So that's the myth I wanna bust for people in case they had a different notion.

Philip Pape: 2:40

So the more intense, the more voluminous, you know, the more volume you have, the greater the effect. But it really doesn't matter the mode, the modality, cause somebody was asking well, what about if you do a really heavy, uh one RM deadlift? What if you high intensity interval training? What if you just do normal cardio? Right, you often hear that hit high intensity interval training is great for burning calories, and studies have found that it can elevate oxygen consumption for up to 21 hours post-exercise, which sounds impressive. But then, when you look at resistance training and match for the calorie expenditure during the workout, resistance training actually has a slightly higher epoch than both steady state cardio and HIIT. Right, and that's potentially because the extra damage in the muscle is requiring even more energy for repair and adaptation. However, other studies have shown that they're pretty much on par. So I'm not trying to give resistance training an edge here either. We have to take this all with a grain of salt and be skeptical.

Philip Pape: 3:36

So heavy, low rep strength workouts, hiit training in general, which one should you do Guess what. Don't worry about these things, don't worry about epoch, just train, train. Don't even worry about calories burned. Train to build muscle, to get strong, you know. Throw in the cardio for some health or because you enjoy it. Have the right mix of things, do it strategically, plan it out and progress. Have a structured program that progresses you over time and that you can do consistently, because that is the number one criteria of all, not how many calories it burns, it's something that you can enjoy and sustain and gives you results and some mix of those.

Philip Pape: 4:13

And guess what? You don't have to spend hours in the gym to do that. You really don't. You want to balance all of that. Have the proper nutrition, proper recovery.

Philip Pape: 4:22

No amount of EPOC or afterburner effect is going to outweigh any of this. Definitely not a poor diet, definitely not inadequate rest. Those are the big rocks, those are the foundations. So there you have it. I hope I settled the debate once and for all. The afterburner effect is real, but it's just one small piece of the bigger puzzle and doesn't matter, and it's all the same. Matched calorie for calorie. All right, thanks for tuning in to another episode of Quick Wits and if you enjoy these shorter episodes, go ahead and share it with a friend, give it a follow and we'll see you in the next Quick Wits. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Wits and Weights. If you found value in today's episode and know someone else who's looking to level up their wits or weights, please take a moment to share this episode with them and make sure to hit the follow button in your podcast platform right now to catch the next episode. Until then, stay strong.