7 Things to Know About Exercise For Oxygen Consumption

7 Things to Know About Exercise For Oxygen Consumption  

What happens to your car's engine at the end of a long car trip? You don't have to have an automotive engineering degree to know that when you reach your destination, your car's engine will be kept warm by gradually cooling to an idle temperature.

Here's an interesting fact: the same thing happens to your body after a workout. In the same way that a car engine stays hot after you turn it off, once your workout is over and you go back to your daily routine, your body's metabolism can continue to burn more fuel and calories than you would in complete rest. This physiological effect is called post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC. Also known as oxygen debt, EPOC is the amount of oxygen needed to return the body to its normal level of metabolic performance while at rest (called homeostasis). It also explains how your body can continue to burn calories long after your workout has ended.

Your metabolism is the way your body converts the nutrients you consume in your diet into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the fuel your body uses for muscle activity. ATP is produced with oxygen using the aerobic pathways or without oxygen, depending on the anaerobic pathways. When you start exercising, your body uses anaerobic energy pathways and stores ATP to fuel that activity. A good warm-up is important because it can take about five to eight minutes to be able to use your aerobic metabolism effectively to produce the ATP needed to maintain physical activity. Once a steady state of oxygen consumption is reached, the aerobic energy pathways are able to provide most of the ATP needed for training. Exercise that puts more stress on anaerobic energy pathways during training can increase post-exercise oxygen requirements, thus increasing the effect of EPOC.

Here are seven things you need to know about EPOC and how it can help you achieve optimal levels of calorie burning in your workouts:

1. During the immediate recovery period after exercise, oxygen is used for the following functions:

• Production of ATP to replace the ATP used during training
• Resynthesis of muscle glycogen from lactate
• Restore oxygen levels in venous blood, skeletal muscle blood and myoglobin
• Works with protein to repair damaged muscle tissue during training
• Return body temperature to comfort levels

2. Exercising that uses more oxygen burns more calories

The body expends about 5 calories of energy (one calorie is the amount of energy needed to heat one liter of water to one degree Celsius) to consume one liter of oxygen. Therefore, increasing the amount of oxygen consumed during and after exercise can increase the net calories burned.

3. Circuit training and intense resistance training with short rest periods require ATP from the anaerobic pathways, resulting in a significant EPOC effect

Strength training with compound, multi-joint weightlifting exercises or by doing a weightlifting circuit that alternates between upper and lower body movements puts more stress on the ATP-related muscles than the anaerobic pathways. The increased need for anaerobic ATP also leads to an increased demand for the aerobic system to replenish ATP during periods of rest and the post-exercise recovery process. Heavy training loads or shorter recovery periods put more demands on the anaerobic energy pathways during exercise, resulting in a greater EPOC effect during the post-exercise recovery period.

4. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is the most effective way to increase the effect of EPOC

The body is more efficient at producing ATP through aerobic metabolism. However, at a higher intensity, when energy is needed immediately, the anaerobic pathways can provide the required ATP faster. This is why we can only continue with high intensity activities for a short period of time, as we run out of energy. HIIT works because the anaerobic pathways produce ATP during high-intensity exercise; Once ATP is depleted, it is necessary to allow ATP to be regenerated. A rest period or active recovery period during anaerobic training allows aerobic metabolism to be produced and replaced by ATP in the respective muscles. Hypoxia is the difference between the amount of oxygen consumed during exercise and the amount that would be consumed if energy requirements were met exclusively through the aerobic energy pathway.

5. EPOC is affected by intensity, not duration of exercise

High intensity requires ATP from anaerobic pathways. If the ATP needed for exercise at a certain intensity is not obtained by air, it must come from the anaerobic pathways. During COPD, the body uses oxygen to restore muscle glycogen and rebuild muscle proteins that have been damaged during exercise. Even after a HIIT workout ends, the body will continue to use the aerobic energy pathway to replace the ATP consumed during exercise, increasing the effect of EPOC.

6. Research has shown that endurance training can provide a greater EPOC effect than running at a constant speed

In a comprehensive review of the COPD research literature, Bersheim and Bahr (2003) concluded, "Studies using similar estimated cost of energy or exercise VO2 to equate sustained aerobic exercise with intermittent strength exercise, indicated that resistance exercise produces a vertebra of, for example For example, one study found that when cycling (40 minutes at 80% of your maximum heart rate), training with circuit weights (4 sets / 8 exercises / 15 repetitions at 50% of 1RM) and intense resistance exercise (3 sets / 8 exercises at 80-90% of 1RM until exhaustion), intense resistance exercise produced the highest EPOC.

7. The EPOC effect of HIIT or high-intensity strength training can add 6-15% to the total energy cost of a workout session

High-intensity training requires more energy from the anaerobic pathways and can produce a greater EPOC effect, resulting in prolonged energy expenditure after exercise. Heavy weight training and HIIT exercises appear to be superior to running or low-intensity circuit training in establishing COPD

Certainly, there is some debate about the importance of the effect of EPOC for the average exercise participant, as the high intensity exercise required for EPOC can be very challenging. However, if you want results and are willing to take on the challenge, it may be beneficial to increase the intensity of your workouts with heavier weights, shorter rest periods, or higher periods of cardio. While high-resistance training or high-resistance training is effective and beneficial, remember to allow at least 48 hours of recovery time between sessions of high-intensity exercise and try to limit yourself to no more than three intense exercises per week.