We all know that blasting fat means burning calories during a workout, but did you know that with the right exercise routine you can continue to burn calories long after a workout? Technically called Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption or EPOC, After Burn is a physiological measure of the oxygen used in excess of what you would require after exercising.
Why is this important? Because the boot camp in Madison says this is the secret to getting twice the fat loss of any other workout around.
Compared to an hour of walking, running, or cadrio, which can burn anywhere from as little as 272 calories to about 600 calories per hour depending on weight/height, just one half hour session of boot camp can burn 600 to 1,000 calories. And even more calorie burning magic also happens after the workout, hence the name “After Burn”.
After a regular workout, your body naturally experiences EPOC, but with an afterburn workout your body makes the most out of this excess post-exercise oxygen consumption state by utilizing your body’s extra calorie burning. As a result, your body burns even more calories than it normally would with a regular workout.
For most body types, the more calories you burn equals the more weight you lose. If weight loss is your ultimate goal then an After Burn workout is really beneficial. For those of you who don’t know, you need to burn around 3,500 calories just to lose one pound of fat, so calculate the number of calories you need burn by multiplying 3,500 by the number of pounds you want to shed.
Energy Expenditure
The term energy expenditure, which you have probably heard at one point or another, is also another really important aspect to blasting fat and losing weight. Energy expenditure refers to the amount of energy that you use to breathe, circulate blood, and digest food. When it comes to exercise, energy expenditure is the total number of calories burned during and after exercising.
Energy expenditure is important because it concerns the calories you burn versus the calories you consume. There are three different components to calculating your energy expenditure, which includes your basal metabolic rate, physical activity, and thermic effect of food (the energy expended in order to consume food).
After Burn Workouts
Madison boot camp suggests that in order for you to trigger the After Burn effect you should start high intensity interval training. This is a method widely used in fitness boot camps in which you perform an exercise and push yourself to your absolute limit within a short period of time. There are many benefits to starting a high intensity interval regimen other than jump starting the After Burn effect, like conditioning both of your anaerobic and aerobic energy systems, limiting muscle loss that can sometimes occur with weight loss, and, of course, increases the amount of calories burned during and after a workout.
If you’re interested in kick starting the After Burn effect by starting up some high intensity interval training, don’t go it alone. Join a fitness boot camp that concentrates on this style of exercising so you are sure to get the After Burn effect in a safe and encouraging environment.
This blog was submitted by the Madison Personal Trainer, from Fit Body Boot Camp Madison.
