Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption

Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC, informally called afterburn) is a measurably increased rate of oxygen intake following strenuous activity intended to erase the body's "oxygen debt." In historical context the term "oxygen debt" was popularized to explain or perhaps attempt to quantify anaerobic energy expenditure, particularly as regards lactic acid/lactate metabolism; in fact, the term "oxygen debt" is still widely used to this day. Direct and indirect calorimeter experiments have, however, definitively disproven any association of lactate metabolism as causal to an elevated oxygen uptake.^[1]

In recovery, oxygen (EPOC) is used in the processes that restore the body to a resting state and adapt it to the exercise just performed. These include: hormone balancing, replenishment of fuel stores, cellular repair, innervation and anabolism.

EPOC is accompanied by an elevated consumption of fuel. In response to exercise, fat stores are broken down and free fatty acids (FFA) are released into the blood. In recovery, the direct oxidation of free fatty acids as fuel and the energy consuming re-conversion of FFA's back into fat stores both take place.^[2][3][4]

Duration of the effect

The EPOC effect is greatest soon after the exercise is completed and decays to a lower level over time. One experiment found EPOC increasing metabolic rate to an excess level that decays to 13% three hours after exercise, and 4% after 16 hours. Another study, specifically designed to test whether the effect existed for more than 16 hours, conducted tests for 48 hours after the conclusion of the exercise and found measurable effects existed up to the 38 hour post-exercise measurement.^[5]

Size of the EPOC effect

Studies show that the EPOC effect exists after both anaerobic exercise and aerobic exercise. Such comparisons are problematic, however, in that it is difficult to equalize and subsequently compare workloads between the two types of exercise. For exercise regimens of comparable duration and intensity, aerobic exercise burns more calories during the exercise itself,^[6] but the difference is partly offset by the higher increase in caloric expenditure that occurs during the EPOC phase after anaerobic exercise. Anaerobic exercise in the form of high-intensity interval training was also found in one study to result in greater loss of subcutaneous fat, even though the subjects expended fewer than half as many calories during exercise.^[7] Whether this result was caused by the EPOC effect has not been established, and the caloric content of the participants' diet was not controlled during this particular study period.

In a 1992 Purdue study, results showed that high intensity, anaerobic type exercise resulted in a significantly greater magnitude of EPOC than aerobic exercise of equal work output.^[8]

Some researchers use a measure of EPOC as a natural part of the quantification or measurement of exercise and recovery energy expenditure; to others this is not deemed necessary. After a single bout or set of weight lifting, Scott et al. found considerable contributions of EPOC to total energy expenditure.^[9] In their 2004 survey of the relevant literature, Meirelles and Gomes found: "In summary, EPOC resulting from a single resistance exercise session (i.e., many lifts) does not represent a great impact on energy balance; however, its cumulative effect may be relevant".^[10] This is echoed by Reynolds and Kravitz in their survey of the literature where they remarked: "the overall weight-control benefits of EPOC, for men and women, from participation in resistance exercise occur over a significant time period, since kilocalories are expended at a low rate in the individual post-exercise sessions."^[11]

The EPOC effect clearly increases with the intensity of the exercise, and (at least in the case of aerobic exercise, perhaps also for anaerobic) the duration of the exercise. ^[12]

Studies comparing intermittent and continuous exercise consistently show a greater EPOC response for higher intensity, intermittent exercise. ^[13]

See also

• High-intensity interval training
• Yo-yo effect

References

1. ^ Scott CB, Kemp RB (January 2005). "Direct and indirect calorimetry of lactate oxidation: implications for whole-body energy expenditure". Journal of Sports Sciences 23 (1): 15–9. doi:10.1080/02640410410001716760. PMID 15841591. 
2. ^ Bahr R (1992). "Excess postexercise oxygen consumption--magnitude, mechanisms and practical implications". Acta Physiologica Scandinavica. Supplementum 605: 1–70. PMID 1605041. 
3. ^ Bahr R, Høstmark AT, Newsholme EA, Grønnerød O, Sejersted OM (September 1991). "Effect of exercise on recovery changes in plasma levels of FFA, glycerol, glucose and catecholamines". Acta Physiologica Scandinavica 143 (1): 105–15. doi:10.1111/j.1748-1716.1991.tb09205.x. PMID 1957696. 
4. ^ Bielinski R, Schutz Y, Jéquier E (July 1985). "Energy metabolism during the postexercise recovery in man". The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 42 (1): 69–82. PMID 3893093. http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=3893093. 
5. ^ Schuenke MD, Mikat RP, McBride JM (March 2002). "Effect of an acute period of resistance exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption: implications for body mass management". European Journal of Applied Physiology 86 (5): 411–7. doi:10.1007/s00421-001-0568-y. PMID 11882927. 
6. ^ "List of Calories Burned During Exercise". NutriStrategy. http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-29. 
7. ^ "Impact of Exercise Intensity on Body Fatness and Skeletal Muscle Metabolism". Exrx.net. http://www.exrx.net/FatLoss/HIITvsET.html. Retrieved 2010-07-29. 
8. ^ Schmidt, Wilfred Daniel (1992). The effects of aerobic and anaerobic exercise on resting metabolic rate, thermic effect of a meal, and excess postexercise oxygen consumption. Ph.D. dissertation, Purdue University, United States -- Indiana. Retrieved March 30, 2011, from Dissertations & Theses: Full Text.(Publication No. AAT 9301378).
9. ^ Scott CB, Croteau A, Ravlo T (March 2009). "Energy expenditure before, during, and after the bench press". Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 23 (2): 611–8. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e31818c2845. PMID 19197214. 
10. ^ Meirelles, CláUdia de Mello; Gomes, Paulo Sergio Chagas (2004). "Efeitos agudos da atividade contra-resistência sobre o gasto energético: revisitando o impacto das principais variáveis". Revista Brasileira de Medicina do Esporte 10 (2). doi:10.1590/S1517-86922004000200006. 
11. ^ Reynolds, Jeff M; Kravitz, Len. "Resistance Training and EPOC". http://www.drlenkravitz.com/Articles/epoc.html. Retrieved April 21, 2005. ^{[self-published source?]}
12. ^ Børsheim E, Bahr R (2003). "Effect of exercise intensity, duration and mode on post-exercise oxygen consumption". Sports Medicine 33 (14): 1037–60. doi:10.2165/00007256-200333140-00002. PMID 14599232. 
13. ^ Baker, E. J., and T. T. Gleeson. EPOC and the energetics of brief locomotor activity in Mus domesticus. J. Exp. Zool. 280: 114–120, 1998.

Further reading

• Hill AV, Long CNH, Lupton H (1924). "Muscular exercise, lactic acid, and the supply and utilization of oxygen I–III". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B 96 (679): 438–75. doi:10.1098/rspb.1924.0037.