Good news: The effects of a tough workout may last a lot longer than the time you’re in the gym. Thanks to excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC)—also known as the “afterburn effect”—your body may continue to torch calories for up to 36 hours after you stop exercising.
But you don’t reap these benefits from just any exercise. To get the true afterburn effect, fitness pros stress that you have to work out for 15 minutes at greater than 70% of your VO2 max, which stands for maximal oxygen uptake and refers to the amount of oxygen your body is capable of utilizing in 1 minute. This roughly equates to keeping your heart rate at around 140 beats per minute in that time frame. “The more intense the workout, the more oxygen your body will consume afterward and the more calories you’ll burn in return,” says Brandon Mentore, a strength and conditioning coach in the Philadelphia area.
Classes like Orangetheory Fitness are focused on just that, with participants dashing between the treadmill, weights and a rowing machine to produce 12–24 minutes of training at 84% of their maximum heart rate (or the “orange zone,” as it’s known in the class).
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“Doing high-intensity interval training and strength training yields the greatest amount of ‘afterburn,’” says Mentore. “It doesn’t necessarily apply to less intense and more endurance-oriented exercise, like walking or doing a cardio machine at a comfortable pace.”
虽然燃烧燃料效应的具体结果因人与人而异,但专家说,在锻炼后的24-36小时内,您可能会燃烧增加150卡路里的热量。“它可以给您一些添加的提升。每天燃烧一百卡路里的卡路里每周大约半磅,相当于步行1-3英里,”洛杉矶名人教练韦斯·弗格森说。
That’s not to say you can stuff yourself silly after an extra-tough workout. “The afterburn effect isn’t substantial enough so that you can just pig out on anything over the next few hours,” says Ferguson. Instead, snack smart with a mix of complex carbs and protein, a powerful combo that helps boost muscle recovery, reduce soreness and build strength.
Whatever you munch on, practice moderation, stresses Ferguson. “You can’t say, ‘I worked out, that means I get ice cream as a reward!’ Then you’ll just undo everything.”