Intense Exercise Burns Calories Long Afterwards

goldfinger88

Studies show that people who exercise with high intensity burn not only immediate calories but they continue to burn calories up to 24 hours later. To get the extra calorie-burning benefits, the workout needs to be intense enough that you're sweating, your body temperature is up and your heart beats fast. Moderate exercise, such as walking, does not burn post activity calories.

One study was done on men riding bikes at high intensity. They rode for 45 minutes. They burned an average of 519 calories during the biking. Hence, they used an average of 709 more calories on workout days than rest days. A person would lose one pound after five intense exercise bouts if they resisted the temptation to eat more.

But what I find fascinating is that just short (very short) high intensity workouts will do the same thing. It's not the duration of the exercise that matters but the intensity. And interval training is best. I guess it confuses the body. But, whatever, it has a tremendous afterburn --- up to 14 hours.

What's amazing is that four minutes (4) can burn MORE than 60 minutes of you use Guerrilla cardio, commonly known as Tabata Training.

Minutes 1-4: Warm-up 50% perceived exertion

Minutes 5-8: Sprint- for 20 seconds; Rest- 10 seconds; Repeat

Minutes 9-12: Cool-down at 50% perceived exertion

Just thought I'd throw that in. In my case, I've never been an endurance athlete. But I've had tremendous power in spurts and I was always thin and fit until menopause. So after reading all the studies on the types of exercises that actually do work best and discovering that HIT and very short workouts are actually superior, I felt a good deal of relief. I know I could never do hours of any exercise nor did I have the desire to do so. Boring.

Anyway, just a thought. I probably exercise less per week than most people. But I exercise at a very high intensity (that includes weights) and I tend to lost more, faster. And, as a bonus, I think it makes you feel better and is probably better for you.

But what's amazing to me is that all tests and studies show that HIT at short intervals burn far more calories and have the great afterburn whereas moderate exercise is very limited, regardless of how long a person does it.

Just something to consider.

krypt5

An issue to consider when incorporating high intensity exercises is recovery. With low intensity you don't have that issue. Something to think about when building a program. While I am pro high intensity, one must be sensible to build a program in such a way to allow sufficient recovery.

wendiekins

I can agree & disagree with this as Ive been diabetic all my life and can kinda judge how intense an excercise has been by the effect it has on my blood sugars post excercise. I find the weeks that I have mostly done 25 min aerobic excercising such as the 30 Day Shred dvd make me lose more weight than the weeks when I have burnt more cals but exercised for 4hrs at a time such as playing golf. But... the days I have played golf tend I to have a stronger residual effect on my blood sugars with the afterburn kicking in much later, perhaps this is due to the length of time I have excercised and my bodies expectation? I know this for fact as I have had to lower my insulin requirements on golfing days or end up consuming lucozade to raise my blood sugars to normal level again. So what Im saying is, the same length of time per week exercising with more intense exertion loses more weight (for me) than longer less frequent exercise but the after burn is more when exercising less frequently, perhaps because my body is shocked more at having to work longer? Whatever the reasons behind it, I mix the excercises each week as I dont always have the same available time so cant really clarify whats best in the long term. An interesting post though, and one I shall watch with interest for other peeps experiences.

jellyfishjen

Thanks. Knowledge is important. I am enjoy learning as I slowly lose weight and habits.

FoxyMcDeadlift

OP is on shaky ground, what you are saying here is true, HIIT has a better after effect at burning calories, however, you can perform LISS for much longer, and i burn more cals on 2 hour LISS runs than on 30 min HIITS (You cant do more than half a hour of HIIT, if you think you can, you're doing it wrong.)

Lets throw something else in the mix though, the best excercise for FAT LOSS is low intensity work, preferably on a incline, which is why you will sometimes see buff bodybuilder types just going for PWO walks on treadmills.