Post-workout calorie consumption: what it is and how to take advantage of it

When you set yourself the goal of losing weight, in addition to starting a low-calorie diet, agreed with your nutritionist, it is essential to add a little physical exercise, possibly daily, to the diet.

This good habit helps with weight loss. However, to keep the energy expended thanks to sport under control, one must not only take into account the calories that go away during training, but also afterwards. Contrary to what one might think, in fact, the energy consumption responsible for weight loss does not only occur during the fatigue phase, but also continues many hours after the fitness session has ended.

at rest post workout is a phenomenon studied for the first time by the nobel prize winner Archibald Vivian Hill in 1922 and subsequently deepened by several studies.

The scholar who was first able to identify it scientifically defined it EPOC, excess post exercise oxygen consumption.

Technically, EPOC depends on the fact that the body, once the period of maximum effort that corresponds to training is over, finds itself having to face recovery and repair processes that require energy expenditure.

and lasts for about the entire following hour. During those minutes, the body is busy bringing blood circulation, breathing, cardiovascular system and entire metabolism back to normal.

Once this has happened, the second phase begins, during which the muscles strained during training are rebuilt. At that moment, the calorie expenditure is high because to produce the proteins necessary for the muscles to restore themselves, the body needs a lot power.

The last phase, finally, arrives up to 48 hours after the effort: in this case the calories burn due to the increase in muscle tension caused by the training. As time passes, however, the calorie expenditure decreases.

How many calories it burns

The number of calories that can be burned due to the afterburn effect depends on many different factors.

In addition to the duration and intensity of the training, gender, height, weight, fitness and age play a fundamental role. Indicatively, during the rest period, the calories burned correspond to about 10% of the calorie consumption during training. If during the fit session, therefore, 400 calories were burned, then another 50 will go away. It may not seem like a lot but if you practice sport consistently, over time this can also affect weight loss and not a little.

) free body. The ideal would be to do it 1 to 3 times a week, in addition to your specific fitness program, but however you decide to do it, it will guarantee an excellent extra calorie expenditure.

To start, a session can last around 20-30 minutes, then build up over time.

High-intensity training does not include specific exercises, but rather consists of a way of performing movements. We talk about HIIT training when faced with any sequence of activities carried out at alternating rhythms of high intensity and recovery.

An example would be running 60 seconds of running, followed by as many of walking, or 30 seconds of Flat-out Burpees alternating with 30 seconds of recovery with hops on the spot.

Hunger remains under control

One of the objections to this theory could be that practicing sports intensely and for a prolonged time immediately makes you hungry and want to eat something as soon as it is finished, thus frustrating all the efforts made. This is not exactly the case, however, in fact the opposite often happens, due to a particular reaction of ghrelin to physical exercise. Ghrelin is a hormone produced by certain cells of the pancreas and stomach that stimulates hunger and which can be kept on low levels, just practicing "intense physical activity."

Not to mention that the more you move, the more adrenaline is stimulated, another factor capable of promoting fat burning and dampening the appetite.

Finally, sport also stimulates the growth hormone Gh, which interacts with fat cells, pushing them to burn stored fat for energy.

Overdoing it can be counterproductive

The fact that the benefits of sport persist even after several hours from training should not make us fall into the error of exaggerating and undergoing sessions in the gym and housewives that are excessive for your body, the degree of training and the current diet in progress. that moment.

In fact, exaggerating and rushing are the first enemies of weight loss and, in general, of achieving fitness and wellness goals.