Afterburn effect - effect & how you benefit from it

As you know, you burn calories during your workout. But did you know that this also happens after your workout? You can easily see this, for example, by the fact that you are out of breath after your sports session. Your body needs a long time to be able to breathe normally again.

Here we explain in more detail how you can benefit from the afterburn effect and how to utilise it. This will help you burn a few extra calories after your workout.

The afterburn effect - EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) for short - is caused by increased oxygen consumption after the training session. But what does the afterburn effect mean for calorie consumption? This effect usually occurs during anaerobic training, as your body needs more oxygen than it can absorb during these training sessions. Anaerobic training would be, for example, interval training such as HIIT. Your metabolism is running at full speed and your body needs a certain amount of time to compensate for this oxygen deficit - well beyond the training session. This means your body needs a lot of energy, which means you burn more calories. You therefore need to compensate for the oxygen deficiency in other ways.

You should determine the individual correct heart rate to maximise the afterburning effect. Anaerobic training starts at 80 % of your maximum heart rate. This means that your muscles are no longer directly supplied with oxygen. Instead, your body uses carbohydrates to store energy. To measure your own maximum heart rate, roughly subtract your age from 220. If you are 25 years old, this means that your maximum heart rate is around 195. 80% of this would therefore be 156. Measure this with a fitness watch, for example.

Please note: However, it is recommended that a maximum of 20 % of training sessions should be carried out in the anaerobic zone. Otherwise this favours overexertion.

In principle, the afterburn effect is divided into three phases in which your body goes through different processes. In total, the afterburn effect lasts up to 48 hours after training.

In the first phase - usually within the first hour after your sports session - your body starts to regenerate. This is when the afterburn effect is at its highest, as your body tries to recharge the lost energy. Your body produces important energy suppliers during this time, forming myoglobin - the muscle protein - and haemoglobin. The increased exertion stimulates your metabolism. All these processes in your body consume calories accordingly.

The second phase lasts a few hours. During this time, your body produces lots of proteins with the help of protein synthesis. This happens so that your muscle cells can rebuild. Your body also burns some calories through this process.

The last phase lasts up to two days after training. Your body now consumes more calories than before the workout, as muscle tension is still increased. This means you continue to burn more calories during your recovery period.

Anaerobic training in particular stimulates the metabolism by increasing the demand for oxygen. The increased intensity of this form of training causes your heart rate to skyrocket. Anaerobic training units include, for example, the popular HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training - or performance sports and strength training.

Interval training in particular gets your pulse racing. Endurance sports and strength exercises are suitable for varied interval training to burn more fat and build muscle - a perfect combination for the fitness afterburn effect.

Muscle is known to weigh more than fat. So you may not see a big difference on the scales, but if you convert fat into muscle mass, you benefit from the fact that your body uses more energy in the long term. This is because muscles generally consume more energy than fat - even during the regeneration phase.

After extensive cardio training with interval units, for example, you burn an additional up to 30 % of the calories burnt during training.

A quick example: If you burn 500 kcal during a workout, you will consume a further 150 kcal in the recovery period due to the training you have completed. Your body first has to compensate for this exertion and works at high speed as described in the phases above. The actual calorie consumption depends on your own fitness and various factors such as height, age and weight.

Overall, you can remember the following: If you train intensivelyr, your body needs longer recovery and so you burn more calories. However, make sure that you don't overexert yourself and, as already mentioned, only do 1/5 of your training anaerobically.

In this thesis, some people confuse the afterburning effect with the fat metabolism. The afterburn effect is in no way interrupted or prevented by your food intake. You may achieve a higher negative energy balance, but your metabolism continues to work.

It is much more important, for example, that you eat food with lots of protein. This helps your body to regenerate. If you also want to lose weight, you should avoid carbohydrates, as these would inhibit fat metabolism and thus save you more calories.

As you can see, the afterburn effect can be maximised through intensive workouts, as the lack of oxygen in the muscles stimulates your bodily functions and your body is busy compensating for this deficiency beyond the workout. As already mentioned, you should be careful with anaerobic training - otherwise you will overtax your body. However, the intensity of the afterburn effect depends on your own fitness and your general physical condition.

Don't forget to consider the recovery phases and don't overexert yourself. If you are just starting out with regular training, it is better to start a little slower and gradually increase the intensity.