Have you ever attended a group fitness class where the instructor mentions how your body will continue to work even after you have left the gym and class is long over? That afterburn effect is more commonly referred to as EPOC. 

Here’s everything you need to know about EPOC including what EPOC is, the benefits of EPOC, and how you can create EPOC in your own workouts.

What is EPOC?

According to the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), EPOC is the acronym for Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption. Many refer to it as the afterburn.

“EPOC is the result of an elevation in oxygen consumption and metabolism, which occurs after exercise as the body recovers, repairs, and returns to its pre-exercise state,” per NASM. This effect can happen for up to 24 hours after a workout.

“This increase in oxygen consumption is due to the body’s desire to receive more oxygen in order to return to its normal resting state (aka homeostasis),” shares Joseph Lucero at Power Lifting Technique. “Depending on fitness level, EPOC could be short or long, but ultimately, EPOC is required in order for the individual to return to a normal resting state before exercise.”

Any workout that requires intense, short bursts of maximal output followed by rest intervals is an anaerobic workout, where EPOC takes effect. Things like an all-out sprint or HIIT workouts are great examples of anaerobic exercises.

Benefits of EPOC

Let’s get this out of the way: According to NASM, the EPOC you experience after a HIIT-style workout can lead to 25%-35% more calories burned than other exercise forms. “One of the first benefits of EPOC is that it will elevate your metabolic activity, increasing your caloric expenditure throughout the day,” shares Lucero.

Although we don’t promote calorie-burning as a workout benefit, we have to acknowledge that when most people talk about the benefits of EPOC, this is what they’re referring to.

However, we think there’s a much cooler benefit to focus on: EPOC also helps to promote post-exercise energy expenditure throughout the day. But why would we want to increase energy expenditure?

“Increasing energy expenditure can increase cardiovascular health and cardiovascular performance,” explains Lucero. “This essentially causes you to become ‘in shape,’ and being in shape means you have elevated your cardiovascular performance, which stems from EPOC.”

Some other benefits of HIIT workouts that include EPOC include blood sugar reduction, improved oxygen consumption, and reduced heart and blood pressure.

How can you create EPOC?

How exactly can you create EPOC? There are many ways to incorporate anaerobic or HIIT exercises into a workout plan to take advantage of the EPOC effect. 

The best way to start is by choosing an exercise you enjoy. Think of activities like biking, jump roping, running, or weight lifting. You can also incorporate Tabata training.

If you enjoy biking, pedal as fast as possible for 30 seconds then pedal at a leisurely slow pace for one to two minutes. Repeat this cadence for 15-30 minutes at a time. You can also do the same thing with jump roping or sprinting (except you only need to do it for 10-20 minutes in total) — but still focus on that all-out pace for 30 seconds.

If you like Tabata-style workouts, choose a variety of moves like bodyweight squats, lunges, pull-ups, push-ups, or sit-ups. If you want to add an extra challenge, grab some dumbbells, but choose between five to 10 moves in total depending on how much time you have for a workout.

Perform one exercise for 20 seconds. Then take a 10-second break. Repeat eight times before moving on to the next movement. This will give a total time count of four minutes per movement with a 30-second break in between moves.

When engaging in resistance training or strength training involving compound, multi-joint exercises that alternate between upper-body and lower-body movements, you’re triggering a greater demand on the anaerobic system during your work intervals. According to NASM, this results in an increased demand on the aerobic system to replenish ATP during the rest intervals and essentially the post-exercise recovery process.

“A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that resistance training and high-intensity interval training both showed significantly higher energy expenditure 14 hours post-exercise compared to the baseline,” notes Lucero. 

Shorter recovery intervals also increase the demand on the anaerobic energy pathways during exercise, yielding a more significant EPOC effect during the post-exercise recovery period. Manipulating the tempo (work/rest intervals) and intensity like this is essential to stimulate the EPOC adaptations.

EPOC in everyday life

The next time you hear a trainer mention the afterburn effect, you’ll now know they’re referring to EPOC, what it is, and why it has benefits for your overall health. Lucero summarizes it best: Overall EPOC can have several benefits for your health and fitness, including an increase in energy expenditure for improving cardiovascular health.

“In order to create EPOC, incorporating high-intensity interval training and resistance training into your workout routine can be effective,” adds Lucero. “However, it is important to note that EPOC is just one aspect of a well-rounded program and should be combined with other types of fitness for the best results possible.”