Thursday 21 May 2015

How To Keep Burning Calories AFTER You've Finished Working Out

Recently more and more girls have been showing impressive bodies from weight training. Not only does performing compound movements like weighted squats use pretty much every muscle, but weight training in general can help build you curves and sculpt your body. Still not convinced? If you're more concerned with 'fat loss' you may still be thinking that cardio is the way forward. However, whilst it can be really beneficial depending on your fitness goals, there is one benefit of strength training that outweighs cardio: you burn calories at a heightened rate for several hours after you have finsihed working out.

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After a heavy bought of strength training, you continue to consume additional oxygen in the hours and even days that follow. This is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC.

When your body uses more oxygen, it requires more caloric expenditure and an increased metabolic rate.

Your body doesn't just stop once you've finished working out, you consume additional oxygen in the hours that follow (the excess post exercise oxygen consumption). This means that when your body is using more oxygen, it requires your caloric expenditure to be be greater and your metabolic rate increases. Which in simple terms means that your body continues to burn calories at a hightened rate even after you've finished working out, which isn't the same for cardio.

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And as your lean muscle progresses and grows, your body is able to use calories more efficiently. Pretty cool. So the more frequent and consistent stength training you do the, the more EPOC your body will do, and as your lean muscle grows from the training, it will cause a more effeicient calorie use across the rest of the day.

And to top it all off, this is just ONE of the benefits of stregnth training and lifting weights!

Will you be adding weights to your training?

Xx

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