Exercise-Post Oxygen Consumption (EPOC): How Do You Achieve It?

How does EPOC help you accomplish a high-calorie burn and aid in weight loss?

Written By: Tavishi Dogra | Updated : January 24, 2024 2:54 PM IST

EPOC, or "Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption", is the science of elevated oxygen consumption and elevated metabolism after exercise when the body recovers, repairs, and returns to its pre-exercise state. The exercise or workout begins after a car or cardiovascular exercise or begins as it refills the oxygen debt created during a workout. The science of EPOC allows our body to continue to use more oxygen to refill that oxygen debt and burn extra calories post-workout for up to 24 hours as if we were still working out. The extent and duration of EPOC's effect depend on the workout intensity, as EPOC is achieved based on individual bodies, metabolism, and hormones.

Effects Of EPOC

Drishti Chhabria, Fitness Expert At Orangetheory Fitness India, explains that high-intensity training is best to achieve EPOC as the harder you work and the further your body gets from the baseline, the greater the effect of EPOC.

Bringing the body back to resting, lowering body temperature, repairing muscle fibres, and replenishing energy will all use extra energy and oxygen to increase your calorie burn. If weight loss is the goal, those extra calories you burn by doing nothing during the next 24 hours post-workout help push you in the right direction towards your goals.
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EPOC, or "excess post-exercise oxygen consumption", is the heart and science behind our workout programs focusing on heart-rated training. To achieve EPOC and a high-calorie burn through a workout, we emphasize target heart rate training to guide those who work out to train within specific heart rate zones, specifically the "orange zone." The orange zone is zone 4 out of our 5-zone training program, where one should achieve 84% to 91% of their maximum heart rate.
When we achieve 84-91% of our max heart rate for approximately 12-20 minutes during a 1-hour workout, we can achieve EPOC by simply pushing our body to that high heart rate zone. This elevates our body's oxygen consumption and creates an oxygen debt, which helps fat stores break down and oxidise fatty acids as fuel.

Summary

The workouts are backed by science, designed by experts, and tracked with technology. During class, every member wears a heart rate monitor which tracks your heart rate and statistics, such as calories burned and minutes spent in each of the five zones of our training program. The data is displayed on screens around the room, as well as the equipment, which allows real-time feedback to pace and track your workout and will enable the coach to provide guidance.

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