As I write this in late 2024 we are in the middle of an epidemic. One third of the adult population in the United States is obese and far more are classified as overweight. We in the fitness industry are here to run the prevent on keeping you healthy and away from the chronic, self-induced illnesses that currently plague our country.
If you zoom out for a moment, “fat loss” programs or exercise programs in general are a new/odd thing. Back in the day, an exercise program was meant to enhance an already active lifestyle. People were far more active 30 years ago. They were leaner, moved more and ate a lot better. Now…we live in a society that is fast paced, demanding and in need of a different kind of programming.
What should one do to optimize fat loss?
Lift weights!
Of course the dude that owns a weight room is going to tell you to lift weights. It’s like a monkey telling you how awesome climbing trees are. However, there is some rationale behind my madness.
EPOC
EPOC is an acronym for Excess-Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption. Say that 10 times fast…
Elevator definition is: Your body’s oxygen consumption is elevated post exercise. It is fighting to get back to your pre-exercise state. So…for up to 24 hours post exercise, your body is coming down from your workout.
Now…the extent/intensity of which EPOC occurs depends on your training style. Weight training is largely glycolic in nature and for your body to produce the energy required to train, it needs to go through certain anaerobic pathways. Anaerobic is important because when we lift weights, we are only taxing a couple energy systems. Our initial two energy systems are responsible for activity ranging from 10 seconds to 3 minutes or so…If we stay within the constraints of these two energy systems, EPOC is triggered.
What to do?
There a bunch of different ways we train our clients for this effect, but if we want to get the best bang for our buck, we rely on the following:
- Sprinting intervals
- Fan Bike Intervals
- Super Sets
- Strength Training
All intervals methods are gradually introduced to clients. We do not want to accidently perform a stress test on someone. Work ratios depends on their level of fitness but we like to stick to positive work to rest ratios. So…30 seconds on 45 seconds off or 10 seconds on and 20 seconds off…if you catch my drift.
Super sets are wonderful because they make your workout far more efficient and it works on your conditioning as well.
Strength training…we keep it simple. Big total body lift. Pick it up, sit it down and vary the rest periods.
We use heart rate monitors on a lot of our clients to see how close we get to their heart rate max but more importantly, to make sure they are recovering to an appropriate heart rate before we continue exercising.
What Can EPOC do for you?
I will probably miss a handful of things but here is another list:
- Muscle Gain
- Improved Oxygen Consumption
- Blood Pressure decrease and resting heart rate decrease.
- Increased metabolic rate throughout the rest of your day after your exercise bout
- Per a lot of studies…fat loss is more rapid in this manner as opposed to other forms of training.
At the end of the day, going for a jog is better than sitting on the couch. But…if we want to get our body to start working for us, there are certain pathways we need to take. Elevating your heart rate followed by allowing that heart rate to drop before it is then elevated again is a powerful way to get in shape!
However, nothing is perfect and training should be fun and fit for your own personal goals. Plus, none of the above matters if you are eating poorly and sleeping 3 hours a night! I have to be a party pooper from time to time…
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