The Afterburn

If you have ever done a challenging workout then you probably know what I am talking about when I say "the afterburn." Following a tough weight lifting or interval workout your metabolism can often be elevated for up to 72 hours. This often causes people to feel hot later in the day or even the next day. The reason that you feel hot is because of EPOC.

EPOC(excess post exercise oxygen consumption) is what causes the afterburn and is one of the keys to burning body fat because it increases the number of calories that are burned throughout the rest of the day for up to 72 hours. Weight lifting and high intensity intervals are the way to increase EPOC because they put your body into oxygen debt. Workouts that are anaerobic cause a lack of oxygen in the body because the body is working faster than it can take in oxygen. This oxygen debt must eventuallly be paid off over time. In order to pay off this oxygen debt your body will work overtime(raise the metabolism), and this can cause the afterburn feeling.