In general, the more intense the exercise, the greater the afterburn effect is going to be.

The benefits of high-intensity interval training- HIIT, what it’s commonly referred to - are greater strength, improved speed and better fat burning, all in ways that steady-state cardio workouts simply can’t comparably create. If your goals are to lean out, build muscle fast, increase your cardiovascular health and not spend loads of time needing to exercise, then the bottom line is that doing brief, but intense, intermittent bouts of exercise is the way to go.

That’s because the afterburn effect is small following steady-state traditional cardio workouts like jogging but is significantly higher following intense workouts - like sprinting, circuit, strength and burst activities. The key to increasing the afterburn effects of your workouts, so you can burn more calories throughout the whole day, is practicing high-intensity exercises. Sound too good to be true? Here’s what this phenomenon is all about … What does the research we now have available regarding benefits of the afterburn effect mean for the future of your workouts? If you properly plan your exercise routine so you do the right types of high-intensity workouts several times a week, you’ll gain the ability to burn more fat in less time. The scientific name for this process is excess post-exercise oxygen consumption.

That’s because our bodies actually use up extra energy (calories) after certain workouts to help us recover, cool down and deal with the hormonal changes that the exercise produced.

While many people primarily pay attention to the amount of calories they burn while running, cycling, swimming or lifting weights, there’s a whole other important component to calorie-burning that you might be overlooking. In simplest terms, the “afterburn effect” is essentially the calories you continue to burn after exercising.

Afterburne