I train consistently with a HRM and/or computrainer and love trying to interpret the data and see my fitness increase. My favorite is watching the calorie counter rise up as my HR increases and the time ticks away…
My question is, when I’m done working out how long does my body continue to burn calories at a higher than normal rate? Since the HRM bases caloric burn only on current HR and duration of workout - how do I know how long my body continues to metabolize at a much higher rate…when is the body returned to normal?
I’ve heard from 2-7 hours…anyone have any expertise or insight here?
My question is, when I’m done working out how long does my body continue to burn calories at a higher than normal rate? Since the HRM bases caloric burn only on current HR and duration of workout - how do I know how long my body continues to metabolize at a much higher rate…when is the body returned to normal?
This question came up on a forum frequented by physiology types, and the answer was, “It’s a tiny effect in the big picture of things, so forget about it.”
I agree. It seems illogical that it could be classed as “tiny” when I am sure it differs depending on the length and intensity of your workout. I don’t believe that my body recovers the same after an hour of intervals or tempo as it does after an hour of easy slow running below AT. I don’t know the answer – but I also think that people who have been telling us about “fat burning zones” and your max HR as being “220 minus your age” should be locked up with physiologists who generalize about what they don’t understand.
I’m not a scientist/endocrinologist or anything like that, so “Nuff Said;” but, I am a diabetic and therefore monitor my blood glucose levels pretty closely. In my experience, the BG-lowering effects of a good workout can last for up to 12-24 hours. Don’t know if that bit of data adds anything, but take it FWIW.
I’d like to know more about this effect, however “tiny”.
After a workout I frequently ‘burn up’ for a while especially if I eat soon after.
Colin
Ok, so I was a little glib.
The “more detail” part was that we burn a slightly higher amount of calories for a little while. If my “baseline” burn rate is, say, 175 calories an hour, then I might burn 225 calories an hour for a little while, and stabilize back down to 175 within a few hours. So, it’s maybe another 100-200 calories over the course of a day. Not a lot, but it’s there. It means I can have whole milk in my coffee instead of nonfat!
The takeaway I got was that, while we feel all sorts of effects (mostly glucose-depletion related) after training, we are not necessarily burning up great wads of calories while recovering. The big burn rate ends as soon as your workout ends.
Baseline 175 calories/hour would be a lot, but, not impossible. I average burning a little over 4000 calories a day, which is almost 170 an hour, but, that’s not done by sitting! BTW, when I was in college, I had a calculated 7800 calorie per day requirement. It was fun doing the physiology experiments (in exercise physiology lab) to get this figure…it certainly explained why I could eat all day long and not budge my % body fat. In fact, I found that one particularly big week I burned more than I was able to take in due to a slight gastric disturbance, and promptly became really sick.
Baseline 175 calories/hour would be a lot, but, not impossible. I average burning a little over 4000 calories a day, which is almost 170 an hour, but, that’s not done by sitting!
By “baseline” I meant what I would burn if I simply stayed alive for a day and did no excercise. 175/hour is double the number I had in mind – about 2000 calories/day. That’s just a guess, but is probably close.
2000 calories/day was the figure I was given at my last lean body mass test, based on my height and lean body mass (I’m 6’0" and 166 lbs). This doesn’t include calories burned during exercise.
Not to send this on a tangent, but does anyone know what the difference might be in hourly burn when awake vs sleeping? I’m just curious because with the birth of our second child I’m now spending significantly more hours awake than before, so I’m looking for a bright side to this and increase calorie burn would be a welcome side-effect
Not to send this on a tangent, but does anyone know what the difference might be in hourly burn when awake vs sleeping? I’m just curious because with the birth of our second child …
I don’t know the answer, but I know the effect on the wife. We took to calling our sweet little baby the “Glucose Sucking Pig.” My wife would bonk like a novice century rider after every breast feeding.
Good question. Not sure who the other physiologist types are, but from what I was taught on this subject specifically, post exercise “calorie burn” can be quite significant, especially over time.
However, the exact duration and extent of increased resting metabolic rate post exercise is dependent on several important factors such as the type of activity (walking, biking, running, swimming, etc.), the duration (15 min or 15 hrs?), the total intensity of the activity (how much of it was at moderately or very high heart rates), the weight and body composition of the individual (so women and men react slightly differently), and other lesser factors. For example, an increase in resting metabolic rate was still detectable 2 weeks(!) after a maximum exertion marathon race in elite marathoners.
Other interesting things. A workout in which the body has to do micro repair on muscle or connective tissue (high intensity intervals or wt. lifting) tends to bump up metabolic rates more, all other things being equal. Also, as your body changes with training (especially if fat is lost and muscle is gained), your basal metabolic rate permanently changes along with the body. This because muscle tissue just resting guzzles more calories to simply exist than normal fat does.
This is a forum for grown-ups. I’m sorry if you have a problem with the idea of sex, but describing someone else’s workout routine and attitudes toward sex as disgusting is rude at the least.
Not everyone shares your ideas of cleanliness or godliness.
Wow…easy, Killer. Next time I’ll preface my post with a warning that it might contain sarcasm or ‘tongue in cheek’ type humor.
Who said there was an issue w/sex? I believe I stated that post-workout coitus (prior to shower) isn’t my cup of tea…this forum is also about individuals…that’s my stand…sorry you have a problem with it…
