EPOC FOLLOWING HIGH INTENSITY INTERMITTENT AND MODERATE INTENSITY CONTINUOUS EXERCISE
Mark A. Parmenter, Melinda M. Manore, Jack Daniels · Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise · 2001
It has been suggested that high intensity exercise results in greater excess post-exercise VO2 (EPOC) than does moderate intensity exercise. Thus, high intensity exercise may confer a metabolic advantage to individuals desiring weight loss or maintenance. The purpose of this study was to compare EPOC in response to high intensity intermittent exercise and moderate intensity continuous exercise bouts. Six untrained (VO2max = 48.1 ± 6.1 mL/kg/min) healthy male subjects performed 2 treadmill exercise and recovery protocols under identical testing conditions: 1) 30 min of continuous running at 70% VO2 max (C) and 2) 15 1-min bouts at 100% VO2 max with 1-min standing rest following each run (I). Expired air samples were collected to determine VO2, VCO2, and RER during exercise and a 2-h recovery. VO2 returned to baseline values within 30min in C, but remained significantly elevated above baseline values at 60min in I (p = 0.05); however, magnitude of 120-min EPOC did not differ between conditions (C = 6.1 ± 4.1 L O2, I = 7.5 ± 2.8 L O2; p = 0.47). RER was also similar between conditions at 1(C = .873 ± .060, I = .850 ± .067; p = 0.47) and 2 (C = .835 ± .046, I = .864 ± .058; p = 0.09) hours. We conclude that there is no difference in EPOC between exercising intermittently at a high intensity and exercising continuously for the same duration in healthy untrained young maes.