Excess Post-exercise Oxygen consumption after three different moderate aerobic exercises

Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) causes an increase in caloric burn during the recovery period, to be considered in relation to energy balance and weight loss. It is not clear whether various modes of aerobic exercise affect EPOC differently. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute effects of moderate intensity of cycling (CE), treadmill (TE) and arm crank (AE) exercises on EPOC. 6 young moderately active female (age, 24,2±0,8 yr; BMI, 21,5±2,4 kg/m2; RMR, 1288±78,2 kcal/day) participated in the study over a 2-week period. In the first week, subjects filled a Baecke questionnaire of habitual physical activity, undergone a resting metabolic rate (RMR) measurement and a V O2peak at each ergometer was assessed. In the second week, subjects completed one bout of 30 min at 60% of V O2peak (respectively at CE, TE and AE, separated by 48 hours of rest). Before (30 min pre) and after (2 hours post) each exercise bout a RMR measurement was carried out in a sitting position (K4b2, Cosmed, Italy). A repeated measures Anova was used to analyse data. V O2 during exercise and total energy expenditure were significantly higher for TE and CE when compared with AE (TE 1,5±0,2 l/min, 356,8±35 kcal; CE 1,4±0,2 l/min, 344,2±38,6 kcal; AE 0,7±0,1 l/min, 242,3±23,7; p<0,05). QR was significantly lower for TE when compared with CE and AE both during exercise and recovery (exercise: TE 0,81±0,04; CE 0,84±0,07; AE 0,84±0,03; p<0,05). EPOC magnitude was not significantly different for the three exercises (TE 2,9±1,9 l; CE 3,3±2,5 l; AE 1,8±1 l; ns) and accounted between 7% and 11% of total energy expenditure. This study shows that TE can be considered the best weight loss exercise when compared with CE and AE.