How To Burn Fat Long After Exercise Is Over

Simple – Exercise at and above your anaerobic threshold and here is an excerpt from JJ’s Heart Rate Precision Exercise explaining why…

Normally, we breathe oxygen and transport it to the muscles to be used with free fatty acids and glucose to be converted to energy.

When we crank up the effort and exercise intensely, our body must rely on converting energy within the muscle at greater rates as we struggle to supply enough oxygen to meet the higher demand.

When this happens we produce a by product called lactic acid. Lactic acid is felt like a kind of pain that forces you to slow down or stop.

It comes from the incomplete breakdown of glucose (stored in the muscle) to make quick energy to fuel the increased muscle demand.

Now, when we stop exercising your body must convert this lactic acid and that takes more energy. To do this it needs to ‘pay back’ the oxygen it could not supply during the workout and get your muscles back to their normal state. This is known as oxygen debt.

After an intense workout your metabolism continues to turn over at a faster rate. You know this is happening as you will have noticed it takes time before you feel back to normal. You continue to breathe harder and your heart rate remains elevated. You are feeling the effects of this oxygen debt. So this is why I encourage you to use Metabolic Power workouts.

The larger your oxygen debt created during your training, the longer your metabolism turns over at a higher rate. The net benefit is two fold.. first you are training your body to be able to work at greater intensities and thus get fitter and burn more calories per workout, secondly you are boosted our metabolic rate burning even more calories after you finish.

Oxygen debt is triggered after a workout when you exercise anaerobically. The best way to find your anaerobic threshold is to test yourself. Alternatively you can exercise using zone 3 and above.

Is This Safe For Everyone?

NO. I do not recommend intense exercise if you are a beginner, have 2 or more coronary risk factors, or have a current fitness level below 10 METs max. Having said that, if you are unfit and you begin exercise, you will undoubtedly produce lactic acid due to your muscles being inefficient at supplying enough oxygen to meet the demand.

So get out and exercise (starting gradually) and see what happens! But keep it safe above all else. For more information about exercising at the correct intensity based on your current level of fitness, consider a consultation. There are plans that are packed with everything you need to know about exercising for fat loss including a large section for beginners.