4 Cardio Workouts That Maximize Your Afterburn

One of the great things about exercise is that, not only do you get the benefits during your workouts, the rewards keep on coming...that is, if you're doing the right kind of exercise.

That reward is what we call the afterburn, also known as post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). The afterburn refers to the amount of oxygen your body consumes above resting level after your workout. Or put another way, it's how many calories your body burns before it gets back to its pre-exercise state.

Overview

Exercise triggers all kinds of responses in the body, starting with your metabolism. Your metabolism goes up and, if you work at a high intensity, it stays up for a period of time after.

There are a number of physiological mechanisms responsible for this, chemical reactions that replace oxygen stores, replenish energy stores and more. Luckily, we don't have to understand how it works to take advantage of it.

The bottom line? The more afterburn you can generate, the more calories you burn and the more weight you lose.

Impact

It's obvious that burning more calories both during and after a workout is good for us, but afterburn has come to mean a lot more in recent years. Experts believe that afterburn may be the key to fighting obesity.

What they've figured out through a variety of studies is that the afterburn generates about 6 to15 percent of your total energy expenditure of exercise, which is nothing to sneeze at.

Not only that, but an afterburn of 80-100 calories per workout could add up to 3 to 6 pounds of fat loss per year. In a way, that's like losing more weight without having to work for it.

How to Get More

The real question is, how do you generate that afterburn? When it comes to cardio, there are several factors that determine your afterburn:

• Exercise intensity and duration
• The structure of your workout - Short bouts rather than a steady-state workout
• Fitness level 
• Strength training - strength training is one of the best ways to burn calories after you work out.

Looking into various studies about the afterburn, experts found that the greatest afterburn occurs:

• When you work at about 75% of VO2 Max. VO2 Max refers to the maximum amount of oxygen a person can use during intense exercise. This is usually measured in a laboratory setting. For those of us who don't have a lab handy, we can use equivalents to estimate VO2 Max. 75% is equivalent to about a Level 8 on this Perceived Exertion Scale (RPE). This would be activities like racewalking, running at a fast pace, or jumping rope. You can even use a calculator to estimate your VO2 Max based on your heart rate.
• When you do short bouts of exercise. For example, two 20-minute workouts done at a high intensity or incorporating interval training elicits more afterburn than one continuous workout.
• When you're a beginner. Newbies generate more afterburn because the movements are new to the body, which means expending more calories. As you become more experienced, your body becomes more efficient and, thus, burns fewer calories overall.

Optimal Workouts

With all of these factors in mind, below are four different 25-minute workouts that will get you into that heart rate zone where you'll burn more calories both during and after your workout.

They all include some form of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which is a more advanced form of exercise. If you've never done HIIT, start with a more moderate interval training workout and slowly work your way to higher levels of intensity.

Keep in mind that HIIT workouts are very taxing on the body, so only do them 1 or 2 times per week and make sure you give yourself recovery days after, either by doing lighter workouts, lifting weights, or nothing at all.

Workout 1: Rolling Interval

This is the perfect workout for generating afterburn. The idea is to start at a moderate intensity and increase the intensity to hard and then very hard by using speed or incline, repeating that through three different intervals.

Keep track of your perceived exertion and change the settings for each segment as needed to match the RPE. In other words, you don't have to (or may not be able to) stay at the same speed or incline for the entire workout. 

Rolling Interval 1 - Incline:

Rolling Interval 2 - Speed:

Rolling Interval 3 - Incline:

Workout Time: 25 Minutes

Workout 2: Tabata Training

Tabata training is a form of HIIT that really gets your heart pumping, resulting in an amazing afterburn. The idea is to work as hard as you can for 20 seconds and then rest for only 10 seconds. You repeat that 8 times for a total of 4 minutes.

This workout includes 4 blocks in which you'll alternate two exercises for each Tabata. You don't need any equipment, although using a timer, like this Tabata Pro App, will make the workout easier to follow. 

Warm Up Tabata - 4 Minutes

• Step out squat: Step out to the right with a wide step. Now take a wide step to the left, getting as low to the ground as you can while taking the widest step you can.
• Straight leg kicks: Lift the right leg, keeping a slight bend in the knee, to hip level or higher. At the same time, circle the right arm around and down, as though you're trying to touch the right toe (you probably won't...that's okay). Lower and repeat on the other side, going as fast as you can.

Alternate each exercise, doing each for 20 seconds and resting for 10 seconds between exercises. Repeat the series 4 times for a total of 4 minutes. Take a short rest and go to the next Tabata.

Tabata 1 - Burpees and Mountain Climbers - 4 Minutes

• Burpees - Place your hands on the floor, jump the feet back into a plank, jump the feet back in and stand up. Add a jump for more intensity, or walk the feet back instead of jumping if you need a modification.
• Mountain Climbers - While on the floor in a plank position, run the knees in an out as fast as you can.

Alternate each exercise, doing each for 20 seconds and resting for 10 seconds between exercises. Repeat the series 4 times for a total of 4 minutes. Take a 60-second rest and move on.

Tabata 2 - High Knee Jogs and Jumping Jacks - 4 Minutes

• High knee jogs - While jogging in place, bring the knees up to hip level, circling the arms overhead to add intensity.
• Jumping jacks - Jump the feet out wide while circling the arms up overhead. Jump the feet together as you lower the arms. Go as quickly as you can.

Alternate each exercise, doing each for 20 seconds and resting for 10 seconds between exercises. Repeat the series 4 times for a total of 4 minutes. Take a 60-second rest and move on.

Tabata 3 - Squats and Plyo-Lunges - 4 Minutes

• Bodyweight squat: With feet hip distance apart, sit the hips back into a low squat position and then return to standing.
• Plyo-Lunges: Start with feet together and jump up, landing in a lunge with right leg forward left leg back, bending the knees in a lunge. Jump up, switch feet in the air and land with the other leg forward.

Alternate each exercise, doing each for 20 seconds and resting for 10 seconds between exercises. Repeat the series 4 times for a total of 4 minutes. Take a 60-second rest and move on.

Tabata 4 - Ski Hops and Speed Skaters

• Ski Hops - Keeping feet together, bend the knees and jump to the right as far as you can. Jump to the left and continue going from side to side as fast as you can.
• Speed Skaters - Jump to the right, landing on the right foot. Immediately take another lateral jump to the left, jumping as far as you can and keeping low to the ground rather than jumping up in the air. When jumping to the right, touch the left hand to the right foot when you land. The left foot comes behind the right and stays off the ground. When jumping to the left, the right hand can touch the left foot and the right foot stays behind and off the ground.

Cool down: Take 5 minutes to cool down, allowing your heart rate to slow down. End your workout with a well-deserved stretch.

Total Workout Time - 25 Minutes

Workout 3: Mixed Interval

This mixed interval includes high-intensity intervals, alternating speed, and hill or resistance work as well as longer aerobic intervals. The differences between the aerobic intervals are subtle, so pay attention to your intensity and make adjustments throughout the intervals to stay within the suggested perceived exertion.

You can do this workout on any cardio machine or even outside if you're walking, running, or cycling.

Total: 25 Minutes

Workout 4: Outdoor Circuit

One way to spice up an outdoor workout up while creating more afterburn is to sprinkle some high-intensity moves throughout your walk or run. You'll do sprints and/or hill climbs, depending on your terrain, and some plyometric moves that will work every muscle in your body and send your heart rate soaring.

Total Workout Time: 25 Minutes

Try one or two of these workouts per week to generate more afterburn, using the other days for more moderate cardio, weight training, and stretching. Not only will you burn more calories, you'll bump up your endurance, making all your other workouts feel easier than ever. Not a bad bonus.