EPOC gives you a training effect without the training cost.
A good Tabata workout, including warm-up and some extra farting around, fits well within 30 minutes. Of which approximately 4 are spent trying to expel my lungs from my body through my nose. The rest of it is virtually enjoyable by comparison.
I'll be toasty, as in sweat-dripping-off-my-brow toasty, for the next 3-4 hours. And feel an elevated metabolism through the next day.
For squats and deads its pretty much the same, except that I can feel the elevation (it'd be interested to actually measure core body temps) for about twice as long.
If you're training for 4-6 hours, you're introducing catabolism and other stress factors into the equation. Remember, all training is stress. If body recomp is your goal, and mass gain is a part of that, then tearing your muscles down for 3-5 hours once or twice (or more) weekly isn't helping you.
If you want a sense of how effective long-duration cardio is at stripping lean muscle mass, consider that trans-oceanic rowers (a cohort I've met several members of) lose 30-40# or more in a typical crossing of 90-180 days, largely muscle mass. Granted, that's a sustained 8-10 hr/day of rowing, but the principle is similar.
EPOC is your friend if your goal is lean mass gains and peak cardiovascular fitness, along with fat loss.
Yeah, I know the standard internet spiel about EPOC. I just think it's broscience and bad advice for the majority of people looking for health and fitness information.
If you read those studies, they confirm what I said in my previous post. There is an EPOC effect, but it is minimal compared to doing more exercise. There is also an EPOC effect for cardio, it's just not as pronounced as weight training. (but it's not much less, either, more like 5% less)
The bigger issue is there is no way for the casual exerciser to measure EPOC, whereas it's straightforward to measure calorie intake and calorie expenditure. Thus, it's not very useful as a weight loss aid, because you have no idea how much of an afterburn effect really occurs. If you can't measure it yourself, it's effectively broscience, even if there is real science behind the idea.
I'm going to agree with this. What you can't measure, you can't improve. Sure, there is some EPOC effect, but how am I going to use that to benefit me? How do I know that 30 minutes of intervals + EPOC is better than 4 hours of low-intensity cardio? (I think the answer is, "a lab can measure this for you". But is it worthwhile to pay for this when your body is in a constant state of change and you aren't a professional athlete? )
The benefit, for the trainee looking to improve overall body composition, is that HIIT provides both cardiovascular and EPOC benefits without the concomitant catabolic effects of frequent prolonged aerobic activity.
Fat loss is mostly about diet, full stop. If you're doing cardio to burn fat, you're mostly looking in the wrong place.
If you want to lose fat, gain muscle, and improve cardiovascular fitness, as well as boost overall metabolism, incorporating HIIT (and benefiting from EPOC) increases both training efficiency and overall body composition, as you'll make faster lean mass gains.
A good Tabata workout, including warm-up and some extra farting around, fits well within 30 minutes. Of which approximately 4 are spent trying to expel my lungs from my body through my nose. The rest of it is virtually enjoyable by comparison.
I'll be toasty, as in sweat-dripping-off-my-brow toasty, for the next 3-4 hours. And feel an elevated metabolism through the next day.
For squats and deads its pretty much the same, except that I can feel the elevation (it'd be interested to actually measure core body temps) for about twice as long.
If you're training for 4-6 hours, you're introducing catabolism and other stress factors into the equation. Remember, all training is stress. If body recomp is your goal, and mass gain is a part of that, then tearing your muscles down for 3-5 hours once or twice (or more) weekly isn't helping you.
If you want a sense of how effective long-duration cardio is at stripping lean muscle mass, consider that trans-oceanic rowers (a cohort I've met several members of) lose 30-40# or more in a typical crossing of 90-180 days, largely muscle mass. Granted, that's a sustained 8-10 hr/day of rowing, but the principle is similar.
EPOC is your friend if your goal is lean mass gains and peak cardiovascular fitness, along with fat loss.