Exercise Bout Increases Metabolic Rate

The debate of whether or not exercise increases the metabolic rate post exercise floats around a fair bit.    Anyway this was just published:

A 45-Minute Vigorous Exercise Bout Increases Metabolic Rate for 14 Hours

INTRODUCTION: The magnitude and duration of the elevation in resting energy expenditure following vigorous exercise have not been measured in a metabolic chamber. This study investigated the effects of inserting a 45-min vigorous cycling bout into the daily schedule versus a controlled resting day on 24-h energy expenditure in a metabolic chamber.

METHODS: Ten male subjects (ages 22 to 33 yrs) completed two separate 24-h chamber visits (one rest and one exercise day) and energy balance was maintained for each visit condition. On the exercise day, subjects completed 45-min of cycling at 57% Wattsmax (mean±SD, 72.8±5.8% VO2max) starting at 11:00 am. Activities of daily living were tightly controlled to ensure uniformity on both rest and exercise days. The area under the energy expenditure curve for exercise and rest days was calculated using the trapezoid rule in the EXPAND procedure in the Statistical Analysis Systems (SAS) and then contrasted.

RESULTS: The 45-min exercise bout resulted in a net energy expenditure of 519±60.9 kcal (P<0.001). For 14-h post-exercise, energy expenditure was increased 190±71.4 kcal compared to the rest day (P±0.001).

CONCLUSION: In young male subjects, vigorous exercise for 45-min resulted in a significant elevation in post-exercise energy expenditure that persisted for 14-h. The 190 kcals expended post-exercise above resting levels, represented an additional 37% to the net energy expended during the 45-min cycling bout. The magnitude and duration of increased energy expenditure following a 45-min bout of vigorous exercise may have implications for weight loss and management.

 Pretty interesting.   It is soemthign that I have been thinking about recently - every workout has an impact:  hormonally on post exercise metabolic rate etc.  Every workout is important.