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24 lbs per year. Table 1 provides a comparison of estimated fat loss with different amounts of
aerobic exercise.

Table 1: Estimated fat loss with no change in calorie intake

Intensity Cal/min Time Frequency Total cal/wkEst. fat loss/month*

Low 5 60’ 3/week 900 1 lb

Low 5 60’ 5/week 1500 1.7 lb

High 1 0 60’ 3/week 1800 2 lb

High 1 0 60’ 5/week 3000 3.5 lb

* Assuming no other changes in diet or activity

Simply adding aerobic exercise with no change in diet causes weight loss to occur for men
but not always women (3,4). The reasons for this gender discrepancy are not fully understood.
Simply put, when women add aerobic exercise without performing resistance training or making
changes to their diet, the rate of fat loss is extremely slow.

The caloric burn from interval training is harder to pinpoint since it depends highly on the
intensity and duration of the activity. The impact of interval training on fat loss is discussed
further below.

Weight training uses approximately seven to nine calories per minute, including the rest
between sets. As with aerobic exercise, weight training per se has a fairly minimal direct effect
on caloric expenditure. However, weight training has several indirect effects on the energy
balance equation which are arguably more important.

Muscle is one of the body’s most active tissues and adding muscle can permanently raise
metabolic rate. This is especially important for older individuals who may have lost muscle mass
due to inactivity. The amount of calories burned from increased muscle mass is discussed in the
next section.

Calories burned after exercise

In addition to the calories burned during exercise, there is an additional calorie expenditure
after exercise referred to as Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) (5). EPOC is
caused by increases in circulating hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline, as well as
other factors, which causes the body to continue to expend calories after exercise (5). These
calories come primarily from fat stores (6). Another common exercise misconception is that the
EPOC following aerobic exercise lasts for 24 hours and contributes significantly to the overall
calorie balance equation (1).

The magnitude of EPOC is related to both the intensity and duration of activity (7,8,9).
Following low-intensity aerobic activity (65% of maximum heart rate for less than one hour),
approximately 5 total calories are burned after exercise. Moderate-intensity activity (65% of
maximum heart rate for more than an hour), may raise EPOC to 35 total calories. Following
exhaustive exercise (above 85% maximum heart rate), a post-exercise calorie expenditure of 180