Effects of Duration, Intensity and Total Caloric Expenditure on Excess Postexercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) in Sedentary Male Adolescents

Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) remains a controversial subject as many researchers disagree on the contributions of exercise intensity, exercise duration or overall energy expenditure of exercise to the magnitude of EPOC. Futhermore, very little is known regarding EPOC in the adolescent population. The purpose of this study is to describe the effects of duration, intensity and total caloric expenditure on EPOC, overall energy expenditure (EE) and fat oxidation (FO) during the post-exercise recovery period (PERP) in male adolescents.;This study will allow us to understand the post exercise physiological effects of exercise in adolescents. With the results of this study we anticipate being able to improve exercise prescriptions and maximize post exercise energy expenditure in adolescents. The results of this study will provide medical professionals, as well as physical educators, with new tools for designing exercise programs intended for the adolescent population.;10 male subjects participated in the study. Each subject presented themselves to the laboratory on 4 separate occasions. Testing days were seperated by 48 hours. The subjects performed a variety of exercises followed by a 90 minute rest period post exercise. Our results demonstrate that exercise intensity is the most important factor when attempting to increase FO during PERP. The most significant increases in caloric expenditure and FO occur during the first 15 minutes of PERP. It should be noted that overall FO during exercise and PERP combined, was highest during low intensity, long duration exercise.