How to calculate your “afterburn” for more weight loss

January 2, 2018 Ashley 0 Comments

Gone are the days of FitBit and other boring health trackers.

Meanwhile, the big thing fitness nuts want their gym gadgets to tell them is their VO2 max.

And, while you may have already heard that, what you may not know is… why?

(“Dude… what if it’s just a number the manufacturers made up? So we’ll pay the extra 100 bucks for their BS gadget?”)

Fair enough. It’s an esoteric term few “get” (including me, up until recently). So, let’s break it on down, shall we? It’s all gotta do with that coveted afterburn. If you peruse this site pretty frequently, you may’ve heard a good deal about the benefits of HIIT (high intensity interval training) and Tabata (basically the same thing). Sure, endurance is a benefit. But this is a weight loss site. And big time caloric burn is one’ve the central effects you’ll get with high intensity intervals or vigorous exercise in general. The best kind of burn being the aforementioned afterburn – as in that period post-workout where you continue to burn calories as you sit around doing literally nada.

Example?

A study which took ten healthy dudes, had ’em bike for 45 minutes, and then monitored them after. The result? Compared to a day when they didn’t do vigorous exercise, they continued to burn an additional 190 calories (in addition to the four hundred and something they did on the cycles) for 14 hours after. Pretty impressive. The only problem? Well, for me, it’s that there seems to be no actual afterburn calculator out there as of yet. If I’m going for the gold star of post-sweat fat melting, I want at least a ballpark for how much that number is. I mean, don’t you?

And that’s where the VO2 max comes in.

According to experts, folks who go hard on the spinning or sprinting – at 70 to 75% of their VO2 – stand to blast between 300 to 700 calories additionally, afterward. 700’s a bit infrequent, but I’d still be good with 300. The only problem? (There’s another one?) I dunno my VO2 max. And I guess that’s where those overpriced gadgets come in. Or… is it?

See, VO2 max might help us stay at the level that earns us the calorie blasting payoff later. But you know what’s just as good? Maximum heart rate (or MHR). Why? Because the two things are linked. And that means you don’t need an expensive gadget. All you need’s a cheap heart rate monitor. (And the capacity to perform basic math.) It’s simple, really. MHR is just the max beats per minute you can handle while working out. And how’s that tied to VO2 max? Well, if you’re going at 75% of your max heart rate, then you’re hitting 60 to 65% of that VO2 max. And what about that upper number? The 70 – 75% VO2 max that gets you burning 300 plus calories while you couch surf after the gym? Well, for that, you’ve gotta go 85 to 88% of your max rate. And, while that might sound easy when you read it, it still begs the question, “Um… okay… what’s 85% of my Max Heart Rate?” So glad you asked. All you gotta do is this:

1.) Pick up your phone. (*waits for you to comply*) Good job. Now, open the calculator app.

2.) Put the number 220 in your calculator and subtract your age from it. (Don’t worry. I’m not looking.)

3.) Boom. That’s your Max Heart Rate. Now, multiply .85 times that.

4.) Congrats. That’s the number of BPM’s you gotta maintain to get that sought after afterburn.

5.) Now, buy a heart rate tracker, hit the track, and keep your BPM’s at that number most’ve the time.

(Just an example to give you an idea…)

Oh, what? That number was a little larger than you’d anticipated?

It’s not quite what you’re seeing on that run of the mill, basic bish fitness tracker I saved you hundreds of dollars on? Yeah, I faced the same thing the last time I donned a heart monitor for spin class. In fact, so focused was I on maintaining that number, that I resented the ride, the instructor, the stupid strap I was wearing, and life in general by the end. In fact, despite the type of machines I used, it held true each time. The more I tried chasing after that impossible 150+ BPM’s, the more defeated I felt, the longer the workout seemed, and the earlier I’d quit. Contrast that with my MMA class, where I’m easily meeting something close to that number most of the time, and it’s a totally different story. Why? Because the focus is on the task at gloved hand the whole time. (And not getting an elbow to the cheekbone or knee to the sternum.) I’m drenched by the end. And I’m definitely closer to that 85% number of my MHR all the while. Why? Because – for that entire time – I’m totally lost in what I’m doing for an hour or two. I’m in my flow. And that’s takeaway – the same as it ever was. Maybe it’s not about tracking every last calorie, every time we workout. Maybe it’s more about recording the caloric output or scale status every now and then. And tracking our happiness (and calories ingested) en route to our weight loss goals the rest’ve the time.

Because to lose real weight, you gotta lose yourself in what you’re doing.