Abstract

This study was designed to examine the effect of exercise intensity on the magnitude and duration of excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) in women. On separate days and in a counterbalanced order, seven moderately active young adult women performed a 850 kJ cycle ergometer exercise at an intensity of 40 or 60% of their previously determined peak oxygen uptake (VO2). Baseline VO2 and heart rate (HR) were recorded during the last 10 min of a 45 min seated rest. VO2 and HR were measured continuously during recovery until VO2 returned to baseline. There was no significant difference noted in the baseline measures between the two exercise programmes. Magnitude of EPOC was comparable (P greater than 0.05) being mean (s.d.) of 30(17) and 36(13) kJ after 40 and 60% exercises respectively. Although the EPOC duration was 53% longer following the 40% exercise than following 60% (27(15) min and 18(8) min, respectively) this difference was not statistically significant. These exercise conditions failed to produce a prolonged EPOC in the women of this study, and values recorded for magnitude of EPOC indicate that it was not significant with regard to the overall energy expenditure of the activity. It was concluded that both magnitude and duration of EPOC seemed to be independent of the chosen exercise intensities used by the women in this study.