The effects of full-body cardiovascular exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen

Little is known about the effects of full-body cardiovascular exercise (FBE) on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), or the hypothesized driving mechanisms of EPOC, as compared with upper-body exercise (UBE) and lower-body exercise (LBE). Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to compare UBE, LBE, and FBE on the magnitude of EPOC, expressed as VO2 (L) and caloric cost (kcals). A secondary purpose was to compare measures of possible mechanisms for EPOC across modes: blood lactate concentration, end-EPOC HR, and end-EPOC RER. A repeated measures design was used where subjects (n = 8) consisting of aerobically trained Division II, collegiate male soccer athletes, aged 19.6 ± .9 years, functioned as their own control. All subjects were fit to the full-body ergometer to control for body position and habituated to each testing modality for at least 15 minutes and mode-specific VO2peak prior to the sub-maximal bouts of relatively quantified exercise. The sub-maximal bouts, after which EPOC was measured, were aimed at an intensity of approximately 70% mode-specific VO2peak and administered in a randomized, counterbalanced order of testing. Prior to each exercise bout baseline, VO2, blood lactate, HR, and RER measures were taken with no significant differences across modes (p .05), ensuring a similar resting state. During exercise subjects were able to maintain exercise intensities of 58.5%, 61.5% and 65% of VO2peak for UBE, LBE, FBE, respectively; these relative intensities were not significantly different (p .05). During the 10-minute EPOC period UBE, LBE and FBE elicited an EPOC magnitude of 5.49 ± .35 L and 28 ± 1.96 kcals, 5.95 ± .37 L and 31.5 ± 2.09 kcals 6.71 ± .47 L and 36.13±i2.08 kcals, respectively. Significant differences between UBE and FBE were found for VO2 (p = .008) and kcals (p = .007) yet no significant differences (p .05) were found for LBE as compared with either mode. Further, significant differences between LBE and FBE for end-EPOC RER (p = .023) and between UBE and LBE for end-exercise blood lactate concentration (p = .041) were found, with LBE eliciting the lowest effect on both variables. Consequently, these mechanisms failed to explain direction of differences in EPOC obscured across modes. In conclusion, FBE was found to have elicited the greatest magnitude of EPOC as compared with UBE and LBE.