Avoid this type of workout before going to the dentist

With the popularity of activity and food tracking apps, I get asked a lot how many calories does an hour of boot camp burn.

 

We have had people track their calories burned with monitors and depending on the workout it is anywhere from 350-800 calories per hour for an average size woman. Not every workout will be that high or that low.

 

Your size, the type of workout, and how hard you are working will all factor in as well.

 

The main benefit of the type of workouts we do is not just what happens during the workout, it is what happens afterwards.

 

There is something known as EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption and rhymes with Tupac), sometimes called the Afterburn effect, that occurs after a tough workout.

 

Basically it is continued calorie burn that happens as the body tries to put itself back together like Humpty Dumpty. Returning heart rate back to normal, repairing muscles, getting oxygen levels back to normal, and replacing energy stores (glycogen) all take calories to get the body back to its normal resting state (homeostasis).

 

That's fancy talk for, it revs up your metabolism like crazy. I also have an explanation in the form of a dental warning.

 

I had a client one time who had a dentist appointment a few hours after a 530am workout. She was having a procedure done that required the dentist to numb her mouth.

 

There was only one problem. Shortly after they numbed her mouth, it would go away quickly and she could feel things you don't want to feel at the dentist.

 

The dentist was at a loss until he figured out my client had been at boot camp that morning. Her metabolism was up so high that it would get rid of the numbing medication in no time.

 

Awesome for burning calories, not so much for being pain free at the dentist's office.

 

You can not get this afterburn effect from walking or low intensity exercise. You have to work hard and you will be out of breath, but it will pay off.

 

We do a lot of interval training at Huntsville and Madison Adventure Boot Camp to maximize the EPOC effect. Here are a few tips to add into your interval training to increase fat loss:

 

1. Use full body exercises
2. Shorter rest breaks (30 seconds or less)
3. Strength training mixed with cardio exercise
4. Always challenge yourself to lift heavier and go harder

 

It does not make for an easy workout, but it makes for an effective and interesting one. Give it a try, but don't go to the dentist afterwards.