The effect of upper body exercise intensity and duration on post-exercise oxygen consumption

This study assessed excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) following upper body exercise (UBE) of different intensity and duration. Ten subjects, 5 male and 5 female (age: 26.7 +/- 4.9 yr; peak UBE oxygen uptake [VO2peak]: 1.78 +/- 0.57 l. min-1, 25.6 +/- 5.8 ml.kg-1. min-1) performed three randomized tests on an arm crank ergometer: 1) low intensity, short duration (LS) = 35% VO2peak for 15 min; 2) low intensity, long duration (LL) = 35% VO2peak for 30 min; 3) high intensity, short duration (HS) = 70% VO2peak for 15 min. Subjects reported for all tests in the morning and in a fasted and rested state. Exercise was preceded by a 30 min seated baseline. Recovery VO2 was continuously monitored until baseline was re-established. EPOC duration (p < 0.01) and magnitude (p < 0.01) were significantly greater following HS, while LL and LS did not differ in response (duration and magnitude: HS = 14.0 +/- 6.5 min, 32.5 +/- 24.6 kJ; LL = 5.5 +/- 4.4 min, 12.3 +/- 8.6 kJ; LS = 5.7 +/- 4.9 min, 10.3 +/- 5.3 kJ). HS also had higher HR (73 +/- 10 b.min-1, p < 0.01) at end-EPOC compared to LL (64 +/- 8 b.min-1) and LS (66 +/- 8 b.min-1), and baseline HS values (63 +/- 8 b. min-1). Results from this study indicate that UBE intensity has a greater effect on EPOC than exercise duration under these conditions. UBE appears to have similar EPOC patterns as lower body exercise.