Greater Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption and Fat Use Following Calisthenics vs. Oxygen Consumption Matched Steady-State Exercise

Calisthenics is a form of bodyweight exercise that involves dynamic and rhythmic exercises. The physiological responses during and after calisthenics remain unclear. This study examined whether a bout of full-body calisthenics, a form of circuit resistance exercise that involves bodyweight movements, yields greater excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) than steady-state exercise (SSE) at matched oxygen consumption. Twenty-two young adults (age = 22.1 ± 2.4 years; four females) participated in two separate, oxygen consumption (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mover><mml:mi>V</mml:mi><mml:mo>˙</mml:mo></mml:mover></mml:mrow></mml:math>O₂) matched exercise sessions: full-body calisthenics (nine body weight exercises, 15 reps × 4 sets) and SSE (running on a treadmill at 60-90% of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mover><mml:mi>V</mml:mi><mml:mo>˙</mml:mo></mml:mover></mml:mrow></mml:math>O₂max). Energy expenditure, substrate utilization, and EPOC were measured during exercise and 60 min of recovery. SSE showed higher peak <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mover><mml:mi>V</mml:mi><mml:mo>˙</mml:mo></mml:mover></mml:mrow></mml:math>O₂ and heart rate during exercise than those during calisthenics. However, the post-exercise <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mover><mml:mi>V</mml:mi><mml:mo>˙</mml:mo></mml:mover></mml:mrow></mml:math>O₂ and energy expenditure above baseline level during the first 10 min of recovery were significantly higher with calisthenics than with SSE (0-5 min: 1.7 ± 0.5 vs. 1.0 ± 0.6; 6-10 min: 0.5 ± 0.4 vs. 0.1 ± 0.2 kcal/min; 31-60 min recovery: -0.1 ± 0.3 vs. -0.2 ± 0.2; all <i>p</i> < .05). During calisthenics, participants utilized a significantly higher proportion of energy from carbohydrates (85 vs. 73%; <i>p</i> < .01) but after exercise, they used a greater proportion of fat as the energy source (71 vs. 50%; <i>p</i> < .01) compared to SSE. Full-body calisthenics, a circuit-style bodyweight exercise, may be more effective than <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mover><mml:mi>V</mml:mi><mml:mo>˙</mml:mo></mml:mover></mml:mrow></mml:math>O₂ matched SSE in triggering greater EPOC and fat metabolism. Further efforts are warranted to demonstrate whether different amounts of skeletal muscle mass groups indeed lead to varying EPOC responses and energy use.