Staying Healthy
Vigorous exercise produces 'afterburn' bonus
One of the obvious rewards of exercising hard is that you burn up calories while you're doing it. That added calorie combustion helps you stay trim and may even help you lose weight, although you also have to watch the number of calories you put into your body.
Exercise scientists have found that vigorous exercise has an added bonus: an "afterburn" of revved-up metabolism — and the calorie-burning needed to supply it — that continues after the huffing and puffing are over. Some studies have indicated that this lasts 20 to 30 minutes and burns 30 or so calories, which is fine but really not all that impressive. But researchers in North Carolina have reported some results that are.
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