The fat-burning effect from using compound lifts can also continue long after your training session has finished. This is particularly if the session involves little rest between sets or super-setting exercises. EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption) aka the ‘afterburn’ effect is the body’s response to exhaustion from the demands of training.
During EPOC, your body requires extra oxygen to restore homeostasis (its normal, resting level of metabolic function). The energy used for an intense workout can leave the body in oxygen deficit. In fact, your oxygen consumption is elevated for up to 24 hours and sometimes more!
This extra oxygen requirement is for the body’s cellular repair and to help it make adaptations to exercise undertaken. To help pay back the debt quickly the body needs fuel to produce ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) or energy and for this, the body will tap into fat stores.