The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of equal work resistance exercise with different intensi-ties on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) and substrate use after resistance exercise. In this study, 16 male university students performed resistance exercise of high intensity (HI; 3 sets of 10 repetitions at 75%of their one-repetition-maximum [1RM]) and low intensity (LO; 3 sets of 15 repetitions at 50% of their 1RM) respectively. During the post-exercise period, subject’s heart rate (HR), ventilation volume (V ·E), oxygen consumption (V ·O2), respiratory exchange ratio (RER) and body temperature (BT) were continuously monitored. Repeated t test was applied to test the difference in EPOC and substrate use between HI and LO. The results indicated that: (1) the EPOC of HI was significantly different from that of LO (p < 0.05); (2) HR,
RER, V ·E and BT showed no significant differences between HI and LO (p > 0.05); and (3) post-exercise fat oxidation (0–20 minutes and 40–60 minutes) of HI was significantly greater than that of LO, but there were no significant differences between HI and LO in post-exercise carbohydrate oxidation. Thus, the results indicated that for resistance exercise with an equated work volume, HI produced higher EPOC and fat oxidation than LO. In conclusion, for resistance exercise bouts with an equated work volume, HI produces greater EPOC and fat use than LO.
