Acute effects of resistance exercise on energy expenditure: revisiting the impact of the training variables

The prevalence of obese and overweight persons is growing, both in Brazil and in other parts of the world. It is, therefore, important to establish strategies that will try to control this. The combination of energy restriction and aerobic exercises has long been recognized as an effective means of controlling body composition; on the other hand, the impact of resistance exercises on weight loss is still questionable. Thus, the purpose of this review was to discuss the effect of resistance exercises on energy expenditure, considering each of its related variables - intensity, duration, number of sets, interval between sets, movement velocity and type of training (circuit or multiple sets). The reviewed studies showed that resistance exercises may induce an acute increase in energy expenditure, through the energy cost of the exercise session itself and through the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). It is also recognized that the many variables related to resistance exercises influence the results in different ways. Number of repetitions, load, rest interval between sets and number of sets, when manipulated in order to increase volume or intensity, may significantly increase the energy expenditure of a typical exercise session. In general, considering all the limitations of the reviewed studies, the literature indicates that volume is the variable with greatest impact on energy expenditure during the training session, and that intensity has its largest impact on EPOC.