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The core feature of Afterburner is to show the user how their body responds to various types of workout. In reality, our bodies respond in many different ways, making us fitter and more healthy. In Afterburner we group these adaptive responses into four Adaptive Response Categories Types (RCsARTs):
- EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption): after intense exercise, your body must replenish the (phosphocreatine, ATP and glycogen) energy stores that were used up during the workout. This causes you to burn calories for a period after exercise. This increased calorie-burn causes you to consume more oxygen and this is how the effect is measured in a lab. The effect is very strong immediately after exercise but tails off quickly to a low level that can last for a couple of days.
- Muscular Strength adaptionsGains: putting your muscles under 'exercise stress' creates micro-tears and causes them to adapt by strengthening themselves. This process is called muscular hypertrophy and can occur for up to 72 hours after exercise. Exercises that put a high resistance on a muscle cause a greater physiological response.
- Cardio (aerobic) adaptionsCardiovascular Adaptions: in the same way, putting your heart and cardiovascular system under exercise stress cause them to adapt and strengthen. Your heart muscles get stronger and bigger (cardio hypertrophy) and are able to pump more blood per second; veins and arteries get bigger and are able to handle more blood per second; lung capacity increases as the lungs grow more alveoli and are able to pass more oxygen into the blood.
- Metabolic adaptions: as fitness increases, your body is able to burn fat more effectively. This means fat can be used as the primary fuel at higher exercise intensities, making it easier for you to burn even more fat. The body also becomes better at regulating hormones such as insulin and ghrelin. These are the hormones that govern the body's hunger and fat storage mechanisms.
When a user completes a Workout Activity workout activity, we calculate what these four responses will be - in total and over time. Each RC ART has a 'default shape' when graphed over time. But, depending on the type of exercise performed, the duration, and the level of intensity with which in was performed, the magnitude and duration of each RC ART is altered. For example, performing push-ups, planks and lunges will elicit a very different set of physiological responses from jumping jacks, running on the spot and step-ups - even if the intensity and duration are the same.
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- Pie charts and max impact are shown on Workout Definitions workout definitions. These communicate the max total response available from performing this workout and the ratio between the RCsARTs. The data comes from the constituent Exercise Definitions exercise definitions and durations.
- Strength and cardio ratings are shown on Exercise Definitions.
- When a Workout Activity workout activity is complete, the Workout Activity Detail View is presented immediately. This shows total burn and a total for each of the RCsARTs. These totals represent the total response from this workout and they will not change over time.
- The Afterburn View shows the current response (if any). It shows the current overall response and the current response for each categorytype. These values change over time and are recalculated regularly.
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Adaptive Response Type Pie Chart and Max Impact
The data for the Response Category Type Pie Chart is calculated by summing all the responses and durations for all the exercises that this Workout Definition workout definition contains.
So, if C = ExerciseDefinition.Cardio and D = Exercise.Duration the max total response for a single exercise is:
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