Your body naturally takes a while to fully recover from a workout. The harder you workout, the longer it takes for it to get back to its resting state. This resting state consists of your heart and breath rate, the amount of fuel your muscles contain for movement, as well as your metabolic rate. The interesting thing is, your body continues to expend energy during this long “cool down phase”.
This phase is called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, and it can be a very effective way to lose weight, as well as tone up your muscles. excess post-exercise oxygen consumption has also been popularly referred to as oxygen debt, or the “afterburn” you feel post workout. Amazingly, you might not feel the effects 12 hours later, but they are still happening.