Your body burns more calories after leg presses than after chest flys—even if you rest the same amount—because your legs use way more muscles and need more oxygen to recover.

Scientific Claim

In healthy, resistance-trained men, the magnitude of excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) is significantly greater after horizontal leg press than after chest fly, independent of rest interval length, indicating that muscle mass recruited is the primary determinant of post-exercise metabolic elevation.

Original Statement

“The EPOC magnitude... was influenced by the exercise type but not by the RIs (p = 0.003, effect sizes from 0.31 to 0.46)... The EPOC assessed after the LP was almost twice the value obtained after the CF.”

From study:The effect of Between-Set Rest Intervals on the Oxygen Uptake During and After Resistance Exercise Sessions Performed with Large- and Small-Muscle Mass

Evidence Quality Assessment

Claim Status

appropriately stated

Study Design Support

Design supports claim

Appropriate Language Strength

definitive

Can make definitive causal claims

Assessment Explanation

The RCT design, statistical significance (p = 0.003), and direct VO2net measurements support definitive causal language. The claim is appropriately limited to the studied population and exercises.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

The effect of Between-Set Rest Intervals on the Oxygen Uptake During and After Resistance Exercise Sessions Performed with Large- and Small-Muscle Mass

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2011 Nov

Lifting with your legs burned more calories after the workout than lifting with your chest, no matter how long you rested between sets—because your legs use more muscles, and more muscles mean your body keeps working harder after you stop.

Contradicting (0)

No contradicting evidence found

Source Study

The effect of Between-Set Rest Intervals on the Oxygen Uptake During and After Resistance Exercise Sessions Performed with Large- and Small-Muscle Mass

Score: 46

DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318212e415

Similar Assertions

After lifting heavy with your legs, your body keeps burning extra calories for about 40 minutes—but after doing chest flys with long breaks, it only lasts 20 minutes.

86%

Doing leg presses burns way more calories than doing chest flys—even if you do the same number of reps—because your legs use more muscles and keep burning energy longer after you finish.

86%

Right after leg presses with only 1-minute breaks, your body gasps for air more intensely in the first minute than if you took 3-minute breaks—but this doesn’t happen with chest flys.

81%

How long you rest between sets doesn’t usually change how long your body keeps burning calories after a workout—unless you do chest flys with long breaks, then it stops sooner.

79%

When doing leg presses, taking only 1 minute of rest between sets makes you breathe harder overall than taking 3 minutes, but this doesn’t happen when doing chest flys—your body handles short breaks better when using smaller muscles.

73%