The Wikipedia definition of EPOC : “Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) is a measurably increased rate of oxygen intake following strenuous activity.”
Anaerobic exercise increases EPOC more than aerobic exercise does. Resistance exercise (strength training) is primarily anaerobic. Circuit resistance training produces the largest EPOC response.
”I Don’t Like Running, Hopping, Skipping, Trashing About, Or Picking Up Heavy Weights.” - that’s what my barber told me. He said,” I just don’t understand it”. He has little free time and hates to exercise, but he does strength train once a week. He said, “It is the perfect workout for me; once or twice a week works”.
Instead of seeing how much strength training your body can withstand see what is the least of exercise that will produce the most results. You work up to it slowly. Eventually it will be a demanding workout, but you need not do it that often and it will not take long. Add to that, activities you enjoy – swimming, walking the dog, biking. You'll feel better, look better, and perform better without hours at the health club. With such a plan you will find you will more likely stick to it.
At 78 years of age Jack had few golfers his age to golf with.
His friend Marcus was 73 and about ready to hang up his cleats for good. Marcus could play nine holes and that was about it; the next day he’d be too rundown to play again. Jack insisted that Marcus start doing the strength training program Jack had been doing for years. Jack said, "Anybody can stick to one half hour a week. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain."
A year later Marcus was playing 18 holes of golf, and the next day, he would play 18 holes again. He was hitting the ball farther and enjoying golf again. Marcus had added quality years to his life, and it took just minutes a week.
Every time Marcus exercised he would do a little more. Each week he gave himself ample time to recover, and because of that each week he would improve. 52 weeks of continuing improvement add up.
From this LA Times article Strength training does more than bulk up muscles:
A growing body of research shows that working out with weights h
as health benefits beyond simply bulking up one's muscles and strengthening bones. Studies are finding that more lean muscle mass may allow kidney dialysis patients to live longer, give older people better cognitive function, reduce depression, boost good cholesterol, lessen the swelling and discomfort of lymphedema after breast cancer and help lower the risk of diabetes.
"Muscle is our largest metabolically active organ, and that's the backdrop that people usually forget," said Kent Adams, director of the exercise physiology lab at Cal State Monterey Bay. Strengthening the muscles "has a ripple effect throughout the body on things like metabolic syndrome and obesity."
From this article Good Diets Fight Bad Alzheimer Genes:
The researchers are exhilarated to find that a diet high in Omega 3 oils and low in cholesterol appears to significantly reduce the negative effects of the APOE4 gene in mouse models.
The APOE4 gene is a known risk factor for Alzheimer's and is present in 50% of all Alzheimer's patients.
Another quote:
The main take-away message here is that good diets can alleviate the effects of bad genes. Of course nutritionists have had this general idea for a while, but it's nice to be able to show that this approach can be applied to specifically counteract the negative effects of Alzheimer's disease-related genes,"
That’s what my barber told me. He said,” I just don’t understand it”. He has little free time and hates to exercise, but he does strength train once a week. He said, “It is the perfect workout for me; once or twice a week works”. 
In order to achieve results strength training you must work the muscles intensely. Muscles adapt and become stronger as a form of self-protection when they are exposed to more demanding work than they are equipped to handle. Demanding work, work intensely, more than they are equipped to handle – who wants to do that? No wonder my barber said what he did, “I just don’t understand it”.
A solution: Instead of seeing how much strength training your body can withstand see what is the least of exercise that will produce the most results. Yes, it will be a difficult workout (You work up to it slowly.), but it will not take long and you need not do it that often.
“The brains of mice and rats that were allowed to run on wheels pulsed with vigorous, newly born neurons, and those animals then breezed through mazes and other tests of rodent I.Q., showing that neurogenesis improves thinking.”
This blog is primarily concerned with health, fitness, diet, personal training, and human performance. Not unrelated to health is the environment where you live and the opportunities
presented.
A recent NYT article (Getting a New Knee or Hip?
I perked up when the doctor on TV said, “Those days your son or daughter spends in daycare may be saving their lives.”
