Examination of Resistance Settings Based on Body Weight for the 3-Minute All-Out Critical Power Test

There are conflicting suggestions regarding the most valid resistance (3-5% of body weight) to use for the critical power (CP) 3-min all-out (CP_3min) test to estimate CP and anaerobic work capacity (AWC). The purpose of this study was to determine if the CP and AWC estimates from the CP_3min test were affected by the percentage of body weight used to set the resistance on a Monark cycle ergometer. Ten recreationally trained participants (mean ± SD: Age: 22.2 ± 2.2 yrs.) completed the CP_3min test at resistances of 4.5% (CP_4.5%) and 3% (CP_3%) of body weight to determine the CP and AWC. There were no significant differences between the CP_4.5% (167 ± 34 W) and CP_3% (156 ± 36 W) estimates. The AWC_3% (5.6 ± 2.5 kJ) estimates were significantly lower than the AWC_4.5% (9.0 ± 4.0 kJ). The CP and AWC estimates from the CP_4.5% were consistent with values reported in the literature, however, the AWC estimate from the CP_3% was lower than typically reported. These findings suggested that a resistance set at 3% of body weight for the CP_3min test may be too low to accurately estimate AWC, but 3% and 4.5% resulted in the same estimation of CP. Thus, the principal finding of this study was that a resistance of 4.5% of body weight for CP_3-min in recreationally trained participants resulted in more accurate estimates of AWC, compared to a resistance of 3%, and supports the use of 4.5% body weight resistance to measure both CP and AWC.