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.