ReviewSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)1993
The critical power concept. A review.
Review in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 1993. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 108 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
108 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The 3-min all-out test in cycling: a systematic review and meta-analysis on its reliability and validity.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Pooled it
- Anaerobic and Aerobic Energy System Contribution During Maximal Exercise: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- Field-based tests for determining critical speed among runners and its practical application: a systematic review.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluation of methods to quantify aerobic-anaerobic energy contributions during sports and exercise - a systematic review and best-evidence synthesis.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of mental fatigue on critical power during cycling exercise.European journal of applied physiology · 2018Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- High-load resistance exercise with superimposed vibration and vascular occlusion increases critical power, capillaries and lean mass in endurance-trained men.European journal of applied physiology · 2014Trial
- Influence of initial metabolic rate on the power-duration relationship for all-out exercise.European journal of applied physiology · 2012Trial
- Determination of critical power in trained rowers using a three-minute all-out rowing test.European journal of applied physiology · 2012Trial
- Critical velocity, anaerobic distance capacity, maximal instantaneous velocity and aerobic inertia in sprint and endurance young swimmers.European journal of applied physiology · 2010Trial
- Critical velocity during continuous and intermittent exercises in children.European journal of applied physiology · 2006Trial
- Vmax estimate from three-parameter critical velocity models: validity and impact on 800 m running performance prediction.European journal of applied physiology · 2006Trial
- The critical power model for intermittent exercise.European journal of applied physiology · 2004Trial
- Maximal lactate steady state, respiratory compensation threshold and critical power.European journal of applied physiology · 2003Trial
- Significance of time to exhaustion during exercise at the velocity associated with VO2max.European journal of applied physiology and occupational physiology · 1996Trial
- Effects of Back Pressure on the Feasibility and Tolerability of Laryngeal Diadochokinetic Exercise: A Pilot Study.Journal of voice : official journal of the Voice Foundation · 2026Article
- Unlocking high-intensity performance thresholds through ventilatory signatures in the ECG.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Aerodynamic Demand Responses to the Fluid Interval Test for Voice: A Laryngeal Diadochokinetic Vocal Loading Task.Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR · 2026Article
- RACLET: the Ramp Above Critical Level Endurance Test to evaluate critical power in cycling.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Article
48 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The basis of the critical power concept is that there is a hyperbolic relationship between power output and the time that the power output can be sustained. The relationship can be described based on the results of a series of 3 to 7 or more timed all-out predicting trials. Theoretically, the power asymptote of the relationship, CP (critical power), can be sustained without fatigue; in fact, exhaustion occurs after about 30 to 60 minutes of exercise at CP. Nevertheless, CP is related to the fatigue threshold, the ventilatory and lactate thresholds, and maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max), and it provides a measure of aerobic fitness. The second parameter of the relationship, AWC (anaerobic work capacity), is related to work performed in a 30-second Wingate test, work in intermittent high-intensity exercise, and oxygen deficit, and it provides a measure of anaerobic capacity. The accuracy of the parameter estimates may be enhanced by careful selection of the power outputs for the predicting trials and by performing a greater number of trials. These parameters provide fitness measures which are mode-specific, combine energy production and mechanical efficiency in 1 variable, and do not require the use of expensive equipment or invasive procedures. However, the attractiveness of the critical power concept diminishes if too many predicting trials are required for generation of parameter estimates with a reasonable degree of accuracy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
8248682What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.