Jones et al. 2010, Critical power and the determination of VO2max and exercise tolerance

Andrew M. Jones, Anni Vanhatalo, Mark Burnley, R. Hugh Morton & David C. Poole. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 42(10):1876-90, 2010. Review of the power-duration relationship. Time-to-exhaustion for high-intensity exercise falls as a hyperbolic function of power or speed, described by two parameters: critical power (CP), the asymptote, defined as the highest rate of oxidative ATP production sustainable without continuously drawing on the finite store W’; and W’, the curvature constant (work doable above CP, in kilojoules). CP marks the boundary between the heavy and severe intensity domains. Above CP, VO2 rises to its maximum and exhaustion coincides with full depletion of W’. A review of controlled physiology, framework widely replicated.