Responses to Exercise at the Critical Heart Rate vs. the Power Output Associated With the Critical Heart Rate

Abstract

Abstract Succi, PJ, Dinyer-McNeely, TK, Voskuil, CC, Abel, MG, Clasey, JL, and Bergstrom, HC. Responses to exercise at the critical heart rate vs. the power output associated with the critical heart rate. J Strength Cond Res 37(12): 2362–2372, 2023—This study examined the physiological (volume of oxygen consumption [V̇o 2], heart rate [HR], power output [PO], respiration rate [RR], muscle oxygen saturation [%SmO2]), neuromuscular (electromyographic and mechanomyographic amplitude [EMG AMP and MMG AMP] and mean power frequency [EMG MPF and MMG MPF]), and perceptual (rating of perceived exertion [RPE]) responses during exercise anchored at the critical heart rate (CHR) vs. the PO associated with CHR (PCHR). Nine subjects (mean ± SD; age = 26 ± 3 years) performed a graded exercise test and 4 constant PO trials to exhaustion at 85–100% of peak PO (PP) to derive CHR and PCHR on a cycle ergometer. Responses were recorded during trials at CHR (173 ± 9 b·min−1, time to exhaustion [TLim] = 45.5 ± 20.2 minutes) and PCHR (198 ± 58 W, TLim = 21.0 ± 17.8 minutes) and normalized to their respective values at PP in 10% intervals. There were significant (p ≤ 0.05) mode (CHR vs. PCHR) × time (10%–100% TLim) interactions for all variables (p < 0.001–0.036) except MMG AMP (p > 0.05). Post hoc analyses indicated differences across time for CHR V̇o 2 (%change = −22 ± 16%), PCHR V̇o 2 (19 ± 5%), CHR RR (24 ± 23%), PCHR RR (45 ± 14%), CHR PO (−33 ± 11%), PCHR HR (22 ± 5%), CHR RPE (22 ± 14%), PCHR RPE (39 ± 6%), CHR %SmO2 (41 ± 33%), PCHR %SmO2 (−18 ± 40%), CHR EMG AMP (−13 ± 15%), PCHR EMG AMP (13 ± 13%), CHR EMG MPF (9 ± 8%), CHR MMG MPF (7 ± 11%), and PCHR MMG MPF (−3 ± 14%). The critical heart rate was more sustainable than PCHR but required adjustments in PO which traversed intensity domains and caused dissociations of the responses previously observed in exercise anchored to PO. These dissociations indicated the demands to exercise varied with anchoring scheme and provides an important consideration for practitioners prescribing endurance exercise.