Physiological Evidence that the Critical Torque Is a Phase Transition Not a Threshold

Introduction: Distinct physiological responses to exercise occur in the heavy and severe-intensity domains, which are separated by the critical power or critical torque (CT). However, how the transition between these intensity domains actually occurs is not known. We tested the hypothesis that CT is a sudden threshold, with no gradual transition from heavy- to severe-intensity behavior within the confidence limits associated with the CT.

Results: The rates of change in fatigue-related variables, mV[Combining Dot Above]O2, EMG amplitude and torque complexity were significantly faster in the severe trials compared to CT–2. For example, the fall in maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) torque was –1.5 ± 0.8 N.m.min-1 in CT–2 vs. –7.9 ± 2.5 N.m.min-1 in the lowest severe-intensity trial (S1; P < 0.05). Individual analyses showed a low frequency of severe responses even in the circa-CT trials ostensibly above the CT, but also the rare appearance of severe-intensity responses in all circa-CT trials.

Conclusion: These data demonstrate that the transition between heavy- and severe-intensity exercise occurs gradually rather than suddenly.