Acute Response of High-Intensity and Traditional Resistance Exercise on Anaerobic Power

Austad, MA, Gay, CR, Murray, SR, and Pettitt, RW. Acute response of high-intensity and traditional resistance exercise on anaerobic power. J Strength Cond Res 27(9): 2444-2448, 2013Quantifying the maximal work capacity (W') above the aerobic critical power (CP) has emerged as a method for estimating anaerobic work capacity. Slower cadence, lower-load resistance training (RT), colloquially referred to as high-intensity training (HIT), is purported to be a better metabolic stressor than faster cadence higher-load RT, but to date, this belief has not been supported by research. We compared the acute effects of HIT and traditional RT bouts on average power within a 150-second time period (P-150 s), CP, and W', as measured from a 3-minute all-out exercise test using cycling ergometry (3 MT). Eight recreationally active male subjects (mean +/- SD: age 22 +/- 2 years, body mass 85 +/- 14 kg, and height 18 +/- 9 cm) completed a baseline 3 MT 10 repetition maximum testing on leg press and leg extension machines, and post-bout 3 MTs after an HIT (4:2 second cadence) or a traditional RT bout (1:1 second cadence). Measurements of CP from the 3 MTs were similar between the baseline, post-HIT ( = 0.96), and post-traditional RT bouts ( = 0.98). Neither HIT (269.2 +/- 51.3 W) nor traditional RT (275.1 +/- 51.3 W) evoked depreciations (p > 0.05) in P-150 s from the baseline (275.1 +/- 45.4 W). Moreover, estimates of W' at the baseline (8.3 +/- 3.2 kJ) were unaffected (p > 0.05) either by the HIT (7.6 +/- 2.3 kJ) or by the traditional RT (8.3 +/- 1.3 kJ) bouts. These data indicate that the 4:2 cadence is insufficient to exhaust a person's capacity for high-intensity work. Longer RT durations, either by slower cadences or by multiple sets, are necessary to evoke substantive declines on W' and should be investigated.