@misc{10481/105137,
year = {2025},
month = {7},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10481/105137},
abstract = {Purpose This study aimed to determine how exercise intensity influences the amount of work required to induce changes in
cyclists’ acute durability and to evaluate the suitability of using kilojoules (kJ) as a metric for fatigue monitoring.
Methods A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. Web of Science, Medline, and Scopus were
searched for studies assessing the relationship or effect between prior accumulated work and performance reductions in
cyclists. Inclusion criteria required studies to measure power output after fatigue induced within a single session, with prior
work quantified in kJ or other training load metrics.
Results Twenty-one studies were included in the systematic review. The primary finding was that high-intensity efforts (e.g.,
above critical power) led to greater power output reductions with lower accumulated work compared to low-to-moderate
intensity efforts. Across studies, power output declines of 10–20% were observed after 2.5–15 kJ kg⁻1 of prior high-intensity
work, whereas similar or greater work volumes at lower intensities resulted in smaller performance decrements. While kJ
was the most commonly used fatigue metric, it does not account for intensity, limiting its accuracy in durability assessments.
Conclusions Exercise intensity plays a crucial role in determining durability-related performance declines. The exclusive
use of kJ as a fatigue metric may be insufficient, and alternative approaches incorporating intensity are needed. These findings
have implications for training prescription and race strategies, emphasizing the need for intensity-specific workload
quantification.
Registration OSF project no.: osf.io/kcg53.},
organization = {Universidad de Granada/CBUA},
organization = {Spanish Ministry of Universities FPU20/00611, FPU22/02694},
publisher = {Springer Nature},
keywords = {Fatigue resistance},
keywords = {Cycling performance},
keywords = {Mean maximal power},
title = {Is intensity the most important factor in determining the amount of prior work accumulated that affects cyclists’ acute durability? A systematic review},
doi = {10.1007/s00421-025-05885-0},
author = {Sánchez‑Jiménez, José Luis and Salas Montoro, José Antonio and Mateo March, Manuel and Priego‑Quesada, José Ignacio and Zabala Díaz, Mikel and Pérez Díaz, Juan José},
}