Lactate training - baseline

You're too slow for lactates. JFR.

1. A lactate threshold test should last 5 minutes at least.

2. This would depend on your end goal. Are you training for a marathon? If so, you should place more emphasis on the 2.5 mmol/L range.

3. This is pretty subjective. If you can pace yourself pretty well by feel and stick to the corresponding pace, you don't need many measurments.

4. 6 weeks is a good number.

Thank you very much.

1. I guess I should shoot for 1600m instead or perhaps even 2000m for consistent protocol as I imagine I'd reach 5 minute for last interval when I'll get faster.

2. For now, I'm trying to re-establish my base and aim for a higher LT to be able to train more efficient when I'm back to specific training. I consider myself as 1500-5000 runner. With that in mind, is it OK to have one LT1 and 2 LT2 sessions per week?

3. Thought so, those test strips ain't cheap, LOL.

4. What changes should I expect from a test to another? Just different pace for each mmol/L reading? Or should I expect my mmol/L readings to also change for LT1 and LT2?

2. Yes, that is a reasonable target.

4. If done properly, you should expect the curve to shift towards the right.

Hello,

I have experience with using lactate testing and training so hopefully can offer some insight. You are correct with your assumptions of what LT1 and LT2 are. LT1 & LT2 can vary based on physiological characteristics, training load, fatigue/overtraining to name a few things. It is highly individualised, 2.0mmol and 4.0mmol are just placeholders which can be helpful to give a ballpark figure of what to expect for LT1/2.

1) Usually you would want the steps to last 6-10 minutes. 10 minutes per stage is suggested by Dr Inigo San Millan (UAE team Emirates coach) for cyclists, but I believe he mentions that anything above 6 minutes should be sufficient for runners due to the loading. So perhaps you could target 1600 or 2km reps? As for the rest in between the reps do not worry about this. Since you are running at lower than LT2 (for the majority of it) the rest does not matter. Take as much time as needed to perform the test successfully, say around 2-3 minutes. As it is low intensity & the rep is long enough you will reach the correct lactate values anyway. Also be sure to be careful that the pacing is even, as a fast 100m can alter the values.

I would always try to add a stage past your predicted LT2, just to ensure that you have hit LT2. It is also important to humble yourself as many times when you first do a test you will be shocked at how 'bad' your values are, especially your LT1 value. This is good though, as it shows there is lots of room for improvement in aerobic capacity.

I would not use heart rate for the reps as this can be more variable with external factors than lactate and will be a moving target in the future. It is better to go by paces so when you retest in the future you can see how your lactate/heart rate values compare at the same pace.

For the first one, in my opinion, it is better to start on the slower end so you can get a better idea of where to test next time around. You can then do less stages at smaller increments to get a more precise view of when your turnpoints are.

For example you could potentially go (pace/km): 4:50, 4:40, 4:30, 4:20, 4:10, 4:00, 3:50 (or 55, 45, 35...) for 1600s, which is around 11km volume. This would help establish your baseline and low end zones. You may even see lactate go down on the second stage as you start to metabolise it. This is just an example, there are many ways to successfully do this. Your suggestion of 4:40-20-10-00-3:50 could work just fine. I usually like to keep the drop in pace the same for each stage (roughly 1s/100m) but that could just be me being particular over needless details.

As you are interested in your easy lactate value you could run this pace for your warm up and test upon completion, that way you know the value and do not 'waste' a stage in the test.

2) Using these values to help shape your training would be good. It would help to keep the intensity regulated. When using lactate thresholds it is important to note that you should not exceed the threshold values when trying to get that training stimulus. When you do race pace work you can exceed them of course, but in the context of tempo/threshold training you should not. It is better to proceed with caution when using them to set training paces.

For example on the 5x6 min intervals, if aiming for LT1 (2.1mmol as per your example), you should be aiming to have your test values/intensity lower than this- say 1.5-1.7mmol as an example. This is because the closer you get to it, the more fatigue you accumulate and you have a greater risk of crossing into the next zone which would change the physiological adaptations. Same with LT2 sessions, these have even higher risk as the fatigue is much more severe once you pass the threshold and aerobic adaptations decrease significantly. For LT2 (4.2mmol) you would probably want to target no higher than 3.5mmol in these sessions.

Yes the 400s will be faster than the 1000s. Try to keep the rest short (30-45s), and to not push too hard on the 400s. It is easy to go too hard and have the 'right' lactate value if you test very soon after finishing the rep. As stated earlier, it is better to shoot for a pace under what you think is the LT2, as this will help build a bigger foundation and give the adaptations you are aiming for.

I personally prefer to focus on LT1 as I believe it is more efficient and provides great aerobic adaptations with minimal fatigue. I would not do three straight LT1/2 sessions a week, as it will neglect your anaerobic capacity. From experience you can do so much threshold and produce great lactate numbers, but not race well as you do not have the ability to push higher than that. For me it would be better to do one of each: LT1, LT2, and anaerobic capacity (fast 200s with 2 mins rest) per week. Again, personal preference and this is more for the 1500-10k.

3) The testing within sessions you have suggested looks good to me. Heart rate data from the test will be good to help base it off. As you become more familiar with LT1 and LT2 you will be better able to judge the intensity off of feel also. LT1 is a difficult one to feel initially as it is so low intensity we easily push past it. We are always taught that more pain/effort is good, but this is often not the case when thinking of our aerobic physiology. I would start with testing two times a session, but then move to one per session, then every few sessions as you understand how the paces feel.

4) Every 6 weeks is a good gauge. You could do less frequent than that, but not more often. As I do it you keep training at the same LT1/2 for the test with minor adjustments based off of training data in between tests. It also depends on training cycles and racing for test dates. Ideally you do not want to test during heavy training, as the fatigue can cause your lactate values to be out of whack. Interestingly enough when you are highly overtrained/fatigued your lactate values can be lower. This can lead to greater overtraining as you push to hit your lactate values in training.

So for testing, try to do it in the middle of a deload/recovery week. Ideally you would want two easy days beforehand with no weight training (this can really spike lactate values). Also try to keep things consistent in them- measuring in the morning, similar sleep, food, etc. I'd say time of day is most important, I understand not everyone is pursuing minor gains as an elite athlete would.

Hopefully this helped somewhat. Any questions feel free to ask and I will do my best to expand.

Good answers already, so adding:

Ramp test: basically you go by duration not distance. You can do a ramp test also on a treadmill (calibrated and inclination set correctly). 5min for each step is the absolute minimum and i recommend at least 6min levels. To compare ramp test data your test protocol must be identically. You need at least 5 samples. At least 2 should be at baseline (very easy) one above your 60minutes threshold. Use Pace not HR. Measure every 6 weeks, at the end of the downweek, if you have the feeling you got better. Be well hydrated, carbohydrate loaded and rested before testing starts. Do not eat directly before testing.

Thank you all for all the tips!

I have received it and wanted to test it out to learn the procedure. I was at rest, in bed, first test reported 'hi' (i.e. over 25.0 mmol/L) which is impossible. The next attempt was 15.0. I have also got it with me for a steady workout, so after 3K warm-up at 6:00/km, I had a 14.6 reading. After 10K steady at 4:55, I've got 'hi' once again. I have tested my wife, too, at rest, just to double-check that I'm not severely ill, she also got 9.1 by doing nothing. What is going on, do I need to calibrate my Lactate Pro 2? If so, how?

This is my test procedure, please correct me if I'm not testing myself right: 1/ unwrap test strip carefully to avoid its ends and enter it into lactate meter, which turns on, mail icon and date appear 2/ pinch finger, wash away first blood drop 3/ get my second blood drop close to the test strip until it fills out and 15s counter starts.

I'm planning to do my first ramp-up lactate test this week but the lactate readings are around ~10x higher than I'd expect, so they are useless.

Sweat contamination is likely to occur, but the fact that your wife's reading is also unreasonably high could suggest a faulty meter.

Or that they are both not very good runners

When I first started using a lactate meter I ran into similar issues, although not as severe.

What I found helped was:

Using a medical gloves on my dominant hand to remove the test strip (still avoiding touching the area where the blood sample would go).

Using an alcohol prep pad to wipe the area I would take the blood from, then wiping it with a tissue, using the lancet to draw blood, wiping it away with fresh tissues again.

Stabalising my weak hand on something solid- this would limit any shaking/movement and stop the lancet touching my skin. It is better in my opinion to move the lancet towards a stationary hand than moving the hand to the lancet.

I found the alcohol pad helped massively for me, and the glove was just an extra precaution.

Also, when taking the blood sample make sure it is a 'bubble' of blood and has not gone flat/runny. This usually means sweat has got into it, so wipe away and gently squeeze out another blood bubble.

Hope this helps, sorry if I repeated anything you are already doing.

Good points, thanks for sharing.

In your experience, do you find the safety lancet size to be of any importance?

I use a 28 gauge lancet and find it hard to squeeze out enough blood.

I have found it to help get enough blood for the sample. I have never used 28 gauge for a self sample (I believe my coach had used this size when taking samples from my ear and had success). I found 26 gauge were good at getting a decent sample size without causing too much bruising/bleeding as I had when I used 22-24 (way too big, but I thought a lower number meant a smaller size at that time).

24 seemed to work well but there was lots of blood and my finger became bruised after repeated testing.

Change the battery

1) Wash your hand before you start the ramp test

2) If you insert a new test strip into the LP2 don't touch both ends of the test strip!

3) If the test strip touches the skin, you get a wrong reading most of the time.

4) Check battery

5) Sweat is your enemy. You get higher readings if your blood is contaminated with sweat.

Thanks, turns out my lancets are actually 23 gauge.

EuroStyle wrote: "For example you could potentially go (pace/km): 4:50, 4:40, 4:30, 4:20, 4:10, 4:00, 3:50 (or 55, 45, 35...) for 1600s, which is around 11km volume."

_________

How should newcomers to the sport be tested? They might be running just a few km or a few miles per day. Having them run 11 km (6.8 miles) is much more than they might be accustomed to and, I suppose, might not be a good test of lactate threshold.

Not the poster you're asking, but I don't think newcomers need to be tested for lactate threshold.

However, 4 stages is sufficient for establishing the lactate threshold. The important part is to test just under and just over 4 mmol/L.

Interesting question. I only have experience with lactate testing in elite/highly trained athletes. The test I mentioned is quite drawn out, and could be replicated with a lesser number of steps. You could probably get away with only doing 4-5 steps if you have a good idea with where you think the values fall, and then use the first test data to fine tune it the second time around.

Usually you would like the step to be over 6 mins in duration, so if your pace is slower you could have a distance which would associate with the fastest rep being 6 mins long and have the total volume be lower by doing this.

Alternatively you could do less steps in the test. 7 steps is quite high, and you could probably get away with doing 4-5. You may miss a little nuance with the lower number of steps, but as a beginner it should not be too much of an issue. You could use larger differences of pace between steps starting from just faster than easy run pace down to just faster than what you think your threshold pace is. So pace slower than LT1 estimate, in the middle of LT 1-2 estimate, LT2 estimate, just over LT2 estimate. Usually it is better to estimate on the slow side of things as these turning points can feel easier than we expect. I imagine while this is a rough and no way near perfect protocol, you could adapt it towards what you would like to find out/prioritise in your training, and then adapt it based on the results for your next test.

Ideally you would want to find both LT1 and LT2, not just above or below 4mmol. While 4mmol is a good place to start, it is generalistic and may not capture your individual physiology well.

4mmol/l is a meaningless number. Every single person has an individual lactate concentration associated with lactate threshold. It's chance that yours will fall on 4mmol/l. 2mmol/l is the same arbitrary threshold.

Also, trying to estimate lactate threshold from ANY incremental graded exercise test will ALWAYS overestimate the threshold by some amount. The steeper the ramp slope, the larger the decoupling between effort and intensity.

I prefer to do several constant-rate tests over several days. Yeah, most people won't do to that level, but it provides be most representative values.