LACTATE
INTRO:
Many people are training at the wrong intensity and therefore wasting their time and not getting the results they want or deserve. Training at too high an intensity burns more sugar than fat, raises lactate levels in the blood and can lead to post workout cravings and blood sugar swings. The result is often burn-out, injuries, health problems and poor race day performance.
Training at too low an intensity doesn’t provide enough stimulus to create adaptations in performance or in an athlete’s physiology at a cellular level. In fact, training too hard or too easily can make you less aerobically fit undermining all your goals and desires for better race times, especially if you are an endurance athlete like a Runner, Cyclist or Triathlete. This problem is magnified when the races you do are longer like the marathon and IRONMAN where the #1 fuel source is FAT and the ability to replace used carbohydrate stores is limited.
So how do you know if you are training at the right intensity for YOU and teaching your body to burn more fat?
The first thing you need to do, is to use a heart-rate monitor BUT just using one is not enough. You have to train in the correct zones for YOU and determining these zones requires using sound sport science through lactate testing.
Blood Lactate Testing is vital for the optimal development of the endurance athlete. It is the undisputed gold standard for fitness testing and the secret used by the worlds fastest ever endurance athletes. It allows you to see what is happening inside your exercising body and to optimize your training so that every second counts. It is just as vital for a beginner as it is for a seasoned athlete.
An assessment with Coach Gareth is not like any other lab test. It’s the chance for an athlete to spend one2one time with one of the top endurance coaches in the world, uncovering what will make the athlete hit their true potential. All tests are performed by Coach Gareth (not some newly qualified lab tech), and he brings 28 years experience and unique knowledge from the thousands of tests he has performed to make sure that your testing experience is unbeatable.
THE BASICS:
Lactate is constantly produced by the body. At rest and in light exercise, the level of lactate produced is small enough that it is buffered or oxidized. As intensity increases, lactate production increases and reaches levels that are reflective of a loss of aerobic efficiency.
All human engines are “hybrids”, in that they burn a mixture of fat and carbohydrate depending on the exercise intensity. Fat is the body’s #1 fuel source as it delivers more than twice the energy than carbs, however making Fat available to burn as fuel takes longer. Therefore, it’s used for primarily lower intensity "aerobic" fueling whereas fast burning Carbs fuel shorter more powerful efforts. A well-tuned engine will burn lots of fat for longer and spare its carbohydrates until the highest intensities.
In general, low levels of lactate are the sign of an efficient aerobic "fat-burning" system. High Lactate levels at easy workloads are a sign of an underdeveloped aerobic system. Over time, with correct aerobic training, lactate levels at a given workload will decrease showing an improvement in aerobic conditioning.
In terms of endurance, improving the speed at which you can operate before blood lactate levels rise will improve your performance. High Lactate levels at maximal workloads are a sign of a well-developed anaerobic "power" system.
For each athlete and sport there is an optimal “Balance” of aerobic and anaerobic qualities. Testing unveils the balance of your personal “Metabolic Fitness” and from there your training can be shaped and guided so that you reach your true potential in your chosen sport.
HOW:
During an exercise test, blood lactate samples are taken along with other key data while you exercise at gradually increasing intensities. This data is then analyzed and an easy to use, practical prescription is then given to the athlete. These ZONES are based on heartrate, power, pace or a combination of each to suit the athlete and coach’s needs. Tests are available for Swimming, Cycling, Running & Rowing.
FEES:
$350 // Single sport (includes FREE sweat & hydration analysis)
$625 // Bike & Run package (includes FREE sweat & hydration analysis)
$895 // Swim, Bike & Run package (includes FREE sweat & hydration analysis)
(Tests are NOT included in coaching retainer fees BUT athletes on a coaching program with Coach Gareth get a discounted rate of $250 per test AFTER their initial assessments)
$Rates for in-person testing for teams/ small groups in the USA and overseas are available upon request.
“I did lactate testing with Coach Gareth. It was an amazing experience through and through. I was a little nervous going to his lab, but he made me feel comfortable and right at home. First we spoke for a few minutes about my training and then we started to warmup on the treadmill. The running ramped up slowly with Gareth taking small droplets of blood intermittently until I was running quite fast. After the test he showed me the results on a chart, my lactate levels, my ideal heart-beat ranges and recommended a workout plan, a nutrition plan and a hydration plan. The best $$$ I've spent in a long time! Highly Recommend”!
Seppi Esfandi // Weekend Warrior & Marathon Runner
IN DEPTH:
STEP 1 : WHY
When was the last time you took your car to the mechanic for a service but wouldn’t let them run diagnostics on it? Never is the answer! It would be ludicrous to think they could finely tune the engine and get everything functioning properly without some insight as to what the car actually required. The same can be said with your body and your endurance training. In order to get your engine operating at its peak potential we need to look under the hood and run some tests to know for certain what it needs to be at its best.
Your VO2 max is the size of your engine. Some people are born with a Ferrari and others a Ford Focus. You can’t change the size of the engine as this determined by genetics but you can tune whatever engine you have perfection. All human engines are “hybrids”, in that they burn a mixture of fat and carbohydrate depending on the exercise intensity. Fat is the body’s #1 fuel source as it delivers more than twice the energy than carbs, however making Fat available to burn as fuel takes longer. Therefore it’s used for primarily lower intensity fueling whereas fast burning Carbs fuel shorter more powerful efforts. A well-tuned engine will burn lots of fat for longer and spare it’s carbohydrates until the highest intensities. (read CG’s blog : “why testing your VO2 max is a waste of time”). What you eat also matters and will affect how you burn your fuels. If you put diesel in a Ferrari it won’t run that well! It’s the same with your body but that’s a bigger topic.
Lactate is constantly produced by the body. At its simplest, energy in the form of ATP (Adenosine Tri Phosphate) is essential for muscle contraction and can be produced via aerobic or anaerobic pathways. At rest and in light aerobic exercise, the level of lactate produced is small enough that it is used as fuel/ buffered. As intensity increases, lactate production increases and reaches levels that are reflective of a loss of aerobic efficiency. One of the anaerobic pathways provides energy quickly and as a result produces lots of lactate which for this particular need is a sign of anaerobic efficiency.
The scientists are not 100% unified on the depth of lactate’s role across all sports and that debate is for another time BUT what we can say without doubt is that “lactate is a great marker for efficiency”. Therefore, in general, low levels of lactate are the sign of an efficient aerobic system. High levels of lactate levels at maximal and short workloads are a sign of a well-developed anaerobic system.
Importantly, over time, with correct training (and no change in anaerobic fitness), lactate levels at a given aerobic workload will decrease showing an improvement in aerobic conditioning. We can also say that higher lactate levels at easy workloads are a sign of a weaker or underdeveloped aerobic system. For each athlete and sport there is an optimal “Balance” of aerobic and anaerobic qualities. Shaping the correct balance through lactate-guided training is key to reaching your true potential in your chosen sport. We learn many things from a lactate test but in general we look for these specific markers. (Note, here’s where it can get confusing as there are many, many terms used in literature and articles that serve only to confuse the masses, so hopefully this explanation will clear things up for you):
Aerobic (AeT) or Lactate Threshold (LT1) : this is the first shift away from a baseline of lactate production. It’s a “moderate” effort for most athletes. Usually somewhere between 1.5-2.5 mmol lactate. Knowing this is very helpful for long distance performance (think IRONMAN, Marathon, Ultra) and development of “Zone 2” (more on this later). Often a high % of fat is being used for energy here and this can often correlate to “Fat-Max”.
Steady State Threshold (SST) or Lactate Threshold (LT2) or Maximum Lactate Steady State (MLSS) or Onset of Blood Lactate (OBLA) : So many names but they are try to lead to the same place ….. This is the last intensity where lactate concentrations will stay the same as time progresses, hence the concept of “steady-state”. For many athletes it’s around 3.5-4.5 mmol lactate though that can vary widely. Often there is a spike in lactate production soon after this intensity which helps us to identify it. Knowing this “threshold” is useful for cyclists looking to climb at their best, runners trying to PR at 10k or Triathletes looking to race the Olympic distance. It’s what a cycling FTP test or runner’s FTHR test tries to find but as discussed “here”, this is a flawed approach. It is also mistakenly sometimes referred to as “anaerobic threshold” (AT) which again is incorrect as “AT” is the point at which zero fat is being burned for energy and at SST/LT2/MLSS/OBLA (!!) there is still some fat being used (though often significantly less than at Aet/LT).
Peak Aerobic Capacity/ Anaerobic Capacity : what we look for depends on the chosen sport of the athlete. For example an athlete doing a sub-1 minute event needs a excellent anaerobic capacity whereas an endurance athlete needs a better developed aerobic capacity (VO2 max) for their 8hr+ event.
The Zones : based on heart-rate and/or power/ pace, these are what you will use every day in your training to optimize your potential
So to recap, the Lactate test is where we measure …..
Aerobic efficiency and stability – the ability to have sustained endurance
Peak Aerobic Capacity and Anaerobic Capacity – the ability to produce speed quickly
The Balance of these qualities in an athlete
Step 2 : HOW
During an exercise test, blood lactate samples are taken along with other key data while you exercise at gradually increasing intensities. This data is then analyzed to create a training prescription to suit your needs. On test day we ask that you don’t do any training prior to coming to the lab. We also want you to arrive well fueled but having completed digestion so that you are ready to workout. This means that the last meal before the test is about 2 hours prior. Once in the lab, we start you off with at least 10-15 minutes warm-up at a very easy intensity. If you want to stretch or do mobility exercises that’s fine too.
After that we move you through 4-8 stages of gradually increasing efforts depending on your current fitness level. After each stage, we clean your finger and take a one-drop sample of blood from you to analyze lactate levels. The sampling feels like you have been flicked on the finger and is not “painful”! (If a 90 year old diabetic can do this to their own finger 5 x a day then it’s really nothing an athlete should worry about)! However, people are pleased to know that we always use a new needle for each athlete and follow strict health and safety codes.
At the easier intensities the stages are 4 minutes long, which gives lactate and heartrate chance to stabilize and be a true response to each workload. Once we are past “Threshold” we do either a single maximal effort or several 1 minute increasing efforts to find your peak capacity (depending on the sport). We will talk you through the test as it progresses so that you know what is happening, when and why. The whole test lasts usually in the 30-40 minute range
Tests are sport specific, so for a cyclist we do a bicycle ergometer test (on your own bike), a runner does a treadmill test and the Triathlete does both of these tests and sometimes also a pool based swimming test. The results from each test are often very different. Quite simply this is because every athlete is built differently. Cycling is a non-weight bearing sport whereas running is weight bearing. Also the biomechanics of each sport are vastly different even though it’s the same body/ legs that are at work. This is why you don’t see Kenyan runners winning the Tour de France. The body shape and “recruitment patterns” are unique to each sport’s demands.
We have repeatedly found that the data from the lab and data from the field tests correlate superbly accurately. (See “Lactate testing a pro’cyclist on the road” video). One of the main advantages of Lactate testing is that it is robust, meaning that it is more stable and less open to big swings in levels from day to day. This is why it’s our #1 test of choice and why we use it to set your optimal training zones which will be based on heart-rate plus power/ pace if you have access to measuring those too.
The tests form the standard benchmarks for “where the athlete is at”. We try to test in a repeatable environment so we can compare tests done throughout the season and against previous years too. Each athlete should retest every 9-12 weeks to monitor progress. Over time we should (generally) see:
• Lower lactate at aerobic workloads
• Higher lactate for sprint/ power workloads
• Lower heartrate for a given workload
• Increased peak speed/power
Step 3 : ZONES
One of the main things people come to the lab to find is their “ZONE 2”. We do find this and it’s true that it is vital for the full development (and health) of the aerobic system. We also find out various “thresholds” and the balance of the aerobic and anaerobic systems. We can then tune these systems through accurate “heart-rate zone training”.
I have zone terminology that is specific to my testing and coaching prescriptions. That’s because I wanted to create zone names that meant something so that you knew why you were training in a zone and what the goals were of training there.
In general, training is done solely on heartrate for REC, AERO, LT and AC workouts. For SST, VO2 & Power workouts we prefer athletes to use power or pace and adapt these levels once the heartrate response has settled. This is because heart-rate will take about 3 minutes to rise and stabilize at any given intensity, therefore, using heart-rate to do 2 minutes intervals isn’t going to work. People would push too hard to try to make the HR rise at the start of the interval and therefore spike their lactate levels.
Step 4 : APPLICATION
Once we have your data, we can easily see what training stimulus you require in order to hit your goals. So as part of the lab test results we will tell you the various types of training sessions that you should focus on and why. Now, with your heart-rate monitor in hand you can now take this training prescription to the road with the guarantee that your training sessions are now optimally performed.
Now, in some quarters, heartrate monitoring has been given a bad rap but it’s mostly inflammatory journalist nonsense rather than being based on sound science. Here’s how it is. Heart-rate tells us how “stressful” a workout is. It also guides us to the intensity of the workout. Power and pace tells us the exact intensity but the heartrate response to that intensity is the most important factor. For example, the main goal of low-intensity endurance training is to teach the body to burn fat as its main fuel. Fat burning requires a low-stress environment, so we use the heart-rate monitor as a stress-level guide and react accordingly (often slowing down) to "stay in zone". Sometimes we want a high intensity stimulus and here the HRM (Heart-rate Monitor) makes sure that we work hard enough to get the desired gains from the session. Here are some examples of how the heart-rate monitor helps
Let’s say your usual response during an easy “zone 2” ride is 150 bpm to produce 200 watts on a bike. You go to ride one day when all conditions appear to be “normal” but at 200 watts your heartrate is 160 bpm. Here the HR is too high for the power which means your body is working harder than it should be. If you were to test lactate at this point you would most likely see higher levels than desired. Perhaps it’s because you are getting sick or carrying too high a stress load in general. Here you should back off, reducing power until the heart-rate settled at 150 bpm
Next imagine an easy “zone 2” run on a hot day, and for 9 minute mile you are at 170 instead of the usual 155bpm. Here again you’d back off on the pace as the HR is running high and indicative of the stress level being higher than desired. Conversely on a cold day, 9 minute mile might give you a 140 bpm response. Here the HR response is low due to the temperature and if you pushed to the higher target HR, lactate would rise and fat burning would be limited. So here you would stay at the lower HR.
Lastly, on a long training day, you see the HR rise as the session hits hours 3,4, and so on, but power/ pace has stayed the same and the effort feels the same. Here the HR is telling you that your core temperature is up and that you need to focus on hydration. (Be aware that this session will also require some extra recovery so the training is the days that follow might need amending and hydration levels addressing)
These are all examples are why we train in “Zones” and not at a specific, exact heart-rate number. Zones allow you to adapt your training to be productive given a variety of circumstances.
A good training program will be built to suit your physiology, goals, available time to train, travel and ability to recover. It should be a “work in motion” meaning that it changes as you change. If you miss workouts, if sleep is bad or you get sick then the program should be adjusted accordingly. Every workout though should be done using your heartrate monitor and tracked in your training journal. Every 9-12 weeks we ask athletes to get retested so we can check progress and make sure that the training stimulus is correct going forwards. Training with old data can be as bad as training with no data, so be prepared to commit to regular assessments and watch your fitness grow year upon year.