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Imagine the feeling you get when skiing or running uphill at a strenuous pace. Your legs begin to get heavy. The pace becomes too hard, and you are forced to slow down. Perhaps your heart rate monitor indicates that you are going at any easier pace than you feel, but your legs are so heavy that you consider going even slower.
Lactate threshold is the term for the point when your legs began to become ever heavier. Physiologically, it occurs when the body produces more lactic acid than it is uses and is able to remove from the blood. It is also termed the anaerobic threshold because it is synonymous with a change from oxygen-requiring energy systems, which are sustainable, to their counterparts that do not require oxygen.
A good deal of training for endurance sports, like biathlon and cross-country skiing, focuses on improving overall cardiovascular capacity. We hear about athletes trying to increase their Vo2-max values and improve their heart efficiency. These are certainly keys to winning performances, but there is more to endurance training.
Even if in the example above you had the same Vo2-max value, but a higher lactate threshold, you would be able to run longer and faster up the hill. In a more important example, consider the effects this would have on an hour-long competition. At the moment, I could race for at least one hour at my lactate threshold. If I exceed this value for too long, lactic acid builds in my body and I eventually would have to slow my pace. But if my lactate threshold were higher due to training, then my pace would be faster.
One of the most important factors in my improving results last season was that I had a strong focus on improving my lactate threshold. Using suggestions from Jon Arne Enevoldsen, the head coach at Green Mountain Valley School in Waitsfield, Vermont, my training moved from being based not on my heart rate values, but on my blood lactate. During interval workouts, the goal was to finish each repetition within a range of blood lactate values. On my long easy distance workouts, I concentrated more on keeping my blood lactate low than on maintaining a certain heart rate.
In my preparation for last season, I measured my blood lactate values indirectly using a heart rate monitor. In the beginning of the season, I plotted my blood lactate against heart rate, to produce a curve. For example, if my heart rate monitor read 130 beats per minute and my blood lactate was 1.2 mmol, then in the future, when wearing a heart rate monitor, I maintained my heart rate at 130 bpm if I wanted to train at a blood lactate value of 1.2 mmol.
This method of training is improved from simply relying on heart rate values, but it is still only one step above such a practice. A month ago, I ordered a blood lactate monitor in order to keep a more watchful eye on my blood lactate. Just in the past month, I have already seen a benefit from using the machine. The heart rate-blood lactate curves that I had plotted for when I am cycling were far higher than in reality.
On a recent ride, my heart rate was at a comfortable 140 bpm, but my blood lactate value was 2.8 mmol - far too high for an easy workout. By checking my blood lactate, and realizing that my training zones were too high, I have been training at a lower heart rate, and thus a lower blood lactate value.
Because I now have the ability to check my blood lactate more often, my training zones will more accurately reflect reality. As I get into better shape and my lactate threshold rises, my blood lactate measurements will show this, and I will know that I can train at a harder pace and higher heart rate.
In preparing for the new season, I did a lot of research into blood lactate monitors. My first experience with this equipment came when I started biathlon. Minnesota Biathlon, which was the first program I trained with, used the Arkray Lactate Pro blood lactate monitor. At the ski gymnasium that I attended in Norway, they also used the distinctive blue machine, which is a little larger than the size of a credit card. Arkray also supplies the biathlon and cross-country ski teams of Canada and the United States, and their machines are widely used among European teams.
Scientific studies have found that the Arkray Lactate Pro is the most accurate blood lactate machine in the world. The exercise physiologists with whom I have worked all praise the machine as well. In fact, when I had my last treadmill test to measure my Vo2-max, the Olympic Training Center staff used the Arkray Lactate Pro for the blood lactate values!
The Arkray Lactate Pro is easy to use. It requires only about one or two drops of blood and the test result is displayed in under a minute. The machine automatically aspirates the blood making the margin of error almost nil. I have seen teams use the Lactate Pro in the winter on ski trails, though it is recommended that the testing environment have a temperature above freezing.
In the coming months, I will be reporting on my experiences with the Arkray Lactate Pro. You will find some tips on using the machine and on the training that I am using to improve my lactate threshold. Fact-Canada distributes the Lactate Pro monitor in North America. The company is a retailer of other training improvement devices while also offering coaching services.
If you are interested in purchasing a Lactate Pro, or its related supplies, mention this website and you will receive a 5 percent discount. You can order monitors or supplies through Fact-Canada: www.fact-canada.com. Send an e-mail to them mentioning Frozenbullet.com to get 5 percent of your order.
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