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Lactate Test
What is a Lactate Test?
A lactate test, also known as lactate profiling or lactate threshold profiling, is deemed to be the most consistent physiological assessment for predicting endurance performance. A lactate test provides an accurate insight into your current physiology and can therefore define your specific training zones to guide your training and improve your performance.
A Lactate Test costs £115 & lasts for approx. 1 hour
It’s a submaximal test, which means you’ll work up to your threshold point, just before you reach your maximum effort. So whilst you’re not in for a maximum effort, you will be working relatively hard. After an initial chat, a prick of blood will be taken from the ear and you’ll be asked to wear a heart rate monitor (chest strap) before you move on to the treadmill.
Who Should Take a Lactate Test
All levels of athlete will benefit from a lactate test, from everyday athletes to professional athletes & Olympians. Whilst we specialise in running, Onetrack can apply lactate threshold profiling to all sports: whether you're a triathlete, cyclist, footballer, swimmer & more.
Why is Lactate Important?
We used to think that lactic acid was the burning sensation you feel when exercising at high intensity, but we now know that this is not the case. In fact, lactic acid may not actually be measurable in humans as it very quickly splits into hydrogen ions and lactate. Lactate is produced by using glucose to create energy in the absence of oxygen. This is called anaerobic. Glycolysis is one of our main energy pathways for hard intensity exercise and can sustain exercise for around two-three minutes. What we now know is that lactic is actually a fuel source for some tissue. Aerobic muscle tissue (slow twitch, muscle fibres), the heart, the brain and many other systems within the body can reverse lactate back to glucose again and use it as a fuel, so it’s more useful than detrimental.
As runners, we should be conscious of the intensity that we are running at as this ultimately is linked to the fuel sources that we are using to maintain those intensities. If you are in the marathon and lactate levels are rising, this means that you are likely to run out of glucose quicker than if you were to slow down and run at an easier speed. When producing high levels of lactate, it generally means we are using high levels of our muscle glycogen, which may be good for promoting adaptation to exercise, but does take some time to replenish. Therefore, recovery time between sessions is important to consider.