What is lactate threshold training?
by Lester Maurice
Author of The Matrix Mass System
http://list.netatlantic.com/t/
For over a hundred years doctors believed that lactate was bad for
your muscles and needed to be avoided at all costs. But since lactic
acid was discovered in the 18th century sports scientists have now
discovered that there is a way that you can benefit from this
by-product of energy called lactic acid.
In each microscopic cell in your body when energy is needed it
requires the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This ATP
gives muscle cells the ability to contract and propel you toward the
finish line. While your muscles are using ATP, other chemical
reactions are making more ATP so that your muscles won't run out of
energy.
The body stores energy automatically in substances like fat and
glucose. Chemical reactions break down those substances to release
ATP which your body uses to produce energy and propel you forward.
So the question is what is your lactic threshold and how can you
make it work for you.
Your body produces lactate every time you use your muscles, and the
lactate in your blood usually stays at a pretty steady level. During
intense exercise, though, lactate builds up faster than it can be
flushed out of your blood - this is your lactate threshold. When you
cross your lactate threshold, you feel tired, and you feel a burn in
your muscles.
But Sports physiologists and sports scientists have learned that
your lactate threshold can be raised with proper training. Athletes
can teach their bodies to use lactate more efficiently, so it takes
longer to build up in their blood. Runners who raise their lactate
threshold can pick up their pace and get to the finish line quicker.
It all has to do with intensity because when you are exercising at
an easy pace your body is able to use your fat stores as energy. But
the catch is that the process of turning fat into energy is not very
fast and it takes lots of oxygen. So it is only when you are training
with a high intensity that you start to produce lactic acid.
So to put it all in a nut-shell when you're working at your maximum
capacity and your muscles are producing lots of lactate, you will get
to your lactate threshold. You know what it feels like, but experts
disagree on the details. Scientists used to think that lactate
caused muscle fatigue, but now they aren't so sure - some scientists
think the "I can't move another inch" feeling might be caused by
other substances that are released around the same time.
No one is really sure exactly what causes the burn either, but
lactate is part of the picture. One thing trainers agree on is that
when you train hard enough to push your lactate threshold higher,
you work harder, get more reps, etc. That is the goal of lactate
threshold training.
The same can be applied to any type of training that you do whether
it is running or weight training. The trick in increasing your
lactic threshold is something we have known for a long time and that
is intensity. Intense training will teach you about yourself, your
capability and your thresholds.
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