Blood Lactate Testing
Why Do We Perform Blood Lactate Testing?
Blood lactate testing is a powerful tool for athletes seeking to optimize their performance. By measuring the concentration of lactate in the blood at various intensities, we can identify key physiological thresholds that dictate endurance capacity and performance potential. This testing helps us understand your body's response to different levels of exertion, providing invaluable insights into your current fitness level and how you can improve.
Benefits of Blood Lactate Testing:
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Accurate Performance Assessment: Identify your lactate thresholds (LT1/LT2), a critical indicator of endurance performance.
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Personalized Training Zones: Tailor your training intensity to maximize efficiency and effectiveness.
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Monitor Progress: Track improvements over time and adjust your training plan accordingly.
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Race Strategy Optimization: Develop race strategies based on your unique physiological data.
How does it work?
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Where? Waterloo - outdoors near RIM Park or at Mark’s house. A small additional fee will be charged to cover gas mileage if you would like Mark to travel to your location for the testing.
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Cost: $150+HST (one sport) or $275+HST for Bike & Run (2 sport testing is done on 2 separate days) - Paid via e-transfer to mark@lpfit.ca at least the day prior to testing.
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Protocol? This is performed on a track for running or an indoor bike trainer or outdoors for cycling. Heart rate, power output/pace, and a finger prick/ear lobe blood sample for lactic acid are collected every 4-6 minutes via an increasing intensity step test to help find your Aerobic (LT1) and Anaerobic (LT2) Thresholds.
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What do you need? Bring a Towel, Water for all tests.
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Cycling: your bike, shoes, power meter, trainer (power trainer can be provided if needed), Heart rate monitor (chest or bicep strap is the best, wrist based also fine)
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Running: Run GPS watch, Heart rate monitor (chest or bicep strap is the best, wrist based also fine)
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Preparation: no or light training day before your test. Testing should be done as the first workout of the day. Come well hydrated, avoid caffeine.
How to Book a Test: email Mark at mark@lpfit.ca with some preferred dates, times and location.
Using Your Results: Once your blood lactate levels are analyzed, we can pinpoint your lactate thresholds and create personalized training zones. These zones help guide your workouts, ensuring you train at the right intensity to achieve your goals without overtraining.
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Zone 1 (Recovery): Light effort for active recovery.
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Zone 2 (Endurance): Moderate effort to build aerobic capacity.
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Zone 3 (Tempo): Steady, high-end aerobic work for stamina.
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Zone 4 (Threshold): Sustained effort at or just below lactate threshold.
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Zone 5 (VO2 Max): High-intensity intervals for peak performance.
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By incorporating these CUSTOM tailored zones into your training, you can improve efficiency, delay fatigue, and enhance overall performance.
For racers, understanding your lactate threshold helps in developing pacing strategies, allowing you to maintain optimal performance throughout your event.
Notes for Testing Day:
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Preparation: day off or only light training day before your test. Testing should be done as the first workout of the day. Come well hydrated, avoid excessive caffeine.
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Ensure you have a GPS watch and heart rate monitor (chest strap or bicep HR strap is ideal, but can use the wrist based HRM if not)
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Turn off Autolap on your watch if you have it on. Have a 2nd screen that has lap time, lap distance, lap avg pace so you can watch that to keep your intervals in control.
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We will perform a 10-15min warmup before taking a baseline blood lactate reading
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From there we will perform ~4-6min steps with ~1min recovery between them, starting very easy and finishing near max. Usually we need to do around 6-8 steps.
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Total time takes around 75-90mins for the testing
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Coach Mark will do analysis and get back to you within 3 days with results and recommendations
