How to Improve Your Lactate Threshold Velocity

Lactate Threshold

Being a sports enthusiast requires a sufficient amount of endurance, speed, strength, and passion. This is most especially true in running wherein getting to the finish line first makes you the winner. This is why measuring the lactate threshold, a main predictor of performance, is done by people undergoing training in running.

The running speed at lactate threshold is a crucial determinant in the training of runners. Any speed higher than this is considered as overexertion while any speed below it is considered as “easy efforts”. On a closer look, lactate threshold is the level above which lactate, a necessary fuel in energy metabolism for muscles, starts to accumulate in the blood. Once the threshold is reached, it signifies that the muscles are not metabolizing the lactate at high rates and thus leads to a lower level of performance. In order to increase the lactate threshold of a runner, their trainers or coaches usually recommend training workouts which include running at the same lactate threshold velocity or LTV but with varying durations. According to researchers, a 20-minute training workout at LTV carried out weekly for 14 weeks significantly improved the endurance of runners. In order to do this, the runner should first have an idea on what his LTV is. Exercise physiologists can determine the LTV by measuring the serum lactate levels at various running speeds in a treadmill. This, however, cannot reflect the closest lactate levels when the person is running in an actual terrain. Moreover, these tests can be expensive. The most practical alternative is by doing the 30-minute time trial. In this test, the runner warms up and gradually accelerates to the best possible running tempo that he can sustain for 30 minutes. The 30-minute time-period begins once this pace is reached. During the 30 minutes, the goal is for the runner to work at the best possible intensity. The LTV is calculated by dividing the distance (in meters) covered during the 30 minutes by 1800 seconds (30 minutes).

Determining the lactate threshold can be the key to the best trainings that can lead to a runner’s best performance in the track. The 30-minute test is certainly the key in molding champion runners in the most affordable way.