Take the guesswork out of endurance training.
Lactate Testing
Exercise-based lactate testing provides valuable insights into aerobic performance. We help athletes understand their training intensity and metabolic adaptations.
Zone 2 (Low Intensity/Aerobic) Protocol
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The amount of energy (physical output) a person can sustain while in Zone 2 is often referred to as the “aerobic base.” It is foundational for all endurance activities and strongly predicts performance in events lasting longer than 1-2 hours.
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Zone 2 is defined as the highest metabolic output (work) that you can sustain while keeping your mitochondria burning predominantly fat.
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The concepts of “aerobic” vs. “anaerobic” exercise are somewhat archaic and oversimplified. We prefer to use metabolic zones, looking at what fuel(s) are being used and what physiologic adaptations occur.
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While a person can push themselves to higher levels of metabolic demands—burning more glucose— the physiologic limitations to doing so are inherent. This is why an average recreational cyclist cannot just gut their way to victory at the Tour De France. Additionally, doing so too frequently in training can lead to prolonged recovery times, injuries, and stalled progress.
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This relatively “low-intensity” aerobic zone can be sustained for many hours, as our ability to burn fat stores for energy is almost infinite. While some may feel that this is not difficult enough to provide benefits, this is a misunderstanding rooted in a “no pain, no gain” mindset.
All world-class endurance athletes spend a large percentage of their training at this “all-day” pace. This builds their fat-oxidation capacity, while also allowing for more hours of training with reduced recovery demands. -
We use lactate levels to gauge when the body is burning an increasing amount of glucose. When lactate increases to 2.0, or lactate threshold 1 (LT1), a person has reached their peak amount of fat burning and crossing over to more glucose utilization.
We track heart rate and lactate level to find this Zone 2 threshold (aka. LT1) to give the athletes their individualized ideal heart rate training zone.
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Using an indoor bike or treadmill (incline walk or run), we will start with a 5-10 minutes very easy warm up. While monitoring heart rate, we will increase the resistance, speed and/or incline every 3-7 minutes. We will continue this for approximately 35-45 minutes until your lactate levels reach 2.0 mmol/L.
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$239
Testing + brief discussion of results & training advice. Approximately 1 hour.
High Intensity, Interval Protocol
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Understanding your lactate curve at higher levels of intensity can help dial in the most most effective HIIT training protocols.
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HIIT-type training can improve many aspects of performance, especially in events lasting less than 1-2 hours. However, this grueling work is more taxing on your systems, requiring a smart approach to avoid fatigue and injury.
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Most HIIT training advice relies on perceived exertion or heart rate. While these are reasonable approaches, they may not be optimal for a variety of reasons.
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Grit plays a role in pushing yourself with HIIT training. However, physiologic limitations are still at play. The maximum heart rate (HR-Max) a person can achieve is dependent on age/genetics and conditioning. As a person reaches, HR-Max they will be in metabolic Zones 4-5 where lactate is accumulating faster than it can be cleared; aka. LT2
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For most people, when lactate reaches about 3.0 mmol/L, the levels will start to spike quickly if effort is sustained. This depends on the duration of the interval with some individual variance, of course.
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This approach to “middle-distance” or endurance training has become increasingly popular. While spending 70-80% of training at low intensity/lactate, it heavily relies on moderate lactate levels to guide the other 20-30% of training. Our testing will provide the data to help create a “Norwegian Method” HIIT training protocol.
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You can choose an indoor cycle or treadmill (inclined walk or run) to push yourself to the limit! We start with a 5-10 minute warm-up before ramping up the intensity. Depending on your training history, we will use 1-2 minutes of work followed by 2-4 minutes of rest, working eventually to your maximum heart rate and lactate levels.
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$189
Self-guided Exercise + Spot Testing
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While a standardized indoor protocol allows us to control the most variables, there is enormous value in checking lactate in “real-world” conditions.
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With spot testing, we can arrange to have you swing by our clinic during a ride or run for a quick lactate check.
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While there are generalized standards for metabolic zones based on your lactate, this gets trickier with single-spot checks outside of a ramped protocol with multiple measurements.
For Zone 2 (LT1) training, we expect lactate to be 1.5 - 2.0 mmol/L.
For Zone 4 (LT2) threshold, lactate will generally start to spike higher at 3.0 - 3.5 mmol/L.
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$39 per test
Science of Lactate
Mitochondrial Function
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The energy source of every cell in your body is the mitochondria. The efficiency of this cellular “powerhouse” is foundational to aerobic fitness and metabolic flexibility. Within the skeletal muscles, mitochondrial efficiency and flexibility are critical for health and endurance activities.
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Mitochondria primarily use fat and glucose (sugar) to produce ATP (aka. energy). Higher functioning mitochondria have a greater flexibility in using these fuel sources—ideally consuming a greater percentage of fat at both rest and more power output with “aerobic” activities.
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Lactate is a natural byproduct of all metabolic activity that burns glucose as fuel. Our cells use it as a “buffer” for acidity as we physically exert ourselves to a greater degree. Lactate levels build up as we transition through different fuel sources (fat + carbs) and metabolic “zones”. We can use lactate levels as a proxy for glucose consumption and mitochondrial efficiency.
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Energy “Zones”
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