Quarterly Article

Lactate Threshold 101
When it comes to training, LT is the new max heart rate. Understand it, find where yours
is, then raise it for better performance.
By Selene Yeager

Lactate threshold is the glass ceiling of cycling performance-it's an invisible barrier that
keeps you down. When you do crack through, the rewards are sweet.
"For the longest time, everyone focused his or her training around max heart rate,"says
USA Cycling expert coach Margaret Kadlick. "Now we know lactate threshold is much
more important. When you raise your LT, you can produce more power at a comfortable
heart rate, and that makes you a better rider and racer in every situation." Here's
everything you need to know about lactate threshold-including how to raise yours to be
the best rider you can be.
What Is Lactate Threshold?
Lactate, your body's buffering agent, neutralizes the acid that builds up in your legs and
makes them burn during heavy exertion. The harder you turn the cranks, the faster acid
accumulates. Eventually, your muscles generate more acid than you can neutralize and
your searing muscles force you to ease up. The point at which you begin to accumulate
acid more quickly than you can dissipate it is your LT, or, in riding terms, the fastest pace
you can maintain for 30 minutes without feeling like your legs are on fire.
How To Find Your LT
Most likely, you won't find yourself hangin' with the pros in a lab, where they pedal
against ever-increasing resistance while technicians take blood samples to measure the
increasing lactate levels. But you can find your LT with a do-it-yourself time trial.
Map a 3-mile route that you can ride without stopping. Strap on a heart rate monitor,
warm up for 20 minutes, then ride the route at the fastest pace you can sustain. Recover
for 10-20 minutes (ride back to the start of your route at an easy pace). Repeat the test.
Your LT is approximately the average heart rate of the two efforts. (More accurately, it's
103 percent of that figure.) Jot down your times and average paces; repeat the test in
eight weeks to see your progress.
How To Raise Your LT
Like most things body-related, LT is partially genetic. But it's also quite trainable. By
systematically pushing your limits, you can help your body become more efficient at
clearing and buffering lactic acid.
The trick is riding that razor-thin edge between the point where you can ride comfortably
for hours and where you can sustain only a few minutes before frying. "It's important that
you have plenty of base miles and some speedwork under your belt before you start LT
training,"says Kadlick. The bigger your aerobic engine when you begin, the better your
results will be. The following drills are designed to raise your LT. Choose one drill per
workout, and do LT training no more than two days a week, preferably not on
consecutive days.
Steady State Intervals
After a good warm-up, ride 10 minutes at a steady effort, keeping your heart rate three to
five beats below your LT heart rate. Recover for 10 minutes, then repeat two more times.
"Once you're comfortable at this level, do two 20-minute steady-state efforts, recovering
for 20 minutes between. Eventually, work up to one 30-minute effort,"suggests Kadlick.
"This is the most effective way to increase power at LT."Up And Down Intervals
These intervals blend LT and VO2 max (your body's ability to process oxygen) training
to simulate the effort you need when racing on a hilly course, where you have to push
beyond your lactate threshold for short surges then clear the acid and recover quickly.
First, warm up. Then pick up the pace to your LT heart rate and hold that intensity for
five minutes. Push it to about three to five beats above LT for one to two minutes, then
drop it back down to LT. Continue for a total of three cycles, or about 18 to 20 minutes.
LT Tolerance Intervals
Crit and mountain bike racers need to elevate their ST (suffering threshold) as well as
their LT, because those situations demand pushing past LT and holding it there for
extended bursts over and over. By training at an intensity where your body can't clear the
lactate, you'll boost your ability to keep riding hard in the face of high lactate levels.
After a thorough warm-up, increase your effort to about five beats above your LT heart
rate. Hold it there for two to three minutes. Reduce your effort for 60 to 90 seconds, just
long enough so you feel partially recovered, but not quite ready to go again. Repeat three
times.

***You can find your LT in ANY sport by warming up for 15 minutes and then going as hard as you can in that sport for about 20/30 minutes... your average heart rate for that last 20/30 minutes is pretty close to your LT.