Lactate threshold
The lactate threshold is the highest intensity at which the body still clears lactate as fast as it produces it. Above that point lactate accumulates and the effort stops being sustainable within minutes. In practice it corresponds to the pace a trained person can hold for around an hour, and it predicts endurance performance better than VO2 max does.
The lactate threshold is the highest intensity at which the body still clears lactate as fast as it produces it. Above that point lactate accumulates and the effort stops being sustainable within minutes. In practice it corresponds to the pace a trained person can hold for around an hour, and it predicts endurance performance better than VO2 max does.
Also written as: anaerobic threshold · LT2
In practice
It is the variable that moves most with training. A runner's VO2 max plateaus earlier; the threshold keeps rising for years, and it is what explains improving times without a higher ceiling.
The common mistake
Training at threshold all the time because it feels productive. It is the most expensive intensity per unit of adaptation, and a plan made of threshold sessions leaves a client tired and without a base.
