Using Lactate Levels to Guide Interval Training
by George Blackwell
Something that isn’t particularly new, but is very much in trend, is the ‘live’ measurement of blood lactate to determine how the body is responding to a particular intensity level of exercise (an easy recap for you on blood lactate and thresholds here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkvUyHeoQeI).
This recently published study outlined the training model adopted by the Ingebrigtsen brothers to great success in both Olympic and European Championships and the reasons why measuring lactate may be the next big step in the development of distance running training.
Your ‘training load’ can be measured in lots of different ways, such as heart rate, speed, power, time, blood lactate, etc. These training metrics can be grouped into two distinct categories: external and internal. External refers to the measurements occurring outside the athlete, such as running speed or power, whereas internal refers to the internal physiological response to training, such as heart rate or blood lactate. External load is important, as ultimately, it’s our output that is the measure of our performances on the road or trails. However, as this study outlines, internal training load may be the best measure to allow you to create the optimal physiological stimulus to help you improve.
The study lists a number of advantages of this new training approach from a physiological perspective, a couple of which I’ve highlighted below:
“The allowance of a greater number of ‘high-intensity’ sessions compared with adopting a usual z4 interval training-based approach” – This is due to the ability to control intensity very closely. When you’re executing your session intensities perfectly, you should be able to tolerate a higher total volume of training.
“The possibility of adjusting and individualizing the specific training sessions within the model framework in a periodized approach (i.e., month by month, year by year, etc.). In this way, it is possible to accurately monitor not only the training adaptations being achieved without the need of specific tests but also the response to the different sessions through [BLa] measurements and make individual adjustments to the training program on the basis of this information.” – In simple terms, this means you can adjust training depending on how your body is responding, such as pushing on when your body is responding well, or going easier on the days your body isn’t. This reduces the risk of overtraining and allows accurate longitudinal monitoring of sessions.
As technology develops, I feel it is only a matter of time until the technology currently used for blood glucose monitoring (such as SuperSapiens) will be adapted for the live monitoring of blood lactate. As outlined in this study, this could be the next step in developing high performance in endurance running!
One of the challenges with this approach is the accuracy of the devices used, which are then informing decisions. For example, if you have used a wrist-based heart monitor, you may have experienced some readings that were not representative of your actual beats per minute. Likewise, the reviews of wearables like SuperSapiens have challenged their accuracy during sports activities.
In fact, Doug recently completed a lab based test and also used a portable lactate meter to compare results. Look out for an upcoming newsletter on what he discovered.
References:
Casado, A., Foster, C., Bakken, M. and Tjelta, L.I., 2023. Does Lactate-Guided Threshold Interval Training within a High-Volume Low-Intensity Approach Represent the “Next Step” in the Evolution of Distance Running Training?. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(5), p.3782.