The building blocks for an optimal performance are many and must be constructed in a proper sequence and must recognize that each individual is different. However, the cornerstone for this building is precise physiological training. That is the main reason an athlete spends so much time in the water, on the bike, on the track or the road, in the weight room or wherever training is best conducted.

Ask yourself; do you know if all those miles/hours of training are paying off?

But what is appropriate physiological training? It is not volume or else those who put in the most hours/miles would be the winners. It is not intensity or else those who pushed themselves the hardest would be the winners. It is not someone's favorite workout or else everyone would be copying the magic workout or training pace. It turns out that each individual has his or her own way of adapting and any smart training plan must recognize this. This is a fact of life. Each has to find his or her own way to the proper balance of the energy systems and peak conditioning on the day that counts, race day.

With proper protocols, a lactate tester enables the coach to measure both the aerobic and anaerobic conditioning of each athlete. Information about both is necessary for the coach to optimize the conditioning of each athlete: whether they are a 50 metre freestyle swimmer (about 22 seconds plus per race) or in an Ironman triathlon (over 8 hours per race). With information on each energy system the coach can plan, control and monitor the training of athletes with a precision not available before. The lactate tester provides the important information that enables the coach to individualize the intensity of each athlete's workout and control their training so they reach performance objectives.

No over-training and no surprises come race day.

Quite simply, true lactate testing is the gold standard and ultimate form of testing available. It removes the guesswork and estimation that all the other testing methods use and is based solely on the data that your body provides. For example, “anaerobic threshold” prediction tests, “max heart-rate tests” and heart-rate formulas are all based on guesswork and mathematics and as such give very sketchy results. For example, after being lactate tested and comparing the results with those from a heart-rate formula or anaerobic threshold prediction test, it’s not uncommon for some athletes to realize that they’ve been training as much as twenty beats per minute out of their optimal range! Suddenly the athlete can see why they were prone to over-training, underperformance and constant disappointment. Almost always, the athlete improves dramatically following lactate testing, as for many this is the first time that they get accurate data that allows their true athletic potential to be realized.

How does Lactate Testing do this?

Lactate testing is used by sport scientists, coaches and athletes to determine the individual anaerobic threshold (IAT). This is not to be confused with the ‘lactate threshold’. In endurance sports such as triathlon, this information is vital. Numerous studies have shown that the best way to improve performance is to train at or close to your I AT. In the absence of lactate testing, athletes often perform time trials and use heart rate (HR) to determine their IAT. This method can sometimes be unreliable though, as factors such as; wind, fatigue, HR lag, different courses, dehydration etc can affect the results. In addition, it is often impractical in some sports to use HR as a measure of intensity i.e. swimming. In an ideal world, testing for IAT would involve speed, HR and lactate. This is explained in further detail below.

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