The following lines show the abstract of the article called “Time To Exhaustion At The Onset Of Blood Lactate Accumulation In Runners With Different Athletic Ability”, which was written in English by Jordan Santos-Concejero, Cristina Granados, Jon Irazusta, Iraia Bidaurrazaga-Letona, Jon Zabala-Lili and Susana Gil, and published in Revista Brasileira de Medicina do Esporte – Vol. 19, No 4 – Jul/Aug, 2013

“Objective: To characterize the physiological responses of runners of different athletic ability at the velocity at onset of blood lactate (V_OBLA) and to determine if 4 mmol·L-¹ represents the same relative exercise intensity for every runner.

Methods: Eleven trained and twelve well-trained runners completed two running tests on a treadmill: first, a maximal incremental lactate test to calculate the V_OBLA (Test 1), and then another one at the corresponding V_OBLA until exhaustion (Test 2). Gas exchange and heart rate (HR) were continuously measured and plotted as a percentage of time to exhaustion in Test 2 (TE_T2). The individual lactate threshold velocity (V_LT) and lactate concentration ([La-¹]_LT) were calculated according to the D-max method.

Results: V_OBLA and V_LT were higher in well-trained runners (P<0.001). [La-¹]_LT was <4 mmol·L-¹ in the well-trained runners (P<0.001), but not in trained runners. Well-trained runners were faster at V_OBLA than at V_LT (P<0.001). Well-trained runners ran a shorter TE_T2 than the trained runners (P<0.05). Moreover, well-trained runners presented a higher respiratory rate at 50, 80 and 90% of TE_T2 and VO₂ at 20-100% of TE_T2 (P<0.05). TE_T2 was inversely correlated (P<0.01) with V_OBLA and positively with personal best 10-km performance (P<0.01). V_OBLA was positively correlated with the %VO_2max in Test 2 (P<0.01). The standard value (4 mmol·L-¹) for the concentration of blood lactate appears to represent a different exercise intensity for runners of different athletic ability.

Conclusion: V_OBLA may not be accurate for programming running training sessions or for performing an evaluation of aerobic capacity.“

Please click here to download the complete article: Time To Exhaustion At The Onset Of Blood Lactate Accumulation In Runners With Different Athletic Ability