Please find below an introduction of the article titled “Factors which affect the lactataemia during an effort test”, which was written in Spanish by L. García del Moral, J. García del Moral and A. Rodríguez Jerez under the title “Factores que afectan a la lactatemia durante un test de esfuerzo”. This article was published in Archivos de Medicina del Deporte (A.M.D., Federación Española de Medicina del Deporte, Femede), Vol. V – Nº 20 -1988 – Pages. 375-386
“In recent decades, parallel to the development of sport as a social phenomenon that requires increasing dedication from athletes, sport sciences, especially exercise physiology, have experienced an exponential growth in their attempt to further their knowledge of sport and the need to influence on the training and its planning.
From the scientific knowledge of the physical and technical level of the athlete we can influence on these aspects and achieve sporting progress as well as avoiding the possible risks of badly planned sporting practice. However, there is no universal method for the joint evaluation of all components of physical fitness (i.e. strength, endurance etc.).
In the functional assessment we must resort to the individualised analysis of the factors that influence the body´s adaptation to the effort by means of effort tests. In ergometry, specific tests are used to measure physiological and biological special parameters, and to obtain information regarding the degree of fitness, i.e. the participation of certain metabolic substrates in providing energy for muscle contraction.
The determination of blood lactic acid has been shown to be a very useful, practical and simple method to quantify the metabolic response to effort.This parameter can be analyzed from arterial blood samples, venous blood or from the less invasive form of micro samples, by extraction of 20 to 50 ml of blood during ergometric tests or after a training workload or competition. The determination of lactate in ergometries on a cycloergometer or treadmill allows determining the limit of the individual aerobic performance, called “anaerobic threshold”. Knowing this, along with the heart rate (HR), we can, in a simple and reliable manner, regulate the intensity of training, both in high performance sports and patient rehabilitation. Through lactate determinations, we can evaluate the limit of sports performance more accurately than with other methods, based on tests done in the laboratory or sports field, or using sport-specific tests.”
Please click here to download the complete article, written in Spanish: Factores que afectan a la lactatemia durante un test de esfuerzo