lyot said:hello,
I'm trying to get myself informed on all this.. more specificly, i wanna know about the difference between these two 'terms'. I've read on the forum that Anaerobic Treshold is a 'misnomer'.. What actually is mean with that. As I understood it, Anaerboic Treshold (AT) is the maximum intensity at which there is still balance between lactate production and elimination.
But what is Lactate Treshold then ? According to the definition posted by Ric here is the workload that elicits a 1 mmol/L increase lactate over exercise baseline level (i.e., ~2.x mmol/L) or the workload that elicits a lactate of 2.5 mmol/L. Workload is measured in power (Watts - W) in cycling or velocity (m/s or km/hr) in running.
I'm a bit puzzled by the statement that LT equals the workload that elicits a 2,5 mmol/L lactate. When I did a VO2max test, I reached 2,5mmol with 230 Watt output.. At 4mmol, i pushed 280watt and my maximum was 380Watt.
According to my fysicist , my AT was at that stage situated at 305 Watt..
Should I forget about AT ?
I would love to train according to Power, but I do not have the means (financial)
Those two terms are very confusing, and often the AT is regarded as a misnomer because if we think of having an actual point at which we become "anaerobic," it leads people to think that everything up to that point is aerobic and everything after that point is anaerobic, which is incorrect. In reality, we're always using both aerobic and anaerobic metabolic pathways to produce energy, but intensity will dictate how much of each we will use.
So focusing on LT is a better way to play. Lactate threshold can be defined the way Ric described, and there are also a few other methods to find it in lab test results. According to Ric's definitions - 1 mmol increase over baseline or workload that elicits 2.5 mmol - it may seem like that is easy to reach without much work (i.e. 230 watts in your case and according to the definition), but actually it's probably right on. Many well-trained endurance athletes will show a very small elevation from baseline for a couple of stages in a LT test. The curve will appear to be curvilinear where it will be flat during the first couple of increasing stages and will then "break" upward at some point. Athletes who may not be as trained, or those who may be less aerobically trained will reach that break point earlier and the lactate curve will appear more linear.
Although 230 watts isn't bad for most recreational/age-group racers. You really should plot the data or look at the lactate curve to determine where the LT is. If the person who did the test on you used only a 1 mmol above baseline or 2.5 mmol point to determine where your LT is, then I would ask him for the raw data so you could have someone else look at it. You cannot only go by the definitions of LT because everyone is different. While your LT may be close to the workload you achieved at 2.5 mmol, if you examine the raw data, you may find that your LT is actually at a workload that elicited 2.8 or 2.9 mmol, and this will be a slightly higher workload. While the definitions are good, they cannot be relied on solely.
So to answer your question about AT, yes, I would forget about AT. Just don't get too caught up in all of these numbers, terms, and definitions. You know what race pace feels like, and you know what an easy ride feels like. If you don't have the means to train by power, there are other ways around it where you can still get good workouts in. If you have a coach, he can tell you when you should go easier and when you should have a hard workout.
Check out this link to see the curve that I'm talking about.
🙂
