Olivia Maclaren concludes her 3 part series on understanding fitness test protocols and their application. With the advent of more portable and cheaper blood lactate analysis devices, blood lactate measures need not be restricted to the sport scientist’s lab, or even to the sport scientist. These devices are typically a lot quicker in their analysis of results than previous devices such as the near archaic YSI. Previous to devices such as the Lactate Pro, samples of blood were drawn through a pipette and then placed in the machine to measure the blood. After some minutes, a figure representing blood lactate was given, while the testing contuinued. Over the last couple of years the Lactate Pro has made the taking of blood a lot easier and reduced time to results by more than half. Sampling is as easy as a would be glucose test, and measurement time is reduced to one minute.

While there is still debate over the type of testing procedure to employ (length of time for a stage and how much to increase load by) there is no doubting that the test is discipline specific, i.e. if you are a cyclist, testing on a treadmill will provide you with no useful training information with regards to cycling. Likewise, multisporters and triathletes should be tested across all disciplines to assess current training state. Why? The amount of lactate produced is relative to the working muscle, and if that working muscle is trained for cycling, the response from running will not be as efficient as from cycling.

Procedures for blood lactate assessment typically have the athlete doing between three to six minute stages, with a one-minute rest in between steps. The work periods are designed so as the athlete achieves a steady state of exercise. At the start of the rest minute a sample of blood is taken from subject and measured for the bodies production of blood lactate in response to the previous level of exercise it has endured. Heart rate monitors are used to ensure a steady state is reached, and for training prescription in the training program.

As a rule of thumb the fourth stage should be representative of a runners 10km pace. So if the athlete runs 5min k’s for a 10km run, then the speed of the treadmill will be 12km/hr. Ideally five to eight stages will be achieved during testing, the final stage need not be maximal. Increments for the runner may go up in 1 to 1.5km stages – any bigger and the curve lacks definition.

Graph of Blood Lactate Assessment on Treadmill

Cycling assessments typically use a Kingcycle or similar, stages are between three to eight minutes and wattage increases in the vicinity of 25 to 40 watts, dependent on the sex and experience of the rider. Start rates are 100 to 150 watts, again according to the experience of the rider. Initailly the first two stages should be a comfortable warm-up for the athlete, with the final two being hard to extremely hard.

Swimming uses 200m as a standard distance with swimmers taking off up to 5 seconds per 200m over the course of 4 to 6 stages. Kayaking uses 25-watt increments in lab on the kayak ergometer with four minutes for each stage, while on water testing with a speedo is the gold standard in windless conditions. Typically the on-water test is distance based over 1km, with 1 minute off between stages, and a reduction of 10seconds for each stage.

Sampling sites for testing are typically the choice of the athlete, primarily ear lobe and fingers are used, however the fingers can be a bit tender if you happen to be typing on the keyboards over the next few days. Once the decision to use fingers or an earlobe has been made then that will be used for the remainder of the test. Other items needed outside of a Lactate Pro (or similar) are sample strips, gloves, easy let devices (pricks for getting the blood moving), paper towels and a steady hand.

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