Kyle Main
Coach in Port Elizabeth

Kyle Main Sports and Swimming Academy Port Elizabeth South Africa.

Since lactate is produced in the muscle and varies according to the effort level, it reflects best what is happening in the muscle. The production of lactate tells us how much the anaerobic system and the aerobic system is involved. So, the amount of lactate in the blood and the corresponding work effort are an indication of how well each of these systems is developed. Thus, lactate testing provides a clear advantage over other types of testing because it can assess the effectiveness of each of these systems. This is not true with other measures which don't tell you what is happening in the muscles or how each energy system is contributing to exercise. This is the major distinction between a lactate testing system and other testing systems. It is not only important to develop as much as possible the aerobic and anaerobic systems but they also have to be well balanced in order to produce optimal performance. Unless the coach or athlete knows how each system is performing, achieving this balance is at best a guess. It was not available to coaches unless they tested their athletes at an exercise physiology lab. Because of this coaches and sports physiologists have devised other ways to approximate the information that lactate testing provides and using heart rates was one of these methods. Many coaches instruct their athletes to use heart rates as a surrogate for lactate levels to guide their training. However, we will show that heart rates cannot provide the key information necessary to optimize training. And since lactate measures are now relatively inexpensive, they are not only the most effective but also cost-efficient markers that inform the coach about the physical condition of athletes and the effectiveness of their training. This profile defines the priorities of what the athlete needs to train. As a consequence, every minute the athlete spends on training is focused on what is really needed. The athlete avoids unnecessary training workouts and therefore minimizes the risk of injuries. As a consequence, training programs will be adjusted to the athlete's unique metabolic characteristics. As a consequence, we learn about the training method that works best with that athlete. A single lactate test provides a lot of important indications for training.