Lactate Threshold Test (Treadmill)

The Lactate Threshold test is the essential diagnostic tool for runners, cyclists, and endurance athletes. While VO₂ max represents your aerobic ceiling, your Lactate Threshold is the best indicator of endurance performance. Understanding your body's ability to manage lactate is the key to training at the right intensity and avoiding the "grey zone" of wasted effort.

What to Expect During Your Assessment

During this assessment, you will complete multiple sub-maximal exercise stages on a treadmill. The intensity increases incrementally, allowing us to monitor your body’s lactate accumulation as the workload rises.

A small, pinprick blood sample is taken at the end of each stage. This allows us to accurately identify your two critical metabolic markers:

• Lactate Threshold 1 (LT1): The point where your lactate first begins to rise above baseline, vital for determining your optimal easy and recovery zones.
• Lactate Turnpoint (LT2): The point where your lactate rises substantially, vital for determining your steady, tempo/threshold and interval zones. 
  

What Data Will You Gain?

• Blood Lactate Response: Identifying the small and large changes in your physiological responses to increasing working intensities. These anchor your LT1 and LT2 and your training zones.  

What This Assessment Gives You

By identifying your exact physiological markers, you move away from heart rate formulas and towards evidence-based training. Your results include:

• Multi-Stage Blood Lactate & Heart Rate Profile: A clear map of your physiological response to exercise.
• Physiological Training Zones: Precisely defined zones based on your physiological demands, not your age or estimated max heart rate.
• Endurance Performance Indicators: Data-led insights into your ability to sustain intensity over short and long distances.
• Expert Training Guidance: Personalised recommendations on how to use these results to adjust your current training volume and intensity.

Personalised Reporting and scientific strategy 

Following your session at Hustle Wymondham, you will receive an individualised summary report within 48 hours. Every report is bespoke, based on your specific physiological responses and your primary performance goals.

Before and after the test, we will have a brief discussion to ensure your results are contextualised for your sport and based on your information that is relevant and important to you.