Confused by Your Own Lactate Threshold Heart Rate?

Many endurance athletes are confused by this term, the definition of lactate threshold heart rate is is a measurement of the level of exercise intensity where the body can no longer remove any one of the by-products of exercise, and consequently this by-product starts to accumulate in the bloodstream. This results in the burn which is felt in the muscles during intense exercise such as endurance racing, weight lifting or other such physical exertion.

You need to determine what your own specific lactate threshold heart rate is basically because in order to train your aerobic system which is comprised of your heart and lungs and to be an strong endurance athlete, you need to work on developing a solid aerobic base.  By determining your lactate threshold heart rate, your aerobic base can be derived.  typically 65% to 75% of your lactate threshold heart rate is equivalent to your aerobic base.

Some have used a simple formula as a basic guideline to determine their aerobic base, usually 220 minus their age and then multiply by 60% as well as 90%.  For example, a 30-year old would calculate his optimal heart rate zone using the formula: 220-30=190. 190x.60=114 and 190x.90=171. This individual would try to keep his heart rate between 114 (aerobic base) and 171 (lactate threshold) beats per minute.  However this isn’t a very reliable calculation as it is just far too broad and general for everyone to use.  To accurately determine your own individual lactate threshold heart rate, you would need to visit your doctor or exercise physiologist for an endurance test where blood tests would be administered while exercising.  You can also use a heart rate monitor and do a self assessment while running or cycling and measure your heart rates in a 30 minute field test.  Set the heart rate monitor to begin recording from the beginning of the trial and push yourself to complete the interval, but not so hard that you must slow down to complete it.  You should start the first ten minutes easily and work your way up to what feels like your max. pace.  You can roughly estimate your own lactate threshold heart rate by figuring your average heart rate over the 30 minute duration.

Of course this won’t be 100% scientifically accurate, but it will be close enough to understand your own rough lactate threshold heart rate and from there, be able to determine your own aerobic base.  For example, if your estimated lactate threshold heart rate is 120, then you want to be working at 65%-75% of that, or 78-90 beats, for as long as possible.  As a multisports athlete or triathlete, this develops your aerobic base and strengthens your heart and lungs in the most efficient manner for endurance sports.  Once your base aerobic fitness level has been built, then you can focus on other aspects such as developing sports specific strength for swimming, cycling, or running by lifting weights, thus allowing for faster times in each part of your triathlon event and ultimately your overall time.