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Lactate Tolerance Training: Putting Off The Inevitable

At any intensity an athlete’s body constantly produces lactic acid (lactate) and constantly burns it up, actually using it for fuel.  The higher the intensity, the greater the lactate production is.  At intensities exceeding lactate threshold, lactate accumulates in the muscles and in the blood, eventually causing fatigue and slowing the pace. 

Some athletes must slow down as soon as they feel that all-too-familiar lactate burn in their muscles, while others are able to push beyond anaerobic threshold for sustained durations and perform well even with increasing lactate levels in their muscles and blood.  Lactate tolerance workouts help them to do this.  For many athletes, maximizing lactate tolerance is a critical aspect of preparing for racing. 

Lactate tolerance workouts increase the body’s ability to buffer lactate in the muscles and the blood, keeping pH at reasonable levels even in the presence of significant lactate.  These workouts also enable the muscles (muscle enzymes in particular) to work more effectively in an acidic environment once lactate accumulates to a degree that it cannot be buffered effectively.

Who Needs Lactate Tolerance

Due to the race dynamics created by drafting, road racers will spend a significant amount of time well over lactate threshold even in a very long mass-start race.  Intermediate and higher level cyclists will sustain slightly above threshold throughout a 40K time trial.  Lactate tolerance is an important factor for any road cyclist.

Mountain bikers, because of the extreme terrain, will have drastic fluctuations in wattage during every race.  In fact, mountain bikers will spend most of a 2-hour race pedaling above lactate threshold with lactate accumulating.   Lactate tolerance is a major factor in determining who wins a mountain bike race.

Lactate tolerance may or may not play a role in running, triathlon, or rowing races depending on the event duration, terrain, and the level of the athlete.  Determining whether lactate tolerance will likely be a limiter is an important step in developing the annual training plan for a serious intermediate or advanced triathlete.  If he/she will be able to sustain intensity beyond lactate threshold for much of the duration  of their A races, increasing lactate tolerance will be beneficial.  If not, spend their energy increasing speed at threshold (either LT or AeT) instead of lactate tolerance.

In sprint distance triathlons most serious athletes will race slightly above lactate threshold, so lactate tolerance will play a significant role.  In international-distance triathlons, beginners and intermediates generally perform below threshold, so lactate tolerance is not a significant factor on relatively flat courses.  High level athletes will race beyond lactate threshold, so it will be an important factor. 

On relatively flat courses at international distance, lactate tolerance is likely to play a significant role in race outcomes only for high-level triathletes.  On hilly courses, however, athletes should produce greater wattage on climbs and recover on descents.  When climbing, speed will increase almost proportionately to increased wattage.  When descending, additional wattage primarily increases displacement of air, so high energy expenditures are not efficient.  Because every triathlete will spend significant time over threshold wattage on a hilly course, lactate tolerance will be a factor in these events.

At ironman and half-ironman distances, the race duration is great enough that intensity will be below lactate threshold.  Lactate tolerance training uses resources that should be dedicated to other types of training.

Periodization: Later is Better

Lactate tolerance is one adaptation that both trains and detrains very quickly.  Because of that, and the enormous recovery cost of these workouts, they should generally be emphasized for just four to six weeks before A-priority races in which lactate tolerance is likely to be a limiter.  Started earlier that this, lactate tolerance workouts will interfere with other key workouts, such as threshold workouts and aerobic capacity workouts, more than they will benefit.  Lactate tolerance workouts in March (did anyone say training races?) might be fun, and they will certainly improve lactate tolerance for group rides and training races in early April, but they will reduce the benefit of other key workouts that should be prioritized until the peaking phase.  These workouts demand enormous resources from the athlete, both physiological and psychological.  Don’t underestimate that!  Budget those resources wisely.

Most athletes turn aerobic capacity workouts into lactate tolerance workouts by using an intensity that is too high and either reps that are too long or reps with insufficient recovery.  This quickly leads to overtraining.  Make sure that you communicate this effectively to the athletes you coach.  There is a time for lactate tolerance workouts, when harder is better, but make sure that they know that this is inappropriate and detrimental earlier in the season.

Implementing Lactate Tolerance Workouts

There is no magic formula for lactate tolerance workouts.  To increase lactate tolerance, an athlete must subject the muscles either to extended periods of moderately high lactate accumulation or to very high levels of lactate for moderate durations.  There are a number of effective ways of doing this. 

Most hard group bike rides and criteriums are effective lactate tolerance workouts.  Most organized running track workouts, performed at too high intensity, are perfect lactate tolerance workouts even if their intent was increasing aerobic capacity and economy.  When producing effective lactate tolerance workouts, we break every rule used for developing aerobic capacity and threshold workouts with an optimal cost-to-benefit ratio.  While we usually strive for maximal stimulation of aerobic function for minimal lactate accumulation (both lactate level and duration), now we strive to increase muscle lactate levels and sustain them for greater durations.

Combining Stimulation

Generally lactate tolerance workouts will be designed to improve (or maintain) aerobic capacity or lactate threshold while stimulating increased lactate tolerance.  Combining workouts this way enables the week to be opened up for more easy and/or rest days.  This is an important point about lactate tolerance workouts.  They are extremely costly and will provide quick benefits, but are also a quick road to overtraining or injury.  Sustained durations with high lactate levels   See Peter Jansen’s book Training Lactate Pulse Rate for data about injury risk and lactate levels.  Athletes will need more recovery after this type of workout than any other.

Group fartlek workouts are a method of lactate tolerance training that many athletes find more appealing than structured workouts.  Several athletes of similar ability alternate periods of 2 – 4 minutes very hard (aerobic capacity pace or higher) with recoveries of only about 1 minute.  With each repetition lactate levels climb higher and the recovery periods never allow the muscles to clear out much of the lactate.  Road cyclists, in particular, take advantage of this type of workout.  Earlier in the season, this type of workout involves more complete recovery between reps.  When lactate tolerance is a goal, recovery periods are kept shorter.

Inserting a 1-minute surge at about aerobic capacity pace every 5 minutes during an extended lactate threshold segment can be used to increase lactate tolerance while providing a maintenance benefit for economy and threshold. 

Lactate criss-cross workouts – alternating 2 minutes at 2-3 beats above AT with 2 minutes 2-3 beats below AT – increase tolerance while maintaining threshold.  

Interval workouts combine aerobic capacity training with lactate tolerance training by increasing intensity beyond the six-minute critical power guideline for intensity.  I often have the athlete increase intensity to near 100% effort for about half the usual number of repetitions.  A cyclist who built to six three-minute hill repeats at CP6 intensity for an aerobic capacity workout might instead do three of four all out when training for lactate tolerance.

Two to three long (7-9 minute) repetitions at full effort with full recovery between reps works well to increase tolerance and maintain aerobic capacity.

Another method of combining an aerobic capacity workout with a lactate tolerance workout is reducing the rest interval between reps.  For instance, a runner who does 800s at CP6 pace with a 400m jog could do 800s at CP6 pace with a 200m jog recovery.  Again, volume must be reduced.

A structured lactate tolerance workout for a runner is repeat 400s with only 15 seconds recovery between reps. This is an extremely demanding workout that can be used to improve lactate tolerance and a maintain aerobic capacity, economy, and lactate threshold during a peaking phase.

Design with Specificity

When tailoring lactate tolerance workouts to the individual athlete (and when deciding whether or not to include them), reanalyze the athlete’s limiters and personality.  Determine to what degree force, threshold, aerobic capacity, and economy will be limiters in A priority races.  Use a method of training lactate tolerance that stimulates other limiters in a manner relatively specific to the demands of competition.  Athletes that struggle with maintaining discipline and structure in their workouts will probably not do well with structured lactate tolerance workouts, but will love the freedom of fartlek lactate tolerance workouts.  This is one time where we can let go of the reins with these athletes (for one workout per week).

Lactate tolerance training is a powerful tool, but remember that a little goes a long way.  Make sure to reduce volume, incorporate fewer breakthrough workouts and each week, and allow significant additional recovery time when adding these workouts. 

Remember to put them off for as long as possible before priority races.  With lactate tolerance workouts, we are stimulating changes that both occur very quickly and reverse very quickly.  We are also placing enormous demands on the body’s recovery systems, so other workouts must be compromised.