Information provided By Sean Clark and Tara-Lee Marshall of CMS Coaching

The idea of lactate balance point method for testing for heart rate zone, is not widely received by the "educated" masses yet. There are a lot of people on both side's; the lactate threshold side (lt) and the lactate balance point side (lbp).

There has been scientific studies on both these sides. I have studied both and have gone with the lbp side because it makes more sense scientifically and physiologically.

Without going into too much specifics I will basically tell you the differences between the two and why the lbp is the better system to use.

LACTATE THRESHOLD

This has been the method used for many years by a lot of coaches, physiologists, scientists, and professors. It is still being used today, but hopefully for not much longer.

Basically what the lactate threshold says is that this is the point where the body starts to produce too much lactic acid, which shuts the muscles down. They use a number of 3-4mmol of lactic as the number for this. Basically the idea is that above this is anaerobic and below is aerobic.

LACTATE BALANCE POINT

Lactate balance point is similar to lactate threshold, in the sense that the balance point is where the body acts like a sink and lactate is produced and used by the body as an energy source.

It used to be thought that lactate was the enemy, but actually the body uses it as energy, though the production is actually reduced with exercise.

The problem is that the body produces acidity which affects the muscles, but due to the acidosis the tub fills up and is no longer getting rid of the acid shutting down the muscles.

This point where the sink no longer holds the balance is called the lactate balance point.

Now unlike the l.t. the lbp does not use a number to find this point. As you may recall from the description above, lactate threshold uses a lactate level of 3-4 mmol's.

What the lbp does is look at the curve where the acidity goes up and does not use a fixed number for this point. The reason why is because so many things affect the lactate levels in your body. Just getting nervous your levels can jump well above the levels seen as your threshold (3-4mmol)

If you recall though the new science has shown that the body uses lactate as an energy source, therefore that is why it drops off as you start some form of exercise because it is being used for energy. Problem is that it doesn't last forever and you still are producing acidosis, which eventually shuts things down. Other things that affect lactate levels are: dehydration, what you have eaten ie. High carbohydrate source will increase the levels dramatically.

Another thing to remember when looking at the test is that the lbp shouldn't change too much over time, but what will change is the speed and heart rate at that lbp. If you do not see an improvement this is a sign that things are not on track

The Heart Rate Zone