Lactic Acid Threshold Training: Best Workouts and Methods

Lactic Acid or Lactate is quite a term that is being thrown around the fitness world. You must have heard of the Lactic Acid build-up in muscles during a workout.

So, what is this Lactic Acid? Is this good or bad for your muscles?

Lactic Acid or simply Lactate is an organic acid that is used in many organic synthesis industries and various biochemical industries as a synthetic intermediate. It is also produced during anaerobic activities in animals.

---

Lactic acid threshold training

(Image via Pexels/Burak Esen)

Your body uses oxygen during aerobic activities, which is replaced by glycogen that is stored in the body. While glycogen is converted to energy, lactate is a byproduct of this process. This process is called glycolysis.

Did you ever go for a 5km run after watching Rocky but ended up breathless? Maybe you still tried to push but the legs felt heavy and lungs almost bursting? You’re not alone. This is a result of your Lactate build-up and a limit until which the body tolerates. But you can increase and go beyond the threshold.

Lactic acid threshold training, as the name suggests, is focused more on surpassing the Lactate threshold (LT), which helps for better endurance and muscle usage. The trick lies in training in exercise intensity at or just above your LT heart rate.

This is more concerned with interval training. Lactic Acid threshold training is a mixture of high-intensity interval training and continuous steady-state training.

The goal of lactic acid threshold training is to keep your lactate production at a controlled level, allowing you to train harder without suffocating to fatigue or breakdown.

---

Lactic Acid threshold exercises

(Image via Pexels/mary taylor)

“Tempo training" is quite the way to train for lactate threshold training. While sounding sophisticated, this form of training dates back to boxers who practiced this in the form of “roadwork".

Essentially, within a period of a 5km run, your track is divided into short bursts of intense runs that allow the lactic acid build-up to peak, then you should jog for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

You can incorporate lactic acid threshold training into cycling, jogging, sprinting, or HIIT. Intensity is a big factor here, the intensity helps reach your lactic acid threshold which is controlled by maintaining 80-90% of your total output, then reducing intensity for endurance.

We’ve listed a workout below.

---

Lactic acid threshold workout

Image via Pexels/nappy)

From resistance training lovers to runners, intensity interval workouts are amazing tools for lactic acid threshold training.

Duration: 45 to 60 minutes

Frequency: 3 to 4 times a week.

Training:

Primary movement(80-90% intensity)-Light movement(30-40% intensity)-short rest. Repeat.

Rest periods: 30 seconds.

(Primary movement: running, jogging, sprinting, cycling, etc.)

Your light movement should include moving at a low intensity while controlling breathing, helping your lactate build-up slow down and your body using oxygen actively instead of glycogen.

Slowly your body will adapt to its lactate build-up, allowing you to control breathing and pace even while reaching the threshold. This also helps in increasing blood output, better muscle coordination, and overall drive for better performance.

Why don’t you give it a whirl for your next run or jog? Remember to control your breath gently even at the point it feels hard once down your run, rest, and move again. Let this be the new challenge.