Lactate threshold training

Train at the intensity just below where lactate spikes to push your sustainable pace higher.

Why it works

Lactate threshold (LT) is the exercise intensity where lactate accumulation begins to exceed clearance. Training at or just below LT improves the muscle’s ability to buffer and clear lactate, raises the sustainable power or pace, and shifts the aerobic-anaerobic crossover point upward. A higher LT means you can sustain a higher fraction of VO2 max in everyday aerobic work and race-pace efforts.

How to do it

1. Find tempo pace: roughly 85–90% of max HR, or the pace you could hold for 45–60 minutes but not much longer.
2. Do 20–40 minute tempo runs or rides at this pace, or 2–3 by 10-minute tempo intervals with short recovery.
3. Program 1 session per week; this is more stressful than zone 2 and needs recovery.
4. Track the pace or power at your target HR over weeks — improvement means your LT is rising.

Evidence

Lactate threshold training is one of the most consistently supported strategies for improving endurance performance. It is a cornerstone of evidence-based endurance coaching. (observational)

Threshold identification without lab testing relies on proxies (HR, perceived effort) that carry measurement error.

Sources

• Faude et al. (2009), lactate threshold concepts, Sports Medicine

Common mistake

Running tempo sessions too hard, pushing into zone 4 or 5, which accumulates so much fatigue that the higher zone 2 and VO2 max work suffers.