As many of you already know, lactate training pays off. Big time. We have had so many athletes coming to us for lactate threshold tests on the treadmill or the stationary bike in the clinic, who have gone onto post PB after PB as a result of training to their individual heart rate zones, the evidence is irrefutable.

But what exactly happens in these tests, and how do you know they will work for you, or your lucky friend you are thinking of buying the package for?

Our own Ruth Jones came to us initially for physiotherapy with Jenny Blizard for a chronic glute injury, having read her articles in Athletics Weekly, but as a result, she heard about Dave Tune’s 97% success rate with his lactate threshold tested clients in helping them to improve, and maximise their training in what little time they had to get it done.

Ruth wrote a blog on her first of two lactate threshold tests thus far back in April, which help to illustrate exactly what happens when you arrive at the clinic for a test with Dave, and we have extracted the most relevant sections here:

“I did my research before I came for my test, and discovered Dave is a former 47min and 63min 10m and half marathon elite GB athlete, and still competes at a decent club level whilst working full time at the clinic putting runners from all over the country through their paces on what I now know is a lactate threshold test.

I had a good chat with Dave about what that test involves, and what the corresponding personal heart rate zone training plans would mean for the athletes. In a nutshell, I was immediately convinced by his infectious enthusiasm for the tried and tested system, a system which he has used on more than 1400 runners.

All those who have stuck to the plan, running within their heart rate zones for the prescribed time and distance every time they train, have had 100% success improving their PBs.

The first half an hour of the appointment was spent chatting about my general health, and talking about my training and nutrition diary I had been required to complete and email to him in advance of my visit.

We then moved onto some body measurements, which resulted in some very interesting results, including learning that my body fat percentage is far too high, and my hematocrits levels (the percentage of volume of whole blood made up of red blood cells) are too low. Just a one percent increase in the hematocrits, using a combination of smarter training and diet, results in a three percent increase in performance.

Then it was time for the test itself. Dave explained in a lot of clear detail what it would involve, so I knew what level of effort and discomfort to expect, and how exactly he would measure my readings.

In summary, the lactate test involves the runner climbing onto the treadmill and warming up at a very comfortable pace, while in front of the machine is both a mirror and a ‘perceived effort’ wall chart, to allow the athlete to communicate quickly and efficiently how knackered they are when asked by Dave at regular intervals during the session.

Behind the treadmill is a massive red vertical mattress attached to the wall, in case of emergencies! Dave assured me that this was very, very unlikely to be needed, and I can confirm that, on this occasion, he was right!

After three minutes of easy running, Dave asked me to hold onto the treadmill ‘arms’ and ‘jump’ and land on the stationary sides of the machine, to allow him to take my first lactate reading. This involved him pricking my finger with a sharp implement and taking a couple of drops of my blood, before asking me to jump back on the moving treadmill with care, while he upped the pace a few km/hr and measured my blood’s lactate levels.

This continued for a number of three minute intervals, interspersed with regular check ups from Dave about my perceived effort level using the sliding scale numbered wall chart, together with ‘constructive criticism’ about my running ‘style’ and stride length, and I now know I need to try to increase my cadence from my current relatively poor 162 steps a minute average, to 180.

Thus, by the time Dave finally told me to jump off for the last blood test, I was ready to finish, which was pretty much perfect in terms of my aims for the session. I had run for about 27 minutes with 6-7 x 30 second stops for the lactate readings, and had pushed myself to my current limits, which had felt hard (sweat was flying everywhere in the last stages) but manageably so.

Dave was fantastically encouraging throughout the whole test, and gave the perfect level of feedback and positive comments to allow me to complete the session confidently.

Dave then converted all of my results into a big report detailing all of the information I would need to put the test results into practice.

We then had another 20-30 minute chat to discuss the report’s findings, and where to go now in terms of my nutrition, training and future race plans. Most importantly, I now had my heart rate training zones which were completely personal to me, based directly on my lactate test results. The most surprising fact that came out of it (and it is an indisputable fact), is that my lactate training heart rate zone, and thus the zone that I will be doing the majority of my training in, is a lot higher than the generic one used by Garmin and Strava. Mine is between 166-175bpm!

Dave did explain though, and the report explains this too, that for the first few weeks this will feel harder than I might expect it to, as my body adapts to training in the correct zone for the first time. Even more surprisingly, the pace at which I would be running at if I ran at the top of that zone ie 175bpm, which would be at the peak of my lactate threshold, would be 6.30min/mile!

So what is ‘lactate threshold’, and what does it mean for you as a runner?

• Lactate acid is the by-product of hard training, and when it accumulates quickly, that is when training or racing becomes significantly limited.
• As the training effort increases, the body’s oxygen system can’t keep up, which is when lactic acid starts being produced, which is the point of the lactate threshold, which is when the body starts to tire or even stop.
• Running in or just below this threshold improves the aerobic endurance capacity of the body in each run.
• As is probably obvious by now, these runs will feel relatively hard work, mainly because of the length of time each session that will be required to stay at that pace, rather than the pace itself, meaning it will take time for changes to take place, and patience will be the most important attribute to behold during this period!”