How to Do Lactate Threshold Training to Burn More Fat & Improve Performance

A lot of people have heard the term “Lactate Threshold” in the fitness world, but don’t know what it means. Should they be doing it, and if so, how can they achieve it? Cat Kom, Founder and Trainer at Studio SWEAT onDemand, is joined by Trainer Yael to dig into the topic. Yael is a Spin enthusiast and has been an avid Spin instructor for about 15 years, including working with many on proper lactate threshold training.

What does lactate threshold mean?

The lactate threshold is the highest aerobic capacity that you can sustain for a longer period of time. We have 3 energy pathways, or systems, that work simultaneously: 

• ATP-CP System: sustainable for 10-20 seconds of highest intensity activity.

• Glycolysis System (this is also referred to as anaerobic glycolysis): can sustain for 15 seconds to about 3 minutes.

• Aerobic System: sustainable for quite a while

The lactate threshold is the threshold, or “fine line,” between the aerobic level and glycolysis. What that really means is that it’s your most efficient and effective type of exercise that you can sustain endurance-wise for a longer period of time. The oxygen in your body at that particular moment is working at its best and most optimal level, being delivered to all the cells in your body, giving your muscles and cells the oxygen they need to keep going on.

What are the benefits of training at the lactate threshold zone?

There are many great benefits to training at the Zone which was something new to Yael, who hadn’t put focus on it until recently. Now that she has, she’s observed these benefits. 

• Burning fat as your fuel source.
• Greater weight loss.
• Increased mitochondria = greater aerobic efficiency.
• Higher level of fitness to it.
• Increased stamina.
• Great mental exercise requiring focus and intent.
• Feel more confident and accomplished.
• No cap on the upside potential.

Yael has a client who started training at this threshold level once a week, and within 3 or 4 weeks she was able to see on her Fitbit that she went from very good to excellent as far as her aerobic capacity.

Who should do lactate threshold training?

Cat and Yael agree that lactate threshold training is for most healthy people. We will talk in a little bit about how to do it smartly. You don’t just jump into it all gung ho! To get to the most rigorous level, you have to build up to it. Athletes spend a lot of their time – Yael read somewhere about 80% of their time – training in this zone. They can sustain this level of intensity for about an hour. Someone who is already fit will probably be able to sustain 20 to 30 min.

A lot of the workouts that we do at Studio SWEAT onDemand are right in the zone that we’re talking about. A lot of people talk about Zone 2 training which is different than lactate threshold training. And there are a lot of athletes that do spend more like 80% of their time doing Zone 2 training and only 20% of their time in doing lactate threshold training, so it depends also on the sport. The key is to determine what your goals are, and then we circle back to those benefits. 

In lactate threshold training, you are burning fat, but you’re also burning carbs. There’s a combination you’re hitting during this training, and that topic is its own conversation, and a long one at that.

How do you do lactate threshold training?

Like any new training program, if you’re not already doing this, you’ll want to start small –  work for small increments of time, and the recovery should be about half the time, so a 2:1 ratio of work to recovery. If you’re doing a block of 4-minute lactate threshold training, then release and recover for 2 minutes, repeat 4 minutes on, 2 minutes off, or 5 minutes on / 3 minutes off. Then increase it, increase and increase. 

How do you determine your heart rate at your lactate threshold?

Lactate Threshold Heart Rate = (10 Min HR + 30 Min HR)/2

On an indoor cycling bike:

• Start on your bike with a warm-up.
• Ride at about 85 RPM for 20-30 minutes at your rate of perceived exertion (RPE) of 7 to 8 on a 10-point scale (0 means you can do the activity all day long, 10 you can only sustain for 10-15 seconds). You don’t want to feel like you’re gasping and out of breath, but you want it to feel hard and challenging for you. Power is more important than speed, so you want enough resistance on your bike so that you’re on a moderate incline with some road under your “tires.”
• Calculate your heart rate at the 10-minute point, and do so again at the 30-minute mark.
• Average the two heart rates (10 Min HR + 30 Min HR)/2. The average heart rate is your lactate threshold heart rate target, which is a little more personally specific than a heart rate zone that’s often used for training.

On a treadmill: 

• Start with a warmup
• Find a pace that you can sustain for 20-30 minutes. It should be the fastest pace you can sustain for that amount of time.
• Calculate your heart rate at the 10-minute point, and do so again at the 30-minute mark.
• Average the two heart rates (10 Min HR + 30 Min HR)/2. The average heart rate is your lactate threshold heart rate target, which is a little more personally specific than a heart rate zone that’s often used for training.

Taking your heart rate:

Option 1: Wear a heart rate device like MyZone or other devices like Polar, FitBit, or many others. 

Option 2: You can also do old school by taking your pulse. Count your pulse for 60 seconds. You may want to do that a couple of times at each measurement point for an accurate count.

If you’ve ever done a VO2 max test, this is similar to that, although at a lower level. As an aside, Yael notes that in the VO2 max, it’s a little more dependent on your build, so there’s only so much you can do to improve your VO2 max. With lactate threshold training, you can keep improving. 

How often should people do lactate threshold training?

Yael suggests that if you’re new to lactate threshold training, you should start with once a week, and maybe eventually increase to twice a week. It’s important to vary your workouts. If you have a specific fitness goal, you may want to work with a coach who might have other ideas for your body and goals. You do want to be sure you’re getting strength and mobility training along with your cardio (which should also include interval and endurance training), and there’s only so much time in the day. So lactate threshold training shouldn’t be your only type of workout.

Once you know your lactate threshold number, find some music you love that matches your RPMs to BPMs, and go for it! And remember we have a lot of workouts that are gonna help take your fitness to the next level – check out a Free Trial over on Studio SWEAT onDemand! Download the app, or if you happen to live in southern California, visit us in our San Diego studio.