Hi
I did a lactate threshold test as described by david in episode 20 and i found my lactate threshold to be 167bpm, At another date I also did the max HR and found my max HR to be 195bpm.
I then did the maths and worked out my lactate threshold to 85.6% of my max HR, Thinking this was quite high I looked around to find my its neally as high % as sporting greats e.g. lance armstrong ; it is also much higher than the elite cyclist described on tri talk.
Am I gentical very talented or there someting else to look at?
Im a 15 yr old dualite/ cyclist and I train about 400hr a yr.
there are some issues related to your age, and possibly the protocol, but the main issue is the math.
167bpm is closer to ~80% of your max, depending on your average resting heart rate, as per the Karvonen formula:
THR = ((HRmax – HRrest) × %Intensity) + HRrest
THR = target Heart Rate (167)
HRmax = Max heart rate (195)
HRrest = resting heart rate (?)
%Intensity = you can rearrange the equation to solve for this
As for the tri-talk podcasts, I haven’t found them to be very accurate - so take them with a grain of salt.
I’m not really sure what protocol you’ve used for LT measures, and there are many out there, so comparing your LT values to another person’s is often an apple and orange type comparison as they could be measuring LT wholly differently. Anyway, in this situation I’d guess you’re max HR value is higher than you know. In reality, the key thing is to get faster and using an LT measure to set good training zones is a great place to start.
As was mentioned, it depends upon the protocol used. Delta 1.2, Delta 1.5, Dmax, Conconi, etc. I assume you had a fingerstick every 5 mins with a progressive spead on a treadmill, right?
For the record, I just tested 3 weeks ago (age 38): max HR 203, LT of 183 (Delta 1.2) or 90% so I must really by a genetic freak (I’m not).
rroof: as per my previous post, your threshold heart rate is closer to ~85%, depending on your RHR.
I’m guessing the OP did a hard 30min run (or bike?), and took the average HR over the last 20mins as threshold. The OP is 15yrs old - I generally wouldn’t recommend lab tests for athletes at this stage, and I only use HR monitors for youth/juniors if we need to teach them how to slow down for certain sessions. I would advise the OP to find a good local coach (triathlon, cycling or running) who works with youth/junior athletes. A lot of the advice dished out on podcasts and the like is neither accurate nor terribly useful, and certainly not relevant to junior development.
Sorry to bust your enthusiasm at possibly being as good as LA - not that that’s impossible - but what your heart rate from such a test is, is just about the least useful thing to know. Power output at certain BL concentrations maybe.
Two quick points.
i. What matters is your ability to complete a course in the shortest time. This has a lot to do with many factors, such as physiological (e.g. sustainable power output etc), technical (e.g. positioning, skills etc), tactical (e.g. race pacing etc), strategic (e.g. season training plans, tapering etc) and psychological (e.g. mental prep, motivation etc). HR doesn’t even rate in that lot.
ii. HR response at a given blood lactate level is not static, it changes with both the concentration of lactate and the **duration **held at that concentration.
I would suggest you seek advice on the points raised in i. than trying to read anything into a heart rate measure.
I think the Karvonen formula has seen it’s day by now!
My resting heart rate is also 43.
To the other poster, yes, duration is key since my damn LT test took almot 80 mins to complete! This was running BTW, and not on the computrainer, etc.
the Karvonen method has certainly seen it’s day in terms of exercise prescription, but for the purpose I used it (determining what % of max a given heart rate represents), it’s still valid.
With the data you provided, your RHR would have to be 0 for your LTHR to be 90% of your max. With a RHR of 43, it’s just under 88%. Either way it’s a great number, but we might as well be accurate, or we get the type of conclusions that started the thread.
Just to throw some more meaningless numbers for the hell of it:
Age: 32
Resting HR: 42
Max HR: 201
LTHR: 183
To put the LT into context, I do my own “Freil style” test (30min TT on the bike, record last 20min avg). Haven’t done the test since last fall though. Looking at the numbers, I’m pretty similar to *rroof *(just younger :-))
My one hour self “LT test” ride I average 162. My max HR on the bike is 181. That puts me at right about 90% of my MHR. Getting your LT closer to Max takes time.
Thanks, appreciated. One further thing that might have been confused from the start is that a threshold HR of 85%MaxHR does not mean that threshold VO2 is 85% of VO2max. Often, the % of VO2max is lower than the % of max heart rate.
Back to my advice for the OP: forget the adult/age-group oriented advice (power meters, blood lactates, etc). If you can, find a good local junior coach to work with. That’s how the best juniors do it.
You should also know that the amount of blood lactate increases throughout your development from childhood into adult at all levels of exercise intensity. For examples, I have a textbook that indicates blood lactate levels will rise 50% between the ages of 6 to 14 years old.
What this means, is that for a particular intensity, your blood lactate concentration will increase as you get older, meaning, your LT will get lower.
Also, max heart rate will decrease with age, further complicating any sort of comparison.
As others have alluded to, forget about LT at this stage in the game - focus on measurable results such as pace (not very accurate for cycling but good for running) or power (much better for cycling).
- but what your heart rate from such a test is, is just about the least useful thing to know. Power output at certain BL concentrations maybe.