Anaerobic tests are divided into tests measuring anaerobic power and anaerobic capacity. Anaerobic power tests include force-velocity tests, vertical jump tests, staircase tests, and cycle ergometer tests. The values of maximal anaerobic power obtained with these different protocols are different but generally well correlated. Differences between tests include factors such as whether average power or instantaneous power is measured, active muscle mass is the same in all the protocols, the legs act simultaneously or successively, maximal power is measured at the very beginning of exercise or after several seconds, inertia of the devices and body segments are taken into account. Force-velocity tests have the advantage of enabling the estimation of the force and velocity components of power, which is not possible with tests such as a staircase test, a vertical jump, the Wingate test and other long-duration cycle ergometer protocols. Maximal anaerobic capacity tests are subdivided into maximal oxygen debt test, ergometric tests (all-out tests and constant load tests), measurement of oxygen deficit during a constant load test and measurement of peak blood lactate. The measurement of the maximal oxygen debt is not valid and reliable enough to be used as an anaerobic capacity test. The aerobic metabolism involvement during anaerobic capacity tests, and the ignorance of the mechanical efficiency, limit the validity of the ergometric tests which are only based on the measurement of work. The amount of work performed during the Wingate test depends probably on glycolytic and aerobic power as well as anaerobic capacity. The fatigue index (power decrease) of the all-out tests is not reliable and depends probably on aerobic power as well as the fast-twich fibre percentage. Reliability of the constant load tests has seldom been studied and has been found to be rather low. In theory, the measure of the oxygen deficit during a constant load test is more valid than the other tests but its reliability is unknown. The validity and reliability of postexercise blood lactate as a test of maximal anaerobic capacity are probably not better than that of the current erogmetric tests. The choice of an anaerobic test depends on the aims and subjects of a study and its practicability within a testing session.

Standard Anaerobic Exercise Tests

Blood lactate concentration ([La(-)](b)) is one of the most often measured parameters during clinical exercise testing as well as during performance testing of athletes. While an elevated [La(-)](b) may be indicative of ischemia or hypoxemia, it may also be a "normal" physiological response to exertion. In response to "all-out" maximal exertion lasting 30-120 seconds, peak [La(-)](b) values of approximately 15-25 mM may be observed 3-8 minutes postexercise. In response to progressive, incremental exercise, [La(-)](b) increases gradually at first and then more rapidly as the exercise becomes more intense. The work rate beyond which [La(-)](b) increases exponentially [the lactate threshold (LT)] is a better predictor of performance than V O2max and is a better indicator of exercise intensity than heart rate; thus LT (and other valid methods of describing this curvilinear [La(-)](b) response with a single point) is useful in prescribing exercise intensities for most diseased and nondiseased patients alike. H(+)-monocarboxylate cotransporters provide the primary of three routes by which La(-) transport proceeds across the sarcolemma and red blood cell membrane. At rest and during most exercise conditions, whole blood [La(-)] values are on average 70% of the corresponding plasma [La(-)] values; thus when analyzing [La(-)](b'), care should be taken to both (1) validate the [La(-)](b)-measuring instrument with the criterion/reference enzymatic method and (2) interpret the results correctly based on what is being measured (plasma or whole blood). Overall, it is advantageous for clinicians to have a thorough understanding of [La(-)](b) responses, blood La(-) transport and distribution, and [La(-)](b) analysis.

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Blood Lactate Measurements and Analysis during Exercise: A Guide for Clinicians

The blood lactate response to exercise has interested physiologists for over fifty years, but has more recently become as routine a variable to measure in many exercise laboratories as is heart rate. This rising popularity is probably due to: the ease of sampling and improved accuracy afforded by recently developed micro-assay methods and/or automated lactate analysers; and the predictive and evaluative power associated with the lactate response to exercise. Several studies suggest that the strong relationship between exercise performance and lactate-related variables can be attributed to a reflection by lactate during exercise of not only the functional capacity of the central circulatory apparati to transport oxygen to exercising muscles, but also the peripheral capacity of the musculature to utilise this oxygen. For example, several studies contrast the relationship between VO2max and endurance running performance with that between a lactate variable and the same running performance. In every study, the lactate variable is more highly correlated with performance. Similarly, prescribing training intensity as a function of the lactate concentration elicited by the training may prove to be a means of obtaining a more homogeneous adaptation to training in a group of athletes or subjects than is obtained by setting intensity as a function of maximal heart rate or % VO2max. A review of the recent literature shows that the lactate response to supramaximal exercise is a sensitive indicator of adaptation to 'sprint training' and is correlated with supramaximal exercise performance. This review also describes the possible applications of lactate measurements to enhance the rate of recovery from high intensity exercise. Although the lactate response to exercise is reproducible under standardised conditions it can be influenced by the site of blood sampling, ambient temperature, changes in the body's acid-base balance prior to exercise, prior exercise, dietary manipulations, or pharmacological interpretation.

Blood lactate. Implications for training and sports performance.

Time over a distance, i.e. speed, is the reference for performance for all events whose rules are based on locomotion in different mechanical constraints. A certain power output has to be maintained during a distance or over time. The energy requirements and metabolic support for optimal performance are functions of the length of the race and the intensity at which it is completed. However, despite the complexity of the regulation of lactate metabolism, blood lactate measurements can be used by coaches for prediction of exercise performance. The anaerobic threshold, commonly defined as the exercise intensity, speed or fraction of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) at a fixed blood lactate level or at a maximal lactate steady-state (MLSS), has been accepted as a measure of the endurance. The blood lactate threshold, expressed as a fraction of the velocity associated with VO2max, depends on the relationship between velocity and oxygen uptake (VO2). The measurement of the post-competition blood lactate in short events (lasting 1 to 2 minutes) has been found to be related to the performance in events (400 to 800m in running). Blood lactate levels can be used to assist with determining training exercise intensity. However, to interpret the training effect on the blood lactate profile, the athlete’s nutritional state and exercise protocol have also to be controlled. Moreover, improvement of fractional utilisation of VO2max at the MLSS has to be considered among all discriminating factors of the performance, such as the velocity associated with VO2max.

Use of Blood Lactate Measurements for Prediction of Exercise Performance and for Control of Training Recommendations for Long-Distance Running

This study examined the anaerobic and aerobic contributions to muscle metabolism during high intensity short duration exercise. Six males [mean (SD): age 25.0 (6.0) years, height 179.0 (8.2) cm, mass 70.01 (7.42) kg, \(\dot VO_{2max}\)4.63 (0.53) 1 · min−1, body fat 12.7 (2.3)%] performed three counterbalanced treatments of 30, 60 and 90 s of maximal cycling on an air-braked ergometer. All treatments were also performed on days when biopsies were not taken from the vastus lateralis muscle and cannulae not inserted into a forearm vein to ascertain whether these procedures adversely affected performance. The mean results can be summarised as follows: a Homogenate from vastus lateralis muscle; wm, wet muscle; b biopsies taken from vastus lateralis muscle and cannula inserted into forearm vein; c noninvasive procedures ATP, Adenosine 5′-triphosphate; PC, phosphocreatinine

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/BF00625072.pdf

Muscle metabolism during 30, 60 and 90 s of maximal cycling on an air-braked ergometer

Blood lactate was determined in 19 untrained subjects after maximal treadmill exercise lasting for about 1 min. It was found that blood lactate increases after exercise, reaching a maximum level 6–9 min after the cessation of exercise, and the average time for the appearance of the peak blood lactate concentration was 7.65 min. Peak blood lactate concentration at 7.65 min (CLA7.65), which was calculated by substituting t (7.65) into the equation for the lactate recovery curve for each subject, agreed well with the observed peak blood lactate concentration (r=0.98, p<0.001). In addition, correlations of r=−0.65, r=−0.78, r=−0.79 were found between CLA7.65 and the running times of 100 m, 200 m, and 400 m sprints, respectively. These results suggest that CLA7.65 may be used as a valid indicator of anaerobic work capacity in man.

Teruo Yamamoto

Papers

Peak blood lactate after short periods of maximal treadmill running.