LACTATE KINETICS

Dr. NEHA
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY
SAI NSNIS, PATIALA

To understand what blood lactate is and how it is

produced during exercise, it is useful to have a basic
understanding of the systems the body uses to produce energy.
Whether you’re running a marathon or performing an Olympic
lift, skeletal muscle is powered by one important compound;
adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The body only stores small
amounts of ATP in the muscles so it has to replace and
resynthesize this energy compound on an ongoing basis.
Understanding how it does this is the key to understanding
energy systems.

ENERGY SYSTEM

There are 3 separate energy systems through which the body

produces ATP. Describing each of these systems in detail goes
beyond the aim of this article. Instead it is intended that the
brief outlines provided will assist in describing the role of

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blood lactate during energy production for exercise, and how
this knowledge can be used to help with training for improved
endurance performance.

THE ATP-PCR SYSTEM

This system produces energy during the first 5-8 seconds of

exercise using ATP stored in the muscles and through the
breakdown of phosphocreatine (PCr). This system can operate
with or without the presence of oxygen but since it doesn’t rely
on oxygen to work it is said to be anaerobic. When activity
continues beyond this period the body relies on other ways to
produce ATP.

THE GLYCOLYTIC SYSTEM OR ANAEROBIC

SYSTEM

This system produces ATP through the breakdown of glucose

in a series on enzymatic reactions. The end product of
glycolysis is pyruvic acid. This either gets funneled through a
process called the Kreb’s cycle (slow glycolysis) or gets
converted into lactic acid (fast glycolysis). The fast glycolytic
system produces energy more quickly than slow glycolysis but
the end product of lactic acid can accumulate and is thought to

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lead to muscular fatigue. The contribution of the fast glycolytic
energy system rapidly increases after the first 10 seconds and
activity lasting up to 45 seconds is supplied by energy mainly
from this system. Anything longer than this and there is a
growing reliance on the Oxidative system.

THE OXIDATIVE SYSTEM OR AEROBIC SYSTEM

This is where pyruvic acid from slow glycolysis is converted

into a substance called acetyl coenzyme A rather than lactic
acid. This substance is then used to produce ATP by funnelling
it through the Krebs cycle. As it is broken down it produces
ATP but also leads to the production of hydrogen and carbon
dioxide.

➢
It is important to remember that these systems are all
constantly working to produce energy for all bodily
functions and one system is never working exclusively
over the others.

➢
When it comes to energy production for exercise one
system will play a more dominant role (this will be
dictated by the type of activity being performed) but all

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 3 systems will still be working to provide adequate
amounts of ATP.

WHAT IS BLOOD LACTATE?

It is through the Glycolytic System that the role and production

of blood lactate becomes apparent.

Recall the end product of glycolysis is pyruvic acid. When this

is converted into lactic acid it quickly dissociates and releases
hydrogen ions.

The remaining compound then combines with sodium or

potassium ions to form a salt called lactate. Far from being a
waste product, the formation of lactate allows for the
continued metabolism of glucose through glycolysis.

As long as the clearance of lactate is matched by its production

it becomes an important source of fuel.

CLEARANCE OF LACTATE

Clearance of lactate from the blood can occur either through

oxidation within the muscle fibre in which it was produced or
it can be transported to other muscle fibres for oxidation.

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Lactate that is not oxidized in this way diffuses from the
exercising muscle into the capillaries and it is transported via
the blood to the liver. Lactate can then be converted to
pyruvate in the presence of oxygen, which can then be
converted into glucose. This glucose can either be metabolized
by working muscles (as an additional substrate) or stored in the
muscles as glycogen for later use. So lactate should be viewed
as a useful form of potential energy. Lactic acid and lactate do
not cause fatigue per se.

The term ‘accumulation’ is therefore the key, as an

increased production of hydrogen ions (due to an increase
production of lactic acid) will have no detrimental effect if
clearance is just as fast. During low intensity exercise blood
lactate levels will remain at near resting levels as clearance
matches production. As exercise intensity increases there
comes a break point where blood lactate levels will start to rise
(production starts to exceed clearance). This is often referred
to as the lactate threshold (LT). If exercise intensity continues
to increase a second and often more obvious increase in lactate
accumulation is seen. This is referred to as the lactate turn
point (LTP).

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HOW CAN WE USE THE MEASUREMENT OF BLOOD
LACTATE TO IMPROVE ENDURANCE
PERFORMANCE?

The physiological processes discussed above can’t be over

ruled when it comes to the limiting factors of endurance
performance i.e. you can’t run a marathon once lactate is
significantly increasing.

An individual’s LT and LTP are therefore powerful predictors

of endurance performance. Knowing the exercise intensity that
represents these two points can prove to be a valuable tool in
assessing a person’s current performance capabilities.

CREATING A BLOOD LACTATE CURVE

Thanks to the development of blood lactate testing equipment,

ascertaining this type of information is relatively easy and can
be done outside of a laboratory with a high degree of accuracy.
Blood samples can be taken from the ear lobe at various stages
during a short sub-maximal incremental test procedure
(normally on a treadmill, bike or rowing machine).

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Instantaneous blood lactate readings can be produced during
the test, graphed against intensity and correlated with heart
rate, all within a relatively short time frame.

This is not something that is reserved only for the elite

population. In fact recreational runners, cyclists and rowers
stand to gain more from this type of information as they
potentially have more room for improvement.

WHY IS LACTATE PHYSIOLOGICALLY

IMPORTANT FOR AN ATHLETE?

During training and competition, the body needs fuel to

produce energy that the muscles use in the specific event. The
two main energy systems are the aerobic and anaerobic
systems.

Lactate is the output of the anaerobic system; after that it

performs its most important function. It is the main fuel for the
aerobic system during competition and much of training. A
very persistent myth is that lactate is a waste product. Nothing
could be further from the truth. It is amazing how some
erroneous ideas are hard to kill. It is actually a major fuel

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source for the heart and the brain as well as skeletal muscles
during strenuous efforts.

Measuring lactate is a way of assessing how strong each

energy system is, or essentially how well-conditioned the
athlete is at a specific point in time. No other measure provides
this information. Thus, measuring lactate with an appropriate
test is the best way to assess the conditioning level of an
athlete during training and prior to a competitive event.

Because of this, periodic lactate testing is the best way to know

if the training of an athlete is working and will lead to an
optimal performance.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY MEASURING

LACTATE?

Lactate is in the muscles, the bloodstream, and between the

cells in interstitial fluids. It is also in sweat and saliva and on
skin. To measure lactate it is necessary to collect some liquid
or tissue where it exists. The most common place to measure
lactate is in the blood.
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 Theoretically the best place to measure lactate to see
what is happening during exercise and competition is in the
muscles themselves. But this is impossible without doing
muscle biopsies, which are expensive and not practical.
However, levels in blood will reflect pretty accurately what is
happening in the muscles. But because it takes time for the
lactate to leave the muscles and get to an equilibrium state in
the bloodstream, the protocol for measuring lactate must be
appropriately timed.

During training or a race, if the athlete is moving at a

constant effort, the lactate produced in the muscles will flow to
various places in the body including the bloodstream. The
levels of lactate in the muscles, interstitial fluids and the
bloodstream will come to equilibrium. So measuring the
lactate in the blood is a very good indication of the level of
lactate being produced in the contracting muscles. If the athlete
increases or decreases the effort level the amount of lactate
produced in the muscles will change. Depending upon the
amount of the change, the time it takes for the lactate levels to
come to a new equilibrium will vary. If the athlete increases

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the effort level substantially then it will take longer for the
lactate levels to level out.

HOW CAN WE MEASURE BLOOD LACTATE

A lactate analyzer measures the lactate in a blood drop.

Researchers have tried to use saliva and sweat to measure
lactate, but the levels and response time are not predictable,
and do not correlate well with muscle latate. There are
attempts at this writing in 2015 where some devices are trying
to predict lactate levels from oxygen flow in the blood stream.
So far this is very experimental. Hence nearly every lactate test
is still done using a blood drop. Years ago this was done only
by researchers or technicians in a laboratory setting. But today
portable lactate analyzers are relatively inexpensive, very
accurate and widely available.

CAN LACTATE MEASURES PREDICT

PERFORMANCE?

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Yes. While not perfect, appropriate lactate measures are the
best markers for assessing the conditioning of both energy
systems and thus predicting race performance.

Many other factors also contribute to optimal performance

such as nutrition, hydration, sleep, health, technique, proper
equipment, environmental conditions, and mental preparation.
But all things being equal, the conditioning levels of the
aerobic and anaerobic systems have the greatest effect on
performance.

That is why it is imperative to constantly monitor the

conditioning level of the athlete to know if training is working
and if the athlete is progressing towards an optimal
performance. And lactate testing is the best way to measure the
conditioning level of each system.

LACTIC ACID FRIEND OR FOE

In fact, it is a common misinterpretation that blood

lactate or even lactic acid has a direct negative effect on
muscle performance. It is now generally accepted that any
decrease in muscle performance associated with blood lactate
accumulation is due to an increase in hydrogen ions, leading to

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an increased acidity of the inter-cellular environment. This
acidosis is thought to have an unfavourable effect on muscle
contraction, and contributes to a feeling of heavy or ‘jelly’
legs.

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