Alameda Runners – Get After It!

Athletes looking for every advantage can help themselves reach their physical VO2 and lactate threshold, an Active.com article (re-published from VeloNews) reveals. Casual athletes typically focus more on actual training and basic diets, but serious athletes also want a physiological advantage.

A couple of tidbits from the article, which I fully recommend reading (it has some science stuff):

VO2 max is defined as the maximal rate of oxygen consumed by an exercising individual. An excellent resource for understanding this topic is Bassett and Howley’s paper “Limiting factors for maximum oxygen uptake and determinants of endurance performance” (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise volume 33, 2000). This paper outlines that VO2 max is limited by oxygen delivery to the muscles and not the muscles’ ability to utilize oxygen.

Additional details about lactate threshold:

A contributor to fatigue is the increased reliance on the anaerobic metabolic system, not the lactate molecule itself. Lactate threshold, loosely defined, is the workload which elicits substantial and unsustainable levels of lactate production relative to lactate clearance from the blood (anaerobic contribution).

If you’re ever in doubt, athletes have a wide variety of peer support and expert help from qualified professionals. I normally just reach out to one of my Twitter followers (@alamedarunners) for help, because someone usually can help me whenever necessary.  Also, feel free to look up your local chiropractor, sports nutritionist, or physiologist if you need additional help.