Is Measuring Lactate The Secret To Cycling Success?

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  • Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025

Комментарии • 124

  • @gcn
    @gcn  Год назад +5

    Have you ever tried lactate testing? 📊 Let us know in the comments below! 👇

    • @drivemenuts3011
      @drivemenuts3011 Год назад +2

      Can you do a video on lung function? You have done a video on everyy fasit of the body, diet etc, visiting cardiac specialists discussing enlarged hearts, but none on the lungs/asthma etc.

    • @JamesSmith-ly2ef
      @JamesSmith-ly2ef Год назад

      Done it twice 10 years ago at Colchester Uni (Human Performance I think it was called) it gave me a great base line to work from for training. I’m thinking of doing it again, Costa about £80 I think with V02 max

    • @troycollett8540
      @troycollett8540 Год назад +2

      You have to make sure the sample is not contaminated with sweat etc as that can throw off the number

    • @martinhammarlund3975
      @martinhammarlund3975 Год назад

      Did alot of interesting testing with this around 01-03. Still use a bit from it in my training, mostly related to slowly increasing intensity (every 30min or so) to get lover lactate level att HR-X.

    • @indjke
      @indjke Год назад

      Yes but
      I think it was “next thing” 30 years ago
      Now it’s common practice among serious sportsmen

  • @peterthomas8053
    @peterthomas8053 Год назад +32

    A very eye opening video into what tech devices are available for serious racing types etc. But, as a purely amateur rider, I rely almost exclusively on my 'smile meter' to guage the quality of my ride.😊😉

  • @woodee8948
    @woodee8948 Год назад +6

    I'm still working on my optimum alcohol to weight balance and threshold for races

  • @erlendsteren9466
    @erlendsteren9466 Год назад +5

    I had lactate and vo2 test this spring, what i won from it was that I got to know that my zone 2 , 3 and 4 is in much higher pulse than expected. That was because of very high treshold. That knowledge let me push ca 10 heartbeats harder in the climbs without fear of getting tired, and also training zone 2 trainings much harder than before. My zone 2 is at 126 to 147 with maxpulse 178. 147 is reasonably intense effort.

    • @gcn
      @gcn  Год назад

      It's always great to have to all the numbers! Do you think this has helped you with your training and overall fitness?

    • @ginobrun1
      @ginobrun1 Год назад +3

      @@gcndid the same and yes 100% recommend this to anyone from racers to people trying to lose weight. Us fluffy types tend to over do it and think thats the trick but its actually doing more harm than good and gets you discouraged. You think if your not climbing alp d’huez every day your not going lose weight lol turns out a moderate pace was my sweet spot. :) down 25lbs since june…the journey continues

    • @rebinu
      @rebinu Год назад +1

      max hr is 178? what's your threshold?? my threshold is like 184.... I thought z2 was 120-140 :O

    • @erlendsteren9466
      @erlendsteren9466 Год назад

      @@rebinu My treshold was156-160. I guess that you are in zone one when below 140. With that high treshold of 184 you might be able to speak easily going at 150, and if so I guess that 150 is in your zone 2. They say that easy speaking is a sign that you might be in zone 2.

    • @erlendsteren9466
      @erlendsteren9466 Год назад +1

      @@gcn I think it helps, because it is a detail in the larger picture. I like to see what heartrate does with my ride. I have discovered (what most other poeple knows without thinking about it)that going above threshold between minute 15 and 30 in the first climb on a 2,5 hour journey makes the whole journey very much harder and painful than it ccan be if i go 2 minutes slower in the first climb. The first minute in that climb i set a personal Strava record by a second, which transformed a 2,5 hour ride to almost three hours. One second ahead early in the climb- 20 minutes behind when getting home. I have experienced that I am faster on 2,5 hour rides if I stay mostly in zone 2 in the initial climbs , maybe touching zone three for short periods.

  • @daveslaughter8290
    @daveslaughter8290 Год назад +2

    "Cycling success" is deciding what your goals are and figuring out what you should do to achieve those goals to maximize your satisfaction and fun. For competetive triathletes and bicycle racers this stuff might be helpful. For the rest of us, who cycle just for fun and who are not interested in competition or improving our speed on a ride this level of complexity is probably detrimental to the goal. GCN has always been geared to the "harder, faster, higher" crowd with occasional segments for the noncompetitive group. I'm just pointing out that there are plenty of viewers of GCN for whom the point is not to maximize speed. I suspect your "slow cycling" segments or the ones profiling people like Hank's dad are pretty popular. I wish you had more of them in addition to segments like this one.

  • @matthewbaynham6286
    @matthewbaynham6286 Год назад +15

    You don't need to stop to do this test, if you have a tandem. Just get a nurse to site on the back of your tandem doing all your blood testing, and she can shout out all the results.

    • @DMurdock
      @DMurdock Год назад +2

      Should I give the nurse power meters as well?

    • @gcn
      @gcn  Год назад +2

      Another plus points for tandems! 🙌

    • @rebinu
      @rebinu Год назад

      nurse ftp?

  • @nischleranton5665
    @nischleranton5665 Год назад +15

    I have a lactate plus device since June! It was an eye opener for me. You can test for your lactate profile, your VLamax and what happens in the fourth hour of a low intensity ride. Additionally, testing my lactate level at threshold or VO2max intervals was an eye opener. Power is good but checking your lactate levels here and there is really beneficial.

    • @ProWeAreSo
      @ProWeAreSo Год назад

      How do you increase your threshold tho

    • @gcn
      @gcn  Год назад +2

      That's awesome! Good to hear that you've been getting some great info about your training!

    • @nischleranton5665
      @nischleranton5665 Год назад

      @@ProWeAreSo by in increasing my VO2max and reducing my VLamax.

    • @percyveer2355
      @percyveer2355 Год назад +1

      @@ProWeAreSo if you are talking about your lactate threshold, this is raised by spending time in zone 2. it is recommended 3-4 hour per week.

    • @percyveer2355
      @percyveer2355 Год назад

      interesting, i have been very tempted to purchase one, but not sure about the cost, the test strips and my ability to get an accurate reading. going to a sports lab for an initial test, see how the pro's do it, then maybe i'll get one. what device did you get, and where from. have you experienced many errors, i understand taking the tests can be harder than it seems.

  • @mathewrose2951
    @mathewrose2951 Год назад +6

    My lactate levels started rising just from anxiety seeing the jolly green giant sitting on his top tube like that.

    • @jason200912
      @jason200912 Год назад

      I lactate a liter today. It's im the fridge now

  • @Gk9311
    @Gk9311 Год назад +28

    I hoped that the next big thing might have been getting out on the road and not being fearful of getting splashed by a car

    • @tibigraz
      @tibigraz Год назад +1

      That’s why we all switch to gravel, you only afraid of stray dogs

  • @adventuresona700dollarhard5
    @adventuresona700dollarhard5 6 месяцев назад

    Lactate threshold training was in Lance Armstrong's program 20 years ago. Everyone had access to drugs, Lance also had a training program decades ahead of its time.

  • @MediaMinion001
    @MediaMinion001 Год назад +1

    We were doing this at our swimming club 26yrs ago...

  • @markeasey469
    @markeasey469 Год назад +1

    Damn..... mis-read the title. Thought you were going to talk about the amount of Milk to put in your coffee at the cafe stop😂

  • @manuel7102
    @manuel7102 Год назад +21

    This is a test that has been used for three decades at this point in endurance sports

    • @SamuelLudden
      @SamuelLudden Год назад +4

      Of course it has, but making it accessible is the key. Not everyone knows about it or how to do it

    • @stuartmisfeldt3068
      @stuartmisfeldt3068 Год назад +3

      I was coaching swimming in the 1980’s and the top level clubs, universities and elite swimmers were doing lactate tests poolside.

    • @gcn
      @gcn  Год назад +2

      We have some documentaries on GCN+ that you may find interesting about the science of training! Like this one about Ketones 👉 gcn.eu/ketones

    • @kokonanana1
      @kokonanana1 Год назад

      Had one done on ‘99, 24 years ago.

    • @nanthilrodriguez
      @nanthilrodriguez Год назад +4

      That really isn't the question that this video poses. It isn't that lactate testing is a new kind of testing that didn't exist...
      It's that people are now carrying these things in their back pocket and integrating them into their regular training regimen whereas... 5 years ago you would only get one of these tests if you were professional, sponsored, or had the money to get a test done officially in a medical lab...
      Obviously...

  • @lisapet160
    @lisapet160 Год назад +1

    You'll feel it anyway by your breathing pattern, sensation, and sufficiency. Just read about lactate levels and what they mean physiologically. It's known for decades, as many mentioned "in the comment's section".

  • @cb6866
    @cb6866 Год назад +4

    Thanks Conor and crew...I began monitoring my ...............uh. mmm yeah . Just ride and have fun ? Check mirror for grin level , repeat .

    • @gcn
      @gcn  Год назад +5

      Each to their own! The grin level scale is never wrong 😉

  • @drivemenuts3011
    @drivemenuts3011 Год назад

    Some GCN video's have defined Zone 2 as just below LT1, as per this video.
    And Zone 4 is the top half between LT1 and LT2, and perhaps slightly above LT2.
    Zone 3 is the bottom half between LT1 and LT2, where you don't know if you are in zone 2 or zone 4. It is a low quality training zone.

    • @davidzof
      @davidzof Год назад

      LT1 would be Garmins Z1-Z3 - that is less than 80% of HRmax.

  • @brannmacfinnchad9056
    @brannmacfinnchad9056 Год назад

    Just waiting for the all in one patch device which measures blood glucose, HR, lactate, and core temp and sends the data to your headunit/watch, and phone.

  • @percyveer2355
    @percyveer2355 Год назад +1

    my understanding is the zone 2 as described by Dr San-Millan is just below LT2, not LT1 as mentioned.

    • @nanthilrodriguez
      @nanthilrodriguez Год назад +3

      No, "Zone 2" is steady state riding. A level of riding which can be sustained indefinitely, allowing your mitochondrial and metabolic systems to clear lactate as quickly as it is generated. Because of the upslope between LT1 and LT2, that is no longer steady-state with regard to lactate generation, and thus exceeds your 2 millimole of lactate generation.

    • @davidzof
      @davidzof Год назад

      It is, in a three zone model as used by people like Seiler.

  • @patrikhalen460
    @patrikhalen460 Год назад +1

    When it comes on my Garmin without drawing blood in real time yes!!
    I'm diabetic and have the benefit of getting my blood sugar in real time on my bike computer and it is a game hanger. This will be the same butbeuining your ride to stop no. . . .

  • @shalakabooyaka1480
    @shalakabooyaka1480 Год назад +4

    I'm glad I just ride for fun.

    • @gcn
      @gcn  Год назад +1

      That's good to hear!

  • @lsantilli
    @lsantilli Год назад +2

    Link to where we can buy a lactate meter? Thanks GCN!

  • @seattlegrrlie
    @seattlegrrlie Год назад +4

    Sounds like work

  • @BOONERBOYO
    @BOONERBOYO Год назад +3

    All this is complicated. I point my front wheel in a direction and cycle. If I get back home (and without a mechanical), I am the best in the world! lol

  • @sebagesche
    @sebagesche Год назад

    Could someone explain me this Norwegian method? I thought that polarized, almost everything below 1st VT and above 2nd VT was the way yo go, and now this Norwegian are doing just the opposite? I feel like I don't anything now

    • @rebinu
      @rebinu Год назад

      pyramidal/threshold is best. but polarised obv is way easier. I think better to do polarised when you're not pro

  • @hogroamer260
    @hogroamer260 Год назад

    I didn't ride my bike as much in cooler weather because getting all geared up was a deterrent. Obviously, I'm not a competitive rider and this testing would jut be another deterrent for me. I'm happy to judt go with heart rate monitoring.

    • @gcn
      @gcn  Год назад +1

      Too many numbers can take an edge off cycling but for those fighting for top results, this could be a game changer!

  • @PackFanDave
    @PackFanDave Год назад

    Conner should make a video about riding a Penny Farthing bike.

  • @lukefarren3409
    @lukefarren3409 Год назад +6

    Unfortunately I reckon Conor made the mistake of saying lactate testing enables you to train harder a couple of times. It helps you train smarter by not going too hard. The thing top athletes strive for is consistency and a gentle upward curve is preferable over short unsustainable gains, which in fairness was alluded to. Thing is, it’s habitual.. the mindset is all about smashing it! (Cue guitar solo)

    • @nanthilrodriguez
      @nanthilrodriguez Год назад +3

      Definitely. Lactate testing helps you to calibrate your actual levels of exertion on a day-to-day basis, helping you to maximize the goals of your training by hitting your actual target lactate numbers, whereas watts are accurate measures of power, its not an accurate measure of rate of exertion, so measuring your rate of exertion can help to ensure that you're training the appropriate windows for a given training session.

    • @indjke
      @indjke Год назад

      This.
      Most of amateurs just killing themselves every ride, instead of proper training

  • @basengelblik5199
    @basengelblik5199 Год назад +6

    Yes and it has been a big thing for a while. The big thing today is blue zone training, well below lactate threshold. You basically need 3 types of training. Blue zone, Lactate threshold improvement and power training. Make a video about that please. This is old news.

    • @gcn
      @gcn  Год назад +3

      Thanks for the comment! That's certainly a topic that would be great to cover in the future!

    • @nanthilrodriguez
      @nanthilrodriguez Год назад +1

      That isn't the point being made by the video... While lactate testing is old news
      The ability for the average rider to integrate lactate testing into your daily training regimen is not old news. That's pretty revolutionary, considering that getting a test was only something that could be done in the lab for most people, certainly not something you could do just carrying in your jersey pocket.
      The salt in the comments section on this video is thoughtless.

  • @brianlane-karnas8614
    @brianlane-karnas8614 Год назад +1

    I will slap the first person who stops a group ride to check their blood lactate levels.

  • @markburt783
    @markburt783 Год назад +1

    We should definitely move away from the traditional power zones and start talking about these thresholds more. Sweetspot is the real zone 3. Tempo is a relic that is basically a conservative buffer between a poor aerobically developed athlete and a well trained athlete. We should replace tempo with lactate or proxy power and hr based LT1 tests, like the hr drift test championed by Scott Johnston of uphill athlete. The bigger base we have, the higher the LT1 hr. That is what having a wide base really means. A wide hr range along the x axis of the graph before crossing LT1.

    • @ffskierdune6226
      @ffskierdune6226 Год назад

      Think of it as a pyramid. The base is Zone 2 training. Vo2max training is the height of the pyramid.

  • @phil_d
    @phil_d Год назад

    Surely, we'll start to see wearable pataches, ala Blood Glucose, if commercially viable. Minute by minute data streamed straight to your phone!!!

    • @ffskierdune6226
      @ffskierdune6226 Год назад

      Sorry mate, it already exists. Live time date based on a rider's own physiology. They can tell the rider to push at X watts for X amount of time before he runs out of gas, or how much gas is still left in the tank. How many calories to consume at X effort. The problem is the computer/algorithm cannot take into account, the emotion or grit required to win.

  • @Jakiou
    @Jakiou Год назад

    My dad always said he Got rid of lactate after he lost his legs in a car crash👀

  • @elizabethpoley6882
    @elizabethpoley6882 Год назад +1

    Not everyone is rich enough to have a trainer at home.

    • @hogroamer260
      @hogroamer260 Год назад +1

      Or willing to buy or use one. They always seem to turn into clothes racks

  • @larter_larter
    @larter_larter Год назад

    I am very positive to this training method. Although, I find it unlikely that I (even if I am a too nerdy amateur cyclist, mostly according to my family) will incorporate it in my weekly training. Just for the simple, unfortunate consequence of me fainting after each tiny prick in my finger...

  • @thomaspeoples3065
    @thomaspeoples3065 Год назад

    No.
    (Following the rule of Betteridges Law of Headlines ✅)

  • @mb10kx
    @mb10kx Год назад +1

    sitting on top tube of carbon bike is not recommended

    • @automotive474
      @automotive474 Год назад

      He's not sitting. He's "non-chalantly leaning" which is UCI sanctioned and approved

  • @iansingleton
    @iansingleton Год назад +1

    I think over time it'll become another part of the puzzle! More data to analyse. Is it interesting for general riders? No! Will general riders buy into it? For sure! Look at how many riders use power meters! They don't need them, they don't need the £10k bike they're sat on but they have it! If they're happy then why not! It'll be interesting how many weekend warriors I see on the side of the road doing a lactate test in the coming years😂😂😂😂

    • @James-zu1ij
      @James-zu1ij Год назад +1

      I dont need to be alive essentially, there is no god. The futility of life is their to see.....yet...I still enjoy a beatufull woman; I enjoy my expensive bike, but most of all, I need to know how my watts to ride at. 240 or 260. I might shock my self. I might be much lower, say 205

    • @iansingleton
      @iansingleton Год назад +1

      @@James-zu1ij I've been riding bikes since I was 4. I've never needed a power meter to tell me how to ride! If I'm feeling good I'll push it out if I don't I'll reel it in! That ride by feeling cost me nothing more than experience. But! I'm not against anyone riding with whatever they want. If you want to ride with a power meter then good on you. If you want a 10k bike then buy one. I'm happy for you. Life is too short, we work hard to have these things. Go for it, feel blessed and enjoy it. But you don't need any of it to enjoy riding a bike. 👍

    • @indjke
      @indjke Год назад +1

      You don’t need to do it often.
      Shifts in lactate levels are not very fast.
      You can do it once to find your lactate based power zones and re-asses after 4-6 weeks

  • @armaniblanco-ph7vn
    @armaniblanco-ph7vn Год назад +2

    ❤❤❤

  • @melaniamonicacraciun9900
    @melaniamonicacraciun9900 Год назад +2

  • @philipwooldridge9606
    @philipwooldridge9606 Год назад +1

    Seems like a lot of effort, think I'll stick to looking in the mirror to work out how ugly I am.

  • @James-zu1ij
    @James-zu1ij Год назад +2

    There is a cheaper way. Eg, if you think your threshold power is 300, pick a course of say 30 miles, then ride it at 200W exactly. Then in a few days ride at 210W and so on. Work out in your mind how comfortable you feel. i.e.I dont need to stop, I dont want to stop, I feel great. The moment the thought of wanting to stop even if its at the end of the ride, then this is lactate talking.
    Or you could spend £450 on a lactate analyser. Test yourself then all your mates, then go into business 🤓

    • @nanthilrodriguez
      @nanthilrodriguez Год назад +3

      Incorrect. This test will only reveal your lactate threshold effort. But lactate threshold is not zone 2. Zone 2 is the level of effort you can sustain indefinitely without surpassing 2 millimole of lactate. This is the threshold that your mitochondria can metabolize lactate as quickly as it is produced. Lactate threshold however is the absolute limit of lactate generation, leading to metabolic exhaustion. So your test will find your lactate threshold, but not zone 2

    • @James-zu1ij
      @James-zu1ij Год назад

      Thanks; agree with everything you say. I like to keep things simple though, its how I find my base line, however it is defined.@@nanthilrodriguez

  • @raybarber9837
    @raybarber9837 Год назад

    Regular testing during your ride - that's very nearly an armful.

  • @MarcusBrito
    @MarcusBrito Год назад +4

    So pro riding now requires a BLOOD SACRIFICE!

    • @nanthilrodriguez
      @nanthilrodriguez Год назад

      You mean blood testing wasn't being done before now?
      Have you seen how insulin tests are performed for diabetics?
      Are you actually scared of blood samples?

  • @drivelikeyouknowthem
    @drivelikeyouknowthem Год назад +1

    Latest things, fads, fashions, gadgets, gizmos, blah blah blah, just ride your bike, listen to your body and enjoy it.

  • @matt_acton-varian
    @matt_acton-varian Год назад +1

    Nope, nope, nope. I don't shave my legs nor do I ride with a power meter, and I don't do blood based needles very well either. So you won't find me doing this!

  • @troycollett8540
    @troycollett8540 Год назад

    Mainly used by triathletes

  • @peterago1082
    @peterago1082 Год назад

    or you could ride hills and improve and or reduce lactate levels

  • @dkspringer
    @dkspringer Год назад +1

    If you mean success at Elite level the answer is no. They've been doing it for decades.

  • @garybrown5769
    @garybrown5769 Год назад

    Struggling for content , you covered this last year

    • @gcn
      @gcn  Год назад

      We have a couple of deep-dive documentaries on GCN+ that may interest you! Like this one about Ketones 👉 gcn.eu/ketones

    • @nanthilrodriguez
      @nanthilrodriguez Год назад

      I get what you're saying. Global Triathalon Network did do a very similar video. Nearly identical, but on a treadmill...
      But this video is whether or not this is going to be a new pocket gadget you see out on the road as a cyclist.
      That being the question posed by the video, I see it as a legitimate question. Most people get this sort of testing done in laboratories, and don't carry a device around in their jersey pocket. Will that become common place in cycling, seeing as Zone 2 has become more understood and recognized as the way to trigger metabolic adaptations for endurance performance, and considering that lactate testing is the only actual way to determine your Zone 2, being defined as 2 millimole of lactate?
      Seems like a valid question... even if GTN covered it last year instead of GCN... but I will say, until today, I haven't watched a single GTN video because I'm not a Triathlete.

  • @timw4369
    @timw4369 Год назад

    Absolutely not!!!!

  • @eclecticcyclist
    @eclecticcyclist Год назад

    If you train on a ketogenic diet you will enhance your muscles' ability to burn ketones as wll as glucose so you can lower your lactate production.

    • @ffskierdune6226
      @ffskierdune6226 Год назад

      Maybe in theory. Which elite pro rider or team eats a Ketogenic diet? Back in the day, Team Sky was buying exogenous ketones produced by a Cambridge scientist. At times, some of their riders, once fat-adaptive, cycled in and out of ketosis (Chris Froome). Fast forward: I am unaware of any pro or team that eats using the Keto protocol. If anything they now consume huge amounts of carbs - 100+ grams per hour during hard efforts. Pogi's coach, says he does not 'see' the science for low carb.

    • @eclecticcyclist
      @eclecticcyclist Год назад

      @@ffskierdune6226 I undertand that Geraint Thomas trained on a low carb if not ketogenic diet befor winning the Tour de France and yes they carb load before climbs during races but the fact that they'fe fat adapted means that they ride on ketones the rest of the time and keep their glycogen in reserve.

    • @ffskierdune6226
      @ffskierdune6226 Год назад

      Sort of. They become metabolically flexible. Keep in mind that world-class cyclists are probably among the most efficient of all athletes. Pogi's Zone 2 wattage is above 300 watts. Below this level, he is still burning sugar but at a much slower rate than the average cyclist. It does not mean he is in ketosis or that he does not produce lactate, it's just their bodies are very efficient at clearing it. @eclecticcyclist

    • @eclecticcyclist
      @eclecticcyclist Год назад

      @@ffskierdune6226 They can't get metabolicly flexible without training on a low carb diet to force the body to rely on ketones as the body will preferentially burn glucose if it is available because high blood sugar is toxic to the body.

  • @DnDMF
    @DnDMF Год назад

    I wouldn't call it "next big thing" or "secret". It's been used since the 60's to test training protocols and athletes' aerobic thresholds. An overkill if you don't have a coach that knows how to use it.

  • @kokonanana1
    @kokonanana1 Год назад

    Get a”fairly accurate reading”???

  • @ChrisNieves
    @ChrisNieves Год назад

    Too much :/

  • @Nangoncrazy
    @Nangoncrazy Год назад +4

    Too complicated. I'll just stop when I'm panting like a race horse.