The accumulation of lactate can determine the efficiency of the athlete and the appearance of fatigue. We teach you what this substance means and why it is important to measure it.
Lactate is a waste metabolite that is produced during high-intensity anaerobic exercise and can indicate the athlete’s physical condition. It can be reused and converted back to glucose through a certain physiological process . In this way, a cycle is generated that ensures energy production.
However, the lactate reuse cycle presents a renewal rate that is sometimes lower than the energy demands, which leads to an accumulation of the metabolite at the muscular and cellular level. This situation is directly related to performance. Below we explain how.
Lactate and the appearance of fatigue
The accumulation of lactic acid (derived from lactate) in the muscles can cause an increase in the body’s effort to compensate for the acidity induced by this metabolite. This situation is capable of reducing muscle contractility, which directly and negatively affects performance. In fact, it is considered that the accumulation of lactic acid is one of the factors involved in the appearance of fatigue .
Fatigue is directly related to elevated lactic acid levels in the blood.
Fortunately, the speed of the cycle that converts lactate to glucose can be modulated through training. An elite athlete is capable of presenting greater efficiency in this process, known by science as the Cori cycle. For this reason, high-level athletes are capable of developing greater resistance to fatigue, increasing their performance when performing physical activity.
Measure lactate to know the degree of preparation of an athlete
As we have seen, the rate of renewal and accumulation of lactate is closely linked to physical capacity and level of preparation. Measuring this parameter in the middle of an anaerobic work session can offer valuable information about the condition of a specific athlete.
To do this, it is enough to make a small puncture in a finger and extract a drop of blood. With a device built for this purpose, lactate values ​​can be obtained in the blood sample, which provides information about the rate of lactic acid accumulation in the muscles.
Buffer systems to counteract lactic acid
The organism, in situations of increased concentration of lactic acid and lactate, makes an effort to compensate for the acidity. It is possible to introduce exogenous ergogenic aids to facilitate this function, thus delaying the onset of fatigue and increasing performance.
In this way, sodium bicarbonate is postulated as the most used option at a general level. According to research published in the Sports Medicine magazine, supplementation with this substance improves performance in anaerobic athletes. However, said ergogenic help has a limitation at the level of efficiency. It is necessary to ingest it in large quantities, accompanied by abundant liquid. This dosage form can cause gastric and intestinal discomfort in some athletes, which generates some rejection when its use is considered.
However, there are other buffer methods that are more useful due to their practicality . This is the case of beta alanine. In any case, this substance does not interact with lactic acid or lactate, therefore it is not the main purpose of this article.
There are some supplements or ergogenic aids that can help delay fatigue.
Lactate is an indicator of the physical state of an athlete
Measuring lactate during anaerobic sports practice can provide valuable information about the athlete’s physical condition. Based on this value, the training regimen can be modified in order to improve the efficiency of the Cori cycle, which allows the transformation of the metabolite into glucose.
Performing this measurement in the middle of a work session is relatively easy if you have the necessary equipment. For this reason, many professional clubs usually take this parameter into account when evaluating the condition of their athletes.
In any case, it must be taken into account that it only provides information on the efficiency of anaerobic metabolism. It would not make much sense to measure the accumulation of lactate or lactic acid in endurance or ultra-endurance athletes, since they use other metabolic pathways that do not produce waste metabolites.
