During endurance exercises such as long-distance running and cycling, when the demand for energy is high, lactate is produced faster than the ability of the tissues to remove it. As a result, lactate concentration in the blood begins to rise.
The use of a lactate analyzer helps coaches and athletes to determine optimum training programs, define training zones, and avoid inefficient training exercises.
Intense training teaches the body to use lactate as a source of fuel on a par with the carbohydrates stored in muscle tissue and blood sugar. Athletes increase their lactate threshold by training harder, this means their blood lactate increases later and they can maintain a higher workload.
In fitness, sports, and cardio-rehabilitation measuring lactate is supportive to define training intensities for maximum fat catabolism, increases in endurance, and avoid critical over-exhaustion.
With higher exercise intensity the lactate level in the blood reaches the anaerobic threshold or the onset of rapid blood lactate accumulation. This point can be determined in step tests with increasing training intensity in defined intervals e.g., on a treadmill, bicycle or in a field test. The higher the level of effort is when the rise of lactate indicates the anaerobic threshold the better is the performance status of the athlete.