How to increase your lactate threshold running
Do you find that when you run long distances at a high tempo, you are soon struggling and out of breath? Chances are you have passed your lactate threshold. Once you pass the lactate threshold, the amount of lactic acid in your muscles increases exponentially - and results in that familiar muscle soreness and fatigue.
Knowing how to increase your lactate threshold when running is really useful if you are trying to improve your race times for marathons, track events and other kinds of race.
Before learning how to improve your lactate threshold for running, it is important to have a basic knowledge of the science around lactate thresholds.
What is the lactate threshold?
There is plenty of debate about what exactly the lactate threshold in running is. One useful definition puts it like this: “The maximal effort or intensity that an athlete can maintain for an extended period of time with little or no increase in lactate in the blood. It is an effort or intensity and not a specific lactate level.”
When your body is running below the lactate threshold, you use oxygen to combine with fuels like sugars and fats for aerobic respiration. However when you are running very fast or for a long time, your body increasingly generates energy from anaerobic respiration. This is when your muscles use glucose without oxygen to generate energy.
While anaerobic respiration provides a big burst of energy it also produces byproducts including lactate and lactic acid. This can cause muscle soreness and will soon bring you to a painful halt.
Fortunately our bodies are very adaptable and, with training, become more efficient at using oxygen during aerobic respiration. This means you can go for longer and further before you start to use anaerobic respiration - and therefore your lactate threshold will increase.
How to increase your lactate threshold for running
Working on your lactate threshold for running provides many benefits. If you are primarily a long distance runner, It will allow you to run further before you become overly fatigued. If you prefer shorter, faster races, increasing your lactate threshold will allow you to maintain a high speed for longer, and improve your performance overall.
Try using the following lactate threshold workouts for running to see how they help your speed and endurance.
- Run further
One of the most effective ways to improve your lactate threshold when running is to simply run further during your training sessions. Unlike the other lactate threshold workouts for running described below, the idea here isn’t to surpass the lactate threshold. Instead, by running further and longer your body will gradually become more efficient at using oxygen, which will push your lactate threshold up too. This means that when it comes to longer, tougher races, you won’t hit the ‘wall’ and will generally be able to go faster too.
- Do interval training
Interval running is a great way to increase your lactate threshold. With interval training, you repeatedly cover a set distance while running at your top speed, surpassing your lactate threshold, before taking a break to recover between runs.
For example, you might choose to run 400 metres around a track at top speed. You then pause for 3 to 5 minutes, before repeating several times. By surpassing your lactate threshold, you encourage your body to increase its efficiency when using oxygen, as well as helping train your muscles to clear lactic acid faster.
- Fartlek running
Fartlek running, which comes from the Swedish word for ‘speed play’, is similar to interval running. It combines a mix of high speed anaerobic running above your lactate threshold, before dropping down to a lower, slower pace – or even walking.
Where interval running is about continually running a specific distance, Fartlek running allows you to mix up the distances you run. Head to a local park and just play around with sprinting, jogging and walking, choosing different landmarks to run between.
- Tempo running
Tempo running is a very popular lactate threshold workout for running. With tempo running, you run at a pace where you are just below your lactate threshold. This means your body will start producing lactate, but will never pass the threshold where the levels of lactate rise exponentially and bring you to a painful halt.
By listening to your body, you will notice where the right tempo is for you, and should be able to stick to it for extended periods of time. If it ever starts to feel painful, then slow down and let the lactate clear.
Improve lactate threshold when running
Knowing how to increase your lactate threshold for running can really help you build up speed and endurance. Whether you are working toward competing in a speed race or a longer event such as a marathon, lactate threshold training exercises will really help you up your game.