First we need to understand some key concepts and know that the following is a simplification of a much more complicated set of biochemical processes but will suffice for our purposes.

So to begin, we should dispel a long circulated myth that while running we are not producing lactate at all and that the burn we feel well into the run happens because of a sudden onset of its production. This is wholly untrue. The hydrolysis of ATP, our body’s main source of energy, within our muscle’s causes a steady accumulation of hydrogen protons H+ within our muscle’s capillaries. Lactate production is actually our bodies response to this acidification by the hydrolysis of ATP thus reducing the burn.

There is a point though when our body begins to produce lactate at rates that are too fast for our bodies to metabolize, and this is the lactate threshold. To demonstrate, try sprinting a 400. At some point, unless you are a seasoned athlete, your legs are going to want to stop moving and it will happen very quickly. Rest for a few minutes and you will be able to repeat the exercise likely sprinting the same distance or slightly shorter. Each time your legs want to stop, you have experienced your anaerobic threshold which is the anaerobic expression of your lactate threshold.

For distance runners, since you are employing aerobic energy pathways which are far more efficient than anaerobic pathways, which produce about 1/18 the amount of energy, you experience, at some point, an onset of blood lactate accumulation. Prior to this you were at your maximal lactate steady state which is basically the exercise intensity at which, as you might have guessed, lactate production is equal to lactate metabolization.  Many researchers say that this measure is definitively one of the best indicators of athletic performance out there. That is how important it is.

So how does one increase their ability to effectively clear lactate at the rate it is being produced? There are several training regimens that can be employed. The first can be ignored if you are a seasoned athlete already but it is increasing the volume of your training. Say you do 90 minutes of cardio a week currently. Your goal should be to double that to 180 minutes over the time span of four weeks, gradually increasing the overall time each week. This helps to pump up our bodies capacity for mitochondrial respiration.

Another method, and one that I personally love, is interval training above your lactate threshold. So using the sprint 400m example. Say you could only sprint 200m of the 400m. Well a good interval then would be to sprint for 100m then jog 100m back to your starting point and rest 45 seconds. Repeat this 8-12 times. Do this 2-3 times a week increasing the distance every week as you feel yourself being able to complete the routine with greater ease.  One particular variation that I enjoy is what some call corner-burns, which essentially is sprinting the curves of a 400m oval and jogging the straights, taking a one minute break after each lap and repeating that 5-6 times.

You can also do things like run at 95% of your max intensity for one minute then jog for two, then speed up to a sprint again for another minute for a total of 10-15 minutes depending on how much you can handle. The general idea is to exceed your lactate threshold then slow down and let your body recover, then speed up again and over time this trains your threshold.

If you train hard enough, your LT could be as high as 95% of your VO2 max, which is the max capacity of your body to utilize oxygen, though levels this high are generally reserved for elite athletes. A discussion of VO2 max and vVO2 max will come later.

I am just saying it’s possible and if you have the will to push, you will beat the wall down.

Check out this awesome infographic of our bodies metabolic pathways!

Created in 2008, the adult fitness test is meant to test the aerobic fitness and muscular strength and endurance of the men and women of the United States. It is pretty basic in its testing criteria and easy enough that anyone can do it at home. You could even make it a competition between you and your friends to further motivate yourself to try harder.

The program says it is for people aged 18 and older who are in good health and it also provides a prescreening questionnaire to help you assess whether or not you may be ready to take the test. Unless you have stress induced or other severe health related problems you should be able to complete the test parameters without any problem.

If you have never taken any kind of fitness test and have never really had a fitness regimen then this may be a good starting block for you. It will measure all the basics including:

• Aerobic fitness
• Muscular strength and endurance
• Flexibility
• Body Composition (though we know BMI is nonsense)

Once you complete the statistics you can keep your results and use them as a base from which you can improve. Tracking your progress and actually being able to see the numbers improve is one of the biggest motivating forces out there. It is tangible change and keeps you on track towards attaining your goal.

So, check out the program and let me know it went. If you have any questions just drop me a line in the comment box.

http://www.adultfitnesstest.org/

Time stops, its a surreal moment actually, and you are given a choice. I mean this very literally — your body actually asks your mind if it wants it to go further even though it may hurt, even though our bodies think we are spent and have nothing left to give. Those of us with the courage to take the harder path will say no, I want you to keep on going; whatever happens after that, I will deal with when the dust has settled.

I mean it is true isn’t it? Stop when your body says to and you will go home a little sore  with the sweat on your brow dried, and with a little rest you will be fine. You are no warrior because you can lay claim to conquering no great feat. When I say great feat I mean personal accomplishment, you only did what you knew you could. You did not try to push yourself past what you believe are your limits. But you say, who wants to go home beat and dead. This is who.

Be your own warrior. When your body is asking you to go home, take the reigns and fight back. This is where the pain begins. The burn becomes intense and you can actually feel the fibers in your muscles twitching from the continued stress but they are now slaves to your mind. This ship is not going to stop until you tell it to. It really is an amazing state of being. Our bodies begin producing endorphin in higher quantities, a substance similar to opiates to quell the pain to some degree because it now recognizes that you are not going to let it stop and so it must adapt.

When all is said and done you will likely be in pain but who told you pain does not go away. It is a temporary thing, but what you accomplished is forever. Nothing can take away what you did and you can revel in the fact that you did something that you might have thought was impossible and this is the greater point here.  Do not hold yourself to any set limitation, if you have the will power you can overcome just about anything.

So next time you are running, biking, repping weight, swimming laps or whatever, and your body asks you which road you are going to take, do not even hesitate and forge the unpaved path. Trust me, it will not kill you but it WILL show you who YOU really are.

Be strong, everyday.
Be your own warrior.

As Lance Armstrong said, Live Strong.

An amazing example of someone taking complete command of their body.