lactate threshold

views updated

lactate threshold Intensity of exercise above which lactate accumulates increasingly in the blood; traditionally ascribed to shortfall in oxygen supply to muscles, requiring some energy to be supplied by anaerobic metabolism — hence also known as ‘anaerobic threshold’. Recent research challenges this; lactate can be produced by fully-oxygenated muscles, as a result of processes driving the oxidative processes faster. Only above the maximal rate of oxygen uptake does lactate accumulation unequivocally indicate that significant energy is being supplied anaerobically.

Neil Spurway


See also breathing during exercise; exercise; fatigue; metabolism.

More From encyclopedia.com