Lactic Acid Is Not Muscles? Foe, Its Fuel

[epoh]

Now if this is true, stop taking those supplements to reduce the lactic acid in your body, just train harder and longer!

********************

Everyone who has even thought about exercising has heard the
warnings about lactic acid. It builds up in your muscles. It is what
makes your muscles burn. Its buildup is what makes your muscles tire
and give out.

Coaches and personal trainers tell athletes and exercisers that they
have to learn to work out at just below their "lactic threshold," that
point of diminishing returns when lactic acid starts to accumulate.
Some athletes even have blood tests to find their personal lactic
thresholds.

But that, it turns out, is all wrong. Lactic acid is actually a
fuel, not a caustic waste product. Muscles make it deliberately,
producing it from glucose, and they burn it to obtain energy. The
reason trained athletes can perform so hard and so long is because
their intense training causes their muscles to adapt so they more
readily and efficiently absorb lactic acid.

See Article => http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/16/health/nutrition/16run.htm l?ex=1305432000&en=2778e99d7eab85a6&ei=5090&part ner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Now if this is true I wonder how much faith one should have in all these supplement companies making products to reduce lactic acid eh!

[Austin]

I have said this for a long time and have done away with lactate threshold value based tests a long time ago. There are far to many variables when working with it. I have seen many of my riders actually use it as fuel. One guy only reaches the lactate threshold levels in his blood at 203 bpm. The challenge now is to dtermine whose body uses it the best and to what extent and then plan the way the must eat on the bike, train, etc. Fun hey!!! I am currently sitting in Belgium working on the training for September( big tours and Worlds) since 13h00. What a mission.

There gonna be a couple more discoveries in the future and then we  will see more and more how you cannot quantify humans into specific parameters are categories. Training is about correct stimulation and "Flow in Sport"(A happy, elieving, focussed mind creates the invironment for good taining results!)

Epoh- Another note: Remember when we were in Lesotho the guys used 34/23? They have to use 34/25 for the hill TT in Japan!)

[epoh]

It makes sense what you are saying. From
the bit of research that I have done lately, many coaches seems to be more
focused on their training methods, diets etc. and focusing less on the grey
areas such as lactate threshold. Back to the basics. I think the whole lactate
threshold thing can be a mental block to your performance.

As for me, I am still mostly spinning during the week and only riding over
weekends. Busy getting myself organised to train on the road in the mornings.
Getting up at 4am in the winter to train till 8 and then go to work for 8hrs is
quite a challenge, but I am getting there.



I don?t want to use it as an excuse for not training on the road but
interestingly enough, I noticed that some of my friends who get up early to
train on the road during winter get sick more often than me. So over a long period of time I
actually get more training done than them through spinning in the studio.

It is my first winter as a cyclist so it might just be this winter that they are all getting the flu etc. not sure if this is the norm for people getting up to train early in the mornings during winter to get sick often? Maybe some hubbers can comment on this.



I upped my spinning to work out on quite a high gear, fast pace and spin for a
minimum of 2hrs every evening. I adjusted my position on the spinning bike to
simulate my position on my real bike as close as I can. So now, I am spinning
based on time/power and don?t really follow the spin class as such. It is the
best I can do for now. I am keeping it long and intense. Very important, I
immediately follow that up with the correct diet.



I also made a few changes as to what/how/when I am drinking, eating during a
race.



All of this seemed to have made a big improvement in my cycling. I recently did
the Magoebas 70km race with quite a tough climb at the start. (I hate these
races where they put the tough climbs at the start and then make it down to the
finish easy.) More uphill finishes please! I outclimbed a lot of the guys and
then they chased me down on the descent heheh.



Anyhow I finished in 7th place and beat a lot of my friends who have been
cycling for years AEAEHhe!



Austin, the
Japan Tour sounds tough! How long is that hill TT? Do you have the profile for
it? I thought the guys were very brave using a 34/23 for TDL, so I can just
imagine how tough that TT is going to be. All the best!