Relationship of Lactate Threshold and Onset of Blood Lactate Accumulation as Determinants of Endurance Ability in Untrained Females

Abstract

The relationship among 1) Iactate threshold (the point at which blood lactate concentration begins to increase above a resting value during an incremental exemcise), 2) onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA ; the point at which blood lactate reaches a concentration of 4 mM), 3) VO_2max, 4) 12-min running performance, 5) PWC₁₇₀, and 6) step test score was assessed using nineteen female students who volunteered to be subjects. The lactate threshold, OBLA and VO₂_a_x for these females averaged 0.85±0.30 1·min^-1 in VO₂ (±SD), 1.80±0.35 1·min^-1 and 2.121±0.30 1·min^-1, respectively, and corresponded to approximately 85%, 86%, and 80% of the values obtained for males. The lactate threshold was significanty related with V0_2max (r= 0.78 ; P<0.01), 12-min running performance (r=0.69 ; P<0.01), PWC₁₇₀ (r=0.79 ; P<0.01), the step test score (r=0.47 ; P<0.05) and OBLA (r=0.87 ; P<0.01). The OBLA was also significantly related with V0_2max (r=0.68 ; P<0.01), 12-min running performance (r=0.51 ; P<0.05 and, PWC₁₇₀ (r=0.80 ; P<0.01). With the exception of PWC₁₇₀ the magnitude of the correlation of the lactate threshold with other endurance indices was greater than that of OBLA. It is concluded that the lactate threshold is a useful index for endurance ability in females and that, although OBLA was also related to endurance ability, there were lower correlations than observed for the lactate threshold.