Lactate-related Factors as a Critical Determinant of Endurance

Abstract

Many interrelated physiological and/or morphological factors have been demonstrated to influence endurance exercise performance. Some of these factors include skeletal musculature, running economy, maximal oxygen uptake (VO_2max), maximal steady state (MSS), onset of blood lactate acumulation (OBLA), onset of plasma lactate accumulation (OPLA), and anaer-obic (or lactate) threshold (AT or LT). The present paper focuses mainly on VO₂max, MSS, OBLA, OPLA and LT, all of which have been postulated as a prerequisite in endurance exercise success. This paper consists of : (1) significance of La-related variables, (2) Iongitudi-nal studies, (3) comments, and (4) conclusion. Briefly, it is suggested that estimation of endurance exercise potential could be obtained with relatively high precision using laboratoriously measured La-related variables. The most critical determinant of endurance exercise performance such as marathon time is considered running velocity (V) at which LT is detected (vLT), VO₂@LT, or V@MSS, while V@OBLA appears to be the best predictor of performance in endurance events of 16 km or shorter distances.