Heart Rate Work - Threshold

Alright, so the idea of threshold training, or Lactate Threshold Pace, is all about the maximum effort a person can do while the body can still remove lactic acid from muscle usage. For most this is the maximum effort that can be maintained for an hour. If this effort has gone above the person will feel the “burn” in the muscles, then shortly, stop or slow down to be able to clean the muscles of the lactic built up. Endurance athletes need to be able to go as fast as they can for as long as they can. By staying under the lactic threshold allows endurance athletes to be able to go hard without having the “burning” built up.




Threshold training is important because, unlike VO2 max, it can improved consistently through training. By training above and below threshold levels will improve the body's ability to remove lactic acid that builds up within the muscles, and be able to tolerate the high concentrations of lactic acid that builds up.