Lactate Threshold Testing: How to Find Your True Training Zones and Stop Guessing
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your zones
1 / 72 / 7bad reputation
3 / 7points to find
4 / 75 / 7test works
6 / 7own numbers
7 / 7The Short Version
- Lactate is not a waste product. Your body makes it all the time and uses it as fuel.
- A lactate test finds two turning points as you speed up: where lactate first rises, and the hardest effort where you still clear it as fast as you make it.
- Those points give you heart rate zones built from your own blood, not from an age formula.
You set your zones with 220 minus your age, head out for an easy Zone 2 run, and spend the whole time glancing at your watch. You feel fine, but the watch insists you are working too hard. Or the opposite: your "easy" runs leave you flat for the next session.
A lactate threshold test replaces the formula with your own numbers. Here is what lactate actually is, how the test works, and what you do with the results.
Photo: SportPlus.sg / Isis Ang
Lactate Testing at a Glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is lactate? | A fuel your body makes continuously, not a waste product |
| What does the test find? | Where lactate first rises, and the highest effort where production and clearance balance |
| How is it measured? | Blood lactate measured during a stepped test; FORGED by ReFormd uses a Lactate Plus analyser |
| What do you get? | Individual heart rate zones, your lactate threshold and benchmarks to retest against |
Lactate Is Fuel, Not Waste
Lactate has a bad reputation it does not deserve. A 2018 review by physiologist George Brooks in Cell Metabolism sums up the modern view: once thought to be a waste product, lactate is now known to form continuously, even when plenty of oxygen is around. It acts as a major energy source, as raw material for making new glucose, and as a signalling molecule.
The Two Turning Points
As you go faster in a stepped test, your blood lactate does not rise in a straight line. A 2009 review of lactate threshold concepts in Sports Medicine describes two typical breakpoints:
- The First Rise: The intensity at which blood lactate begins to rise above your baseline level.
- The Balance Point: The highest intensity at which lactate production and removal are still in equilibrium, known as the maximal lactate steady state.
Below the first point, lactate stays close to your resting level. Above the second, production outpaces removal and lactate keeps building.
Why There Is No Single "Threshold"
The same review found 25 different lactate threshold concepts in the research. Some use a fixed lactate value, some look for the first rise above baseline, and others try to find the balance point. That is why your report matters more than any single number you read online: ask your tester which method they used, and retest the same way.
The same review found 25 different ways to define a lactate threshold.
How the Test Works
- Choose Your Sport: FORGED by ReFormd tests on a run, bike, rower or SkiErg. The rower and SkiErg are recommended for experienced users only.
- Stepped Effort: The pace or power goes up in stages, and your blood lactate is measured as you go.
- The Analyser: FORGED by ReFormd uses a Lactate Plus lactate analyser and its own protocol.
What You Do with the Results
FORGED by ReFormd's Lactate Threshold Test gives you:
- Individual Heart Rate Zones: Highly individualised, sport-specific zones.
- Your Lactate Profile: Lactate profiling and identification of your lactate threshold.
- Training Guidance: Data-driven recommendations on training intensity.
- Benchmarks: Clear markers to reassess against as you progress.
Why Not Just Use a Formula?
The common 220-minus-age formula underestimates maximum heart rate in older adults, according to a large 2001 study, which found 208 minus 0.7 times age a better fit. Zones from your own lactate curve skip the guesswork altogether.
Find Your Numbers with FORGED by ReFormd on ATHLO+
Book the Lactate Threshold Test directly on ATHLO+, or pair it with the VO2max Test in the FUEL Runner's Metabolic Bundle. FORGED by ReFormd is at 1 Raffles Link, #B1-23 CityLink Mall. Find out more on the FORGED by ReFormd page.
Ready to compare lab numbers with your watch? Read Lab Testing vs Your Watch next.
Sources
- Brooks GA. The Science and Translation of Lactate Shuttle Theory. Cell Metabolism, 2018.
- Faude O, Kindermann W, Meyer T. Lactate threshold concepts: how valid are they? Sports Medicine, 2009.
- Tanaka H, Monahan KD, Seals DR. Age-predicted maximal heart rate revisited. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2001.
- Product details from the FORGED by ReFormd pages on ATHLO+, 2 November 2026.
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