770. What Does Your “Threshold” Really Mean? Dropping Endurance Science

Researchers have a new perspective on the transition from “aerobic” to “anaerobic” exercise.  Anaerobic threshold does not represent the point at which you’re exercising so hard that your muscles can no longer get enough oxygen.  Stripped down to its essence, the basic concept is that you can divide exercise into two distinct zones—call them “easy” and “hard.”   We don’t actually have lactic acid circulating in our blood; we have a related molecule called lactate. And lactate isn’t a dead-end waste product of anaerobic metabolism; it’s a hugely useful molecule that serves as an extra fuel source in the muscles and other parts of the body, and a signaling molecule that helps tell the body to adapt and get fitter. And, most importantly, lactate isn’t produced because your muscles can’t get enough oxygen.    Great marathoners have the two thresholds close together: they accumulate no lactate at all until they’re very close to their critical speed. https://www.patreon.com/posts/44637492

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