Abstract
In 1993, Uwe Tegtbur proposed a useful physiological protocol named the lactate minimum test (LMT). This test consists of three distinct phases. Firstly, subjects must perform high intensity efforts to induce hyperlactatemia (phase 1). Subsequently, 8 min of recovery are allowed for transposition of lactate from myocytes (for instance) to the bloodstream (phase 2). Right after the recovery, subjects are submitted to an incremental test until exhaustion (phase 3). The blood lactate concentration is expected to fall during the first stages of the incremental test and as the intensity increases in subsequent stages, to rise again forming a “U” shaped blood lactate kinetic. The minimum point of this curve, named the lactate minimum intensity (LMI), provides an estimation of the intensity that represents the balance between the appearance and clearance of arterial blood lactate, known as the maximal lactate steady state intensity (iMLSS). Furthermore, in addition to the iMLSS estimation, studies have also determined anaerobic parameters (e.g., peak, mean, and minimum force/power) during phase 1 and also the maximum oxygen consumption in phase 3; therefore, the LMT is considered a robust physiological protocol. Although, encouraging reports have been published in both human and animal models, there are still some controversies regarding three main factors: (1) the influence of methodological aspects on the LMT parameters; (2) LMT effectiveness for monitoring training effects; and (3) the LMI as a valid iMLSS estimator. Therefore, the aim of this review is to provide a balanced discussion between scientific evidence of the aforementioned issues, and insights for future investigations are suggested. In summary, further analyses is necessary to determine whether these factors are worthy, since the LMT is relevant in several contexts of health sciences.
Highlights
The important role of individualized exercise intensity has been accepted worldwide in several areas of the health sciences
According to Tegtbur et al (1993) this minimum point named the lactate minimum intensity (LMI), provides an estimation of the intensity that represents the balance between the appearance and clearance of arterial blood lactate, known as the maximal lactate steady state intensity
This possibility is not present in applications of graded exercise tests (GXT); (b) the LMI (e.g., lactate minimum speed (LMS)) is individual and it is not associated with fixed blood lactate concentration (Heck et al, 1985); and (c) mathematical functions were proposed to identify the individual anaerobic threshold during GXT (Stegmann et al, 1981), the LMI identification is easier since the simple visual inspection seems consistent with mathematical functions
Summary
The important role of individualized exercise intensity has been accepted worldwide in several areas of the health sciences. Studies that compared the LMI with iMLSS will be discussed in the section “Does the LMI estimate the iMLSS?.” As, we propose another untested hypothesis to improve the knowledge around the relationship between these two intensities; this perspective is related to methodological concerns of both protocols, especially in the determination of iMLSS. We propose another untested hypothesis to improve the knowledge around the relationship between these two intensities; this perspective is related to methodological concerns of both protocols, especially in the determination of iMLSS Considering this test is not limited to the human model, we included a section that discusses every controversial point highlighted so far in animal models.
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