Reduce lactate levels in sports | Lactate

Reduce lactate levels in sports

Simple recommendations and measures hardly influence lactate values. For example, nutrition has almost no lowering effect on lactate levels in the blood at all. Although a thiamine deficiency (vitamin B1) can increase the lactate level in the blood, the reverse conclusion that a particularly large amount of vitamin B1 would have a lactate-reducing effect is not true.

Such measures are usually not necessary, however. The training condition, however, can influence how much oxygen is transported to the muscles at rest, but also under athletic stress, in which many new blood vessels leading to the muscles are formed in the course of the restructuring measures in the body after training (increased capillarization). In addition, over a longer period of time with regular training, the point from which the anaerobic metabolism must begin and support the aerobic energy production can be shifted; this means that the exact position of the anaerobic threshold is individually different and can be influenced.

If the anaerobic threshold changes measurably, this is called training adjustment of the anaerobic threshold. On the other hand, of course, this also means that lack of exercise – both lighter forms and, for example, complete immobility over several years as a result of chronic diseases – lowers the anaerobic threshold and reduces the body’s general lactate tolerance. If the term “training” is used here in the foregoing or also in the following, this always refers to moderate endurance training, which is particularly crucial for the lactate metabolism.

Physiologically, lactate is oxidatively degraded after a certain time in certain organs (liver, kidney, heart) (elimination of lactate). These processes already begin during exercise. During this process, lactate is oxidized to pyruvate.

The resulting pyruvate is then reintroduced into the oxidative (= aerobic) metabolism and thus provides energy again. Both the heart and the skeletal muscles can then use this energy in the further course of the exercise. Finally, when there is an enormous surplus of energy in the liver, lactate can be converted back into sugar (glucose) via a few intermediate steps (intermediate product e.g. pyruvate), which is then stored or further processed. The most effective and cost-efficient treatment option for acute lactic acidosis is regeneration. With rest periods without muscle strain, the body can regain its natural balance after heavy exertion and gradually reduce the excess lactate.