Estimation of the lactate threshold using an electro acoustic sensor system analysing the respiratory air.

The lactate threshold is used by athletes to optimise the intensity during exercise. It is of interest to measure the threshold on the very day and during the present sport activity. Steady state ergometer tests have been performed on 40 individuals to compare the threshold found by an electro acoustic sensor system to the lactate threshold established by blood analyses evaluated with the Dmax method. The correlation coefficient between the threshold found by the sensor system and the one established by blood analyses regarding workload (Watt), heart rate (beats/min), and lactate level (mmol lactate/l blood) at the thresholds were 0.87 (p < 0.001), 0.74 (p < 0.001), and 0.65 (p < 0.001), respectively. The findings in this study indicates that the thresholds of individuals measured by the sensor system show good correlations to the threshold established with the Dmax method from lactate levels in blood samples.