Northstar Triathlon and Fitness
Lost 30 lbs. but still can't get that last 10 lbs. off?
Seem to bonk in races of more than one or two hours?
Feeling burned out from training and have constant fatigue?
These are the types of issues we help people with every day using Lactate Testing.
As humans, we have three energy systems (ATP, lactate and aerobic, also known as oxygen). The way our body uses these systems (fast twitch muscles or slow twitch muscles) dictates how you have to train for a specific goal. Whether it's losing fat, becoming a 100 meter Olympic champion, winning the Western States 100 mile Endurance run, or completing your first 5K. Whatever your goal is, you are unique and those events require a specific type of training for you.
In other words, if you are a sprinter who wants to do Ironman, you would be considered a novice. You will have to work to alter your muscle fibers in your specific training zones. But if you wanted to become a 5K champion, where you would be considered advanced and ahead of the curve for that goal, you would not have to change how your body fuels itself. Rather you would just work smarter and harder with the zones you have at present physical condition.
Fitness testing is not new. It has been used for years, but equipment, along with very limited interest in the science of metabolic and endurance training, made it very obscure. Cost of the laboratory was also prohibitive. But this has changed today and allows for coaches, such as NorthStar Triathlon and Fitness, to work smarter with their athletes.
Olympians and professional athletes, like Lance Armstrong, test every week or month. It simply is a measurement gauge that tells you how your body uses these energy systems and at what effort level you should specifically be at (whether using heart rate, power or velocity as your parameter, rather than perceived exertion). Measured against a previous test of your own, you can track your fitness, move on to loftier goals, lose more body fat and avoid injury, soreness and fatigue that goes along with over training. This test gives you a specific training roadmap and start you off with a clear chart of where you presently are and how to get to where you want to be. All fitness enthusiasts should find out their true numbers.
The lactate threshold is the maximum effort level that an athlete can train at for a considerable amount of time. The test is used to establish heart rates used for training and racing. Blood lactate numbers are typically used more for performance based information, and coupled with a VO2 test, gives a complete picture of an athlete. Blood lactate testing for lactate threshold is a progressive test for aerobic endurance. The tests will take as much as thirty minutes and require that you give a blood sample (through a simple lancet device similar to what a person would use to test blood sugar levels) applied to a test strip and analyzed in a blood lactate analyzer. Tests are available for bike and run in our facility and any other modality (prices will vary) such as swimming or elliptical machines, upon request. Test results will provide lactate threshold, heart rate zones, caloric consumption (if coupled with VO2 test), power and speed, based on the desired information the athlete needs.
Cost
Testing fees are NON-REFUNDABLE, NON-TRANSFERABLE.
What To Bring
Special Instructions