Blood lactate assessment · London
Blood is sampled at every stage of a progressive assessment to establish where lactate begins to accumulate, and what that means for the intensities you train at.
£350 · Approximately 60 minutes · UNTIL Liverpool Street & UNTIL Marylebone
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Blood lactate testing at DVOTION Labs is carried out within the combined VO₂ max and blood lactate assessment, at £350. It is not offered as a standalone appointment.
That is a deliberate choice rather than a packaging one. A lactate value describes what is happening in the blood at a given intensity. Read on its own it can be misleading — it moves with carbohydrate availability, recent training and even the muscle mass involved in the task. Recorded alongside respiratory data and workload in the same session, it becomes far easier to place accurately.
A curve, not a point. A single sample gives one value at one intensity. Sampling at every stage produces the relationship between intensity and lactate, which is where the useful information sits.
Thresholds are regions. Neither threshold is a fixed line that the body crosses at an exact speed. Both are regions across which the response changes, and they shift with training state and conditions. They are reported as ranges for that reason.
Read against everything else. Each sample is recorded against the respiratory data, heart rate, workload and perceived effort at that same stage. Where the lactate and respiratory indications agree, confidence in the threshold is high. Where they disagree, that disagreement is itself informative.
01 Intake — 10 minutes. Training background, recent load and target event, which determine the starting intensity and stage length.
02 Setup — 10 minutes. Analyser calibrated, mask fitted, heart-rate strap applied, and the lactate sampling kit prepared.
03 Stage one. The protocol begins at an easy intensity. A fingertip sample is taken at the end of the stage, establishing your baseline.
04 Progressive stages — 20–30 minutes. Intensity increases at each stage with a sample taken at the end of every one, building the curve point by point.
05 Review — 15 minutes. The plotted curve, both threshold regions and the resulting zones are reviewed with you before you leave.
Avoid intense training on the day before. Fast for at least three hours before the appointment, and avoid an unusually low-carbohydrate day beforehand, as it changes the curve. Arrive well hydrated. Wear the kit and footwear you train in.
280 Bishops Square, London EC2M 4RB. Liverpool Street, Moorgate, Shoreditch High Street and Aldgate stations.
1 Orchard Street, London W1H 6HJ. Bond Street, Marble Arch and Baker Street stations.
No. Blood lactate sampling is performed as part of the combined VO₂ max and blood lactate assessment, at £350.
A fingertip prick, comparable to a blood glucose test.
Not necessarily. A fixed 4 mmol/L value is a convention that suits some athletes and misrepresents others. Your second threshold is identified from the shape of your own curve.
Yes. Threshold intensities are expressed in heart rate and in running speed or cycling power.
Every 12 to 16 weeks.