DOI: 10.1249/mss.0000000000004049 ISSN: 0195-9131

Determination of Second Metabolic Threshold and Maximal Lactate Steady State using Sweat-Inferred Blood Lactate in Active Individuals and Athletes

Pedro L. Cosio, Victor Nacher-Castellet, Lia Moreno-Simonet, Genis Rabost-Garcia, Daniel Brotons, Xavier Muñoz, Juan R. González, Joan A. Cadefau
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Purpose:

To evaluate continuous and non-invasive sweat-inferred blood lactate monitoring for determining the exercise intensity at the second metabolic threshold (MT2) and maximal lactate steady state (MLSS), compared to capillary blood lactate and gas exchange analysis.

Methods:

17 physically active individuals (11 males and 6 females) and 19 endurance athletes (14 males and 5 females) completed a maximal graded exercise test (GXT) to quantify oxygen uptake (VO 2 ), percentage of peak oxygen uptake (%VO 2 peak) and power output (watts) at MT2, using sweat-inferred blood lactate and capillary blood lactate for the second lactate threshold (LT2), and gas exchange analysis for the second ventilatory threshold (VT2). Participants also completed a MLSS test to quantify the power output (watts) at MLSS. Between-methods agreement was assessed using linear mixed models with mean differences (MD), mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) and Bland-Altman analysis.

Results:

Compared with VT2, LT2 derived from sweat-inferred blood lactate showed no significant differences when using the Log-Exp-Mod-D max method, yielding the strongest agreement across VO 2 (MD = 0.3 mL·min -1 ·kg -1 , p = 0.999; MAE = 2.1 mL·min -1 ·kg -1 , MAPE = 5.2%), %VO 2 peak (MD = 0.4%, p = 0.999; MAE = 4.1%, MAPE = 5.2%), and power output (MD = 1.9W, p = 0.999; MAE = 9.1W, MAPE = 5.0%). Direct comparison of capillary blood and sweat-inferred blood lactate using the Log-Exp-Mod-D max method showed high agreement for VO 2 (MD = 0.2 mL·min -1 ·kg -1 , p = 0.999; MAE = 2.4 mL·min -1 ·kg -1 , MAPE = 6.4%), %VO 2 peak (MD = -0.1%, p = 0.999; MAE = 4.9%, MAPE = 6.4%), and power output (MD = 0.0W, p = 0.999; MAE = 10.6W, MAPE = 6.1%). Capillary blood and sweat-inferred blood lactate also showed excellent agreement for MLSS-associated power output (MD = -2.0 W, p = 0.089; MAE = 3.1 W, MAPE = 2.5%).

Conclusions:

Continuous sweat-inferred blood lactate can be used to determine MT2 and MLSS intensities, providing an alternative to capillary blood lactate.

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