Changes

It is common to plot exercise intensity against lactate level to produce a blood lactate curve similar to the one below, showing an exponential rise in lactate level with intensity. It's generally accepted that a shift of the curve to the right indicates an improved athletic performance<ref name="Bosquet-2002"/><ref name="Yoshida-1990"/>, and training can improve performance because of this shift without a change in aerobic capacity ([[VO2max|V̇O₂max]])<ref name="Acevedo-1989"/>. There is some limited evidence from radio-isotope studies in animals that a benefit of endurance training may be in Lactate clearance<ref name="Donovan-1983"/>. Note that above the Lactate Threshold the Lactate level is not at a steady state, but rises even though the intensity remains constant, so the typical curve that is shown is rather misleading. Some Lactate Curves are plotting Blood Lactate against time during an Incremental Power Test (see below), which is more reasonable, but can still be rather misleading. [[File:Blood Lactate CurveLactateThreshold.jpgpng|none|thumb|500px|A typically blood lactate curve with lactate level plotted against intensity. Note that above the Lactate Threshold there is no fixed relationship between Lactate and work intensity, so the curve is misleading at best.]]