Muscle Fatigue

[Richard]

An interesting tidbit on research into muscle fatigue and lactic acid and it's effects. Wonder how this will change training regimens in the future.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/SciTech/Living/muscle_fatigue_040823-1.html

[bags27]

thanks so much for posting this. It confirms what was written over the Spring in a couple of articles in Velo News--but it didn't have much science behind it and was therefore greeted skeptically.

[vaxn8r]

"Athletes try all kinds of crazy things. If Michael Phelps ate jelly beans, you'd probably have a bunch of swimmers suddenly eating jelly beans," said Fahey. "That's how we do sports — we look at what works, whether it's grounded in science or not."

[Johny]

This new finding adds complexity to how lactic acid affects muscle performance. However, let's not forget that anaerobic breakdown of glycogen to lactic acid is not an efficient way to produce ATP for muscles (therefore, IMHO, it is not nonsense for Michael Phelps' coaches to measure his lactic acid levels...). Interestingly, there is evidence that lactic acid reduces activities of muscle contractile proteins.

It does not seem to be a simple case...

[vaxn8r]

Actually it is a bit nonsensical. It's hard to get a consistent reading on any given lactate level from draw to draw. I dont know if it's due to the amount of lab error or draw technique. Whatever the reason behind it, it is nonsensical.

[Too Tall]

I'm not sure this isn't "new" old news. Their observations relative to why it's a good idea to warm up prior to racing are kool and more on point ;)

Be that as it may, what is more relevant is not their "finding" but the whys and hows of athletes ability to endure high levels of lactic acid without going over to respiratory acidosis/alkalosis.