Sport science support
Sport Science support is provided by the Sport Science Centre at Canterbury University
Contact us if you want to know more about this how sport science can help you.
Sport science can take the guess work out of your training. The most useful test that our athletes complete is a lactate test.
How is a lactate test performed? – You will cycle, run, kayak or swim at a set intensity for 3-6 minutes (this allows you to get to a steady state). At the end of each stage the sport scientist will record your heart rate and collect a small blood sample from a finger prick to measure your blood lactate. As the blood is being analysed you will continue the next stage for another 4 minutes. The test starts at an easy intensity and will increase in difficulty until there is a significant change in your blood lactate which will likely occur around 80% of maximum effort. You will complete approximately 5-8 stages, depending on your fitness, with the test taking approximately 30 minutes to complete. The entire process takes an hour from your arrival, to the sport scientist explaining your results and what they mean.
Why is it useful? – Your coach will incorporate the results from the lactate test into your training programme as training zones which will give you set guidelines of how hard you should be training during certain sessions.
What is Lactate? – Contrary to popular belief lactate is not a bad thing. We have a small amount of lactate circulating around our blood stream all the time but we only notice it when we try to go harder than normal. In normal circumstances our bodies can clear (metabolise) lactate from our blood stream as it is produced but as we increase our intensity the production of lactate increases to an extent that we cannot clear it fast enough. This may be associated with that painful heavy limb feeling that you get at the end of a long sprint or repeated short sprints. If we weren’t able to produce lactate we would not be able to do that last ditch sprint to the line meaning you would only be able to cruise to the line at about 70% of maximal effort and there is no glory in doing that!
What should I do before the test? – To ensure that the test is accurate and a reliable measure of your current fitness level you need to do three key things to prepare
- Have a rest day or a really easy training day the day before. This is really important as you do not want to have any sore muscles prior to the testing as this will affect your results.
- Emphasise eating and drinking normally in the 24hours prior to testing. This means meals should include a good source of carbohydrate e.g. pasta, potatoes, rice, cereal, bread etc.
- Consume no caffeine 8 hours before the test; this includes coffee, tea, chocolate (maybe you need to do the test before work so your work makes don’t suffer)
Where do I go? – Go into the Recreation Centre 22 Kirkwod ave In Riccarton, Christchurch and you will be directed to the Sport Science Centre from there.