CTS Training Talks: An Inside Look at VO2 Max and Lactate Threshold Testing
Updated On
March 19, 2025
Whether you are a triathlete, runner, cyclist, or another endurance athlete you need accurate physiological data to guide and monitor your training by. Lactate threshold and VO2 Max are two of the most commonly, and effectively, used performance markers used by many athletes and coaches.
The point is to learn the highest intensity at which you race and train before hitting the wall from high levels of blood lactate and to uncover the amount of oxygen you can utilize during a maximal effort. Elite athletes and coaches know the key to success is to increase sustainable power on the bike and speed while running at lactate threshold. You may be asking what is lactate threshold and VO2 max? How do you test these? And most importantly, how does one use this information to improve training?
Gayle Connell, from the Naked Women’s Racing Team, came into our performance lab to get these same questions answered. You can listen to Gayle go through her lactate threshold and VO2 max tests and then review her results with Senior CTS Coach Clayton Feldman.
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Colorado Women’s Cycling Project, established in 2010, is a women’s elite and amateur women’s cycling team. It also includes a club team supporting women in their cycling endeavors. Its members compete in track, road, mountain and cyclocross disciplines and have won state, regional and national team and individual titles as well as USA Cycling’s Women’s Club of the Year in 2012. Learn more at nakedwomenracing.com
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About the Author
Jim Rutberg
CTS Pro Cycling Coach
Jim Rutberg is a seasoned coach and endurance athlete with over two decades of experience, having co-authored ten influential books on training and nutrition, including “The Time-Crunched Cyclist” and "Ride Inside." His unique blend of academic knowledge, elite racing experience, and hands-on coaching at CTS positions him as a leading expert in endurance sports, dedicated to helping athletes reach their highest potential while balancing family life and personal passion for cycling.