Maximal lactate steady state depends on the test method: 30-min stages with ≤1.0 mmol/L rise after minute 10
Participants
n=26 male subjects, age 24.6 ± 5.6 yr, height 181.6 ± 4.9 cm, body mass 74.4 ± 5.2 kg
Overview
Beneke compared three ways of defining the maximal lactate steady state (MLSS) — the highest blood lactate concentration that stays steady during prolonged constant-load exercise — because published MLSS values were hard to compare across different test methods. MLSS I used 30-min constant-load stages; MLSS II and III used 20-min stages with different lactate criteria.
Protocol
Methods comparison: three ways of determining MLSS were compared in 26 male subjects (from the abstract).
MLSS I was based on the blood-lactate time course during 30 min of constant submaximal workload; MLSS II and III on 20 min.
Measures: blood lactate concentration at MLSS and the workload (W) at each MLSS.
Key Findings
The three methods gave different MLSS lactate values: 5.1 ± 1.3 (I), 4.9 ± 1.3 (II) and 4.3 ± 1.3 mmol/L (III), p<0.01
Workload at MLSS III (244.8 ± 44.0 W) was lower (p<0.01) than at MLSS I (254.0 ± 40.8 W) and MLSS II (251.9 ± 40.4 W); MLSS I and II workloads did not differ
The discrepancies arise because 20-min methods depend heavily on the lactate time course during the first 20-25 min of constant-load exercise
Author's recommendation: constant-load tests of at least 30 min, with a blood-lactate increase of no more than 1.0 mmol/L after the 10th minute, give the most valid MLSS
Practical Application
Finding: in 26 men, the MLSS depended on the method — 30-min stages gave 5.1 mmol/L at 254 W, while a 20-min method gave 4.3 mmol/L at 245 W (p<0.01). Beneke's criterion: stages of at least 30 min, and MLSS is the highest load at which lactate rises by no more than 1.0 mmol/L between minute 10 and the end of the stage. Shorter stages can under-read the threshold power by roughly 10 W in this group.
Not from this paper; the base's own practice: run the MLSS check at the start of a training block or when a threshold change is suspected; sample lactate at minute 10 and minute 30 of each stage; use the result to anchor the Z3/Z4 boundary. The number of stages needed is not stated in the abstract.
Limitations
Men only, n=26; the abstract gives no training status or VO2max, so the tier is an assumption
The criterion is the author's recommendation from a methods comparison, not a validation against an external performance outcome
How this entry was checked and changed
Why this level
regraded 2026-09-27 from B+: test validation / methods comparison, n=26, no control condition
Content correction 2026-09-27
Criterion "lactate does not rise >1.0 mmol/L in the final 10 minutes of a 30-minute stage" -> abstract: no more than 1.0 mmol/L increase after the 10th minute (i.e. minute 10 to end of a ≥30-min stage).
"3-5 stage approach typical" and "increase >1.0 mmol/L indicates supramaximal intensity" -> not in the abstract; removed.
Added the study's actual comparison (MLSS I/II/III lactate and workloads, subject characteristics). Level B+ -> B (methods comparison, n=26). Limitations added.
2026-09-28: added Protocol from the abstract (Europe PMC PMID 12627312).