Competitive endurance athletes need accurate physiological data to guide and monitor their training. Two of the most common and effective performance markers used by coaches and athletes is blood lactate profiling and VO2 uptake, which can help ascertain optimum training loads by accurately measuring an athlete’s anaerobic threshold (ANT). Training an athlete at their ANT and extending their aerobic base is the key to their athletic success. However, the accuracy of the critical ANT appears to differ when comparing both methods. Eight male athletes ages 21-64 participated in this study. The athletes were required to ride a cycle ergonometer at increasing incremental loads until they had surpassed their ANT. Blood lactate samples, expired air, perceived exertion, and heart rate were taken at the end of each 2-minute increment. The study showed that there was no significant statistical difference in ANT between the two techniques, but there was an absolute difference for some of the athletes. These absolute differences in ANT can lead to inaccurate training techniques causing the athlete to fail during competition.

Comparing effective performance markers in competitive endurance athletes