Lactic acid, which once was thought to cause the burn in your muscles, is actually fuel for performance. The exercise intensity at which your lactate production outpaces your body's ability to use it is known as your "lactate threshold. It is a point during exhaustive, all-out exercise at which lactic acid builds up in the blood stream faster than the body can remove it.

To test your lactate threshold a test can be done. As the test subject exercises at increasing levels of intensity, a handheld device is used to prick his or her index finger or ear to calculate the amount of lactate in the blood. When lactate levels reach four milli-moles per liter of blood, the exercise intensity is identified as the lactate threshold.

Lactate threshold can be increased substantially with the right training program. Interval training at a level above your lactate threshold can significantly improve your ability to reach your full potential. Because the lactate threshold can be increased greatly with training, many athletes and coaches have devised complicated training plans to increase this value.

Lactate Threshold Values

• The average person reaches their LT at 60 percent of their VO2 max
• Recreational athletes reach their LT at 65-80 percent their VO2 max
• Elite endurance athletes reach their LT at 85-95 percent their VO2 max

Does Lactic Acid have something to do with hair growth ?

I think I'm going to remember this as Lactic Threshold, so that I can avoid a The Todd moment.

Hmmm, I'm not sure... I was reading articles on how Lactic Acid build up in your muscles is good for your performance in sports and activities, but now are you saying that the same Lactic Acid build up can also promote hair loss???

I really have no idea, it's just one of those things I think I heard somewhere but I'm not sure about.

As I was entering "Lactic acid hair" into Google, they started to suggest "lactic acid hair loss" with 149,000 results. Maybe there is something to it afterall.

From the results I got, I'm not finding anything difinitive. There appears to be places saying lactic acid can be related to hair loss, and there's others saying it's a growth stimulant.

Well, that sure is confusing. Now I don't know what to believe!