Glasgow Celtic Football Club
Our research is aimed at applying modern statistical and
mathematical techniques to the problem of correlating the blood lactate level of athletes with their endurance performance. Blood lactate measurements are commonly used to monitor the training status of athletes, including endurance runners and soccer players. Measurements can be made during the training process and analysed in real time. However, there is no consensus on the best way to analyse or summarise such data.
It has been shown that blood lactate is a good predictor of endurance performance. Several blood lactate markers have been suggested. Their determination however can be problematic, and their reproducibility appears to be limited or questionable. There is a need for further examination of blood lactate variables to establish if a better marker can be determined objectively. In addition, it is essential that the 'new' marker is highly reproducible.
Smoothed blood lactate curve and plot of the corresponding second derivative for a sample player
The approach of our research has been to develop a new lactate marker by constructing a mathematical function that, with a suitable smoothing technique, represents the continuous process underpinning the blood lactate response to exercise workload. Derivatives of the function can be estimated reliably, and it is from these that the new marker is derived. This approach has shown better reproducibility than other commonly used lactate markers, as assessed using a sample of endurance runners' lactate data. This research has demonstrated the advantages of applying statistical and mathematical techniques to an important area in sports and exercise science.
This work is in collaboration with the Dr Stan Grant (Institute of Biomedical Life Sciences, University of Glasgow) and Dr Roddy Macdonald, Kenny McMillan and Irene Riach (Sports Performance Unit, Glasgow Celtic Football Club).
Contact: Dr John Newell, Statistics Group, Department of Mathematics, National University of Ireland, Galway;
E-mail:
[email protected]
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