Background: The sports medicine performance diagnostics include investigative procedures that supply information on the performance capacity and stamina of an athlete. This creates a foundation for a personalised training plan and enables optimised control of the training process.
Methodology: The study population consisted of 24 male Nordic combined athletes from the national German squad. They were monitored using sports medicine over a period of five winter seasons. The test speeds on the treadmill in m/s are determined at lactate values of 2, 3 and 4 mmol/l in the peripheral blood values to calculate the lactate curve.
Results: The higher the test performance expressed as a percentage, the more likely it was that a top position could be achieved. The individual anaerobic threshold and the maximal oxygen uptake increased significantly with an increase in test performance expressed as a percentage. The older the athlete, the better they performed in the overall world cup. When age increased, the test speed [m/s] at lactate values of 2, 3 and 4 mmol/l also increased, along with the test performance expressed as a percentage, the maximal oxygen uptake and the individual anaerobic threshold. A higher BMI proved advantageous in terms of placement in the individual competitions.
Conclusion: In this study the test speed at a lactate concentration of 4 mmol/l can be recommended as a robuster, more independent from mathematical models and physiologically more valid parameter for performance diagnostics in professional athletes.
Keywords: Performance diagnostic; lactate threshold; lactate values; performance forecast; training control.