What is the appropriate cadence (intensity) for AT (Anaerobic Threshold) workouts?

What is the appropriate cadence (intensity) for AT (Anaerobic Threshold) workouts?

• A. 18-22 moderate
• B. 22-28 hard
• C. 28-34 very hard
• D. 34 and up exhausting

Answer: (B)

Anaerobic threshold work should be done at a hard, but sustainable, effort. This is the pace where you’re pushing hard enough that lactate begins to accumulate faster than you can fully clear it, but you can still maintain the effort for a meaningful duration. That balance is why the appropriate range is the hard zone—not easy, but not maxed out or exhausting. In practical terms, you’ll be working at a pace or power you could just about sustain for roughly 20–30 minutes, often described as Where you can talk in short phrases but not hold a full conversation. Training at this intensity trains your body to manage lactate better, raising your sustainable pace. The other levels are less suitable for AT work. Moderate is too easy to drive the adaptations you want at the lactate threshold. Very hard or exhausting pushes you into VO2 max or supra-threshold work, which fatigue you too quickly and isn’t the most effective stimulus for improving sustainable, threshold-type performance. For workouts, you might structure 2–3 intervals of 8–12 minutes at this hard intensity with short recoveries, or a continuous 20–25 minute effort at the same level.

Anaerobic threshold work should be done at a hard, but sustainable, effort. This is the pace where you’re pushing hard enough that lactate begins to accumulate faster than you can fully clear it, but you can still maintain the effort for a meaningful duration. That balance is why the appropriate range is the hard zone—not easy, but not maxed out or exhausting. In practical terms, you’ll be working at a pace or power you could just about sustain for roughly 20–30 minutes, often described as Where you can talk in short phrases but not hold a full conversation. Training at this intensity trains your body to manage lactate better, raising your sustainable pace.

The other levels are less suitable for AT work. Moderate is too easy to drive the adaptations you want at the lactate threshold. Very hard or exhausting pushes you into VO2 max or supra-threshold work, which fatigue you too quickly and isn’t the most effective stimulus for improving sustainable, threshold-type performance. For workouts, you might structure 2–3 intervals of 8–12 minutes at this hard intensity with short recoveries, or a continuous 20–25 minute effort at the same level.