Measurements with the amperometric lactate oxidase method are reliable. and routinely used in sports medicine (e. g. Böning et al. Eur J Appl Physiol 99, 163 (2007)). You need only 20 microliters of blood e. g. from an earlobe, The apparatus are rather expensive (Ebio plus, Eppendorf Hamburg, or Biosen 5030 L, Envitec-Wismar, both in

Germany), but an Institute of Sports Medicine in your neighbourhood perhaps may help you.

Many thanks Dieter,

much appreciated.

Am I correct to assume that there is no difference in sensitivity of lactic acid measurements taken from the ear lobes or finger tips?

Probably you are right. Both methods are equally used in sports medicine, probably you will find comparisons in pubmed or Google Scholar.

These articles do not specific answer your aquestion but rather interesting for the topic; "Protein ingestion before sleep improves postexercise overnight recovery" in Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2012 Aug;44(8):1560-9. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e31824cc363 and

"" Exercising before protein intake allows for greater use of dietary protein-derived amino acids for de novo muscle protein synthesis in both young and elderly men" in Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Feb;93(2):322-31. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.29649. Epub 2010 Nov 17.

Thank you Elisabet,and Alexia.

Elisabet could you kindly elaborate on 'washing the canyl between'. Thanks.

You might want to take a look at the following article, it is available as a PDF as in print. The device is designed for humans.

Validation of the LactatePlus Lactate Meter in the Horse and its Use in a Conditioning Program

A. A. Hauss, C.K. Stablein, A. L. Fisher, H.M. Greene, Y.S. Nout-Lomas

Equine Veterinary Journal. 06/2014; Accepted.

Many thanks Holly.

Recent work presented at the European College of Sports Science conference in Amsterdam evaluated the reliability of the new Lactate Pro handheld device. The newer module uses 1/5 of the sample size of the older model. Test re-test reliability was good but there was a lack oa agreement between models at higher lactate concentrations. This is an argument that has been presented in the literature (Int J Sport Med). So the question to consider for you is are you looking for good internal reliability and limited variability or good external reliability? If the later you should perhaps consider devices such as the Analox system.