Unit 1 A7: Lactate system (Pearson BTEC S&ES)

This fully-resourced lesson describes the energy production for sport and exercise by the lactate system. Both the PowerPoint and accompanying resources have been designed to cover the 3rd part of point A7 in UNIT 1 of the Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Sport and Exercise Science specification.

The lesson begins by challenging the students to explain which out of stored ATP, phosphocreatine and glycogen in a muscle would be depleted after 10 seconds of intense exercise. This introduces glycogen as the starting substance in the lactate system and students will use their prior knowledge to recognise that the 1st step in this system involves the breakdown of glycogen to glucose. The main part of the lesson focuses on glycolysis and the key details of this step are discussed and explained, such as the net yield of ATP. Moving forwards, the students will learn how the product of glycolysis, pyruvate, is converted to lactate but does not result in the formation of any more ATP and this small yield of just 2 ATP means that this system is quickly fatigued. The lesson finishes by covering the duration of exercise that can be supported by the lactate system as the dominant energy provider.

This lesson has been specifically written to tie in with the next lesson on the aerobic system as well as making links to a previous lesson on the ATP-PC system