Watch the recovery curve, not one isolated reading
The German article follows the fall in lactate after a demanding session. It relates the trajectory to aerobic capacity, the preceding workload and recovery conditions. Comparable sessions and sampling times are necessary before reading a trend.
The recovery-test example in the guide
The source samples immediately after exercise and after 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 minutes of light cycling or walking. It discusses values below 2.5 mmol/L after 10 minutes and below 2.0 after 15 minutes, and a value still above 3 after 15 minutes as a reason to examine workload and recovery. These are the article’s example markers, not a stand-alone diagnosis.
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The German guide discusses morning readings before breakfast, with an example resting range of 0.5–1.5 mmol/L and attention to values above 2.0. It also notes that stress, sleep and dehydration can affect the value. Repeat measurements under comparable conditions rather than identifying illness or overtraining from one sample.
The limits of lactate as a recovery marker
Lactate alone does not describe recovery completely. The original article explicitly includes sleep quality, perceived effort, heart-rate variability and muscle soreness as complementary information. Use the measurement as one part of the picture, not the only basis for a decision.