General Physical Podcast · Gregory Dzemaili

The TRUTH About Lactic Acid - Professor Robert Robergs | Kettle Knights #70

·1 hr 35 min·5 clips

Lactate production consumes hydrogen ions and helps regenerate NAD for glycolysis.

Gregory opens by welcoming Professor Robert Roberts back to Kettle Knights after their earlier conversation about Pavel's new book, glycolysis, energy transformation, and metabolism. He notes that Roberts is coming at things from a broader angle this time, which gives the discussion more room to breathe. Roberts had even emailed reading material before the interview, and Gregory jokes that it felt like getting homework from a professor, which he enjoyed. The conversation then turns toward a layman's explanation of acidosis. Roberts starts with chemistry rather than gym shorthand. He explains that some chemical reactions release hydrogen ions, and that does not mean the molecule itself is acidic in the usual sense. ATP breakdown comes up as one example. At pH 7, ATP breakdown still releases hydrogen ions. Phosphate transfer reactions come up too, and those reactions are often linked with hydrogen ion exchange. He keeps returning to the same point: the mechanism is real even if the label is sloppy. The problem is the old habit of calling every hydrogen ion release an acid reaction. Roberts treats that as an understandable misnomer, not a moral failure. He says the people who used the term in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries were working without the knowledge and instruments available now. The discussion then widens into the broader scientific habit of being wrong for a while and then having to move on. Gregory and Roberts connect that to other fields where delayed correction causes harm, including global warming and pollution. The episode also gestures toward the way exercise science itself has changed over time. Roberts notes that ideas accepted 40 or 50 years ago are now known to have been wrong in some cases. The tone stays practical and coach-facing even when the science gets dense. Gregory keeps steering the talk toward what trainers actually need to know. The result is a long, technical conversation about language, evidence, and the cost of clinging to an easy explanation after it has stopped being true.

As heard by us

Professor Robert Roberts explains acidosis, hydrogen ions, and ATP breakdown, then shows how scientific language changes when the evidence catches up.

Professor Robert Roberts moves the conversation from exercise physiology into the chemistry of acidosis, laying out hydrogen ion release, ATP breakdown, and why the old acid shorthand never quite fit.

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Why you'd press play

You want the acidosis story untangled without gym folklore.

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