| Hi,
Matt here - David Roche our favorite ultrarunner athlete, coach, and podcaster extraordinaire is back on his secret usage of Ketones post-workout.
Personally, I'm with David and I'm also a regular Ketone users (typically Ketone-IQ). Post workout, when you have a bit of brain fog, it's amazing how well a boost of ketones is to get you back to where you want to be. Plus all the recovery benefits David shares below. If you want to try Ketone-IQ after reading David's story, here is a 30% off code only good this weekend: DavidKetones (save 30%, click here to apply it)
Over to you David…
Post-exercise ketone supplementation is a fascinating frontier of performance science. But there are still more questions than answers. I think a lot of that uncertainty connects back to athletes not being fully open about what they do, for fear of criticism (hence all of these post-race interviews where athletes say they just take a Vitamin D pill or whatever, when I'd bet their shopping carts have lots more interesting supplements). So in the "no secrets" spirit, here's what I do: post-exercise ketones 3-4 times per week in heavy training, with a big meal... including the day before ultras.
Mixed Messaging
I am writing this email now because the UCI (the governing body for professional cycling) released a strange press release last week. The conclusion: "As there is no compelling evidence that ketone supplements enhance performance or recovery, the UCI sees no reason for them to be used. Therefore, the UCI does not recommend the inclusion of such supplements in riders' nutritional plans." They even mentioned a "very comprehensive, high quality study" refuting their use, but without providing a citation.
(As a side note, I tried to find the study the UCI talks about by searching citations of every ketones article in Google Scholar, and I came up empty. Maybe they're talking about unpublished research? Even giving them maximum benefit of the doubt, I don't think one study alone could ever refute the list of other studies when combined with the prevalence of their use in the real world for elite athletes.)
That's super weird, right? I'm guessing the UCI will use their next press release to announce that "according to a recent study we read in a bathroom stall on the New Jersey Turnpike, an apple a day does not keep the doctor away." It will be written next to a hole in the wall, which the UCI will say is "definitely safe and effective."
It brings to mind a meme: "My ketones-aren't-good press release has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my press release."
So why did the UCI take this odd step? My guess is it's for the same reason I personally started taking ketones in the first place. Based on a series of studies, post-exercise ketone use exploded in professional cycling, before becoming common in other sports as well. By saying that ketones aren't effective, the UCI can wash their hands of the topic (which probably feels nice because their hands are pretty damn dirty from the past few decades).
Athletes are still taking ketones in droves. However, Megan and I have personally turned down partnerships with ketone companies stretching back nearly a decade, long before The Feed batted their beautiful eyelashes at us. What is the reason for the offset between what I do and what I'm comfortable representing formally?
Background on Ketones
The answer gets back to the uncertain mechanisms of action, and questions about long-term health impacts. To give the UCI credit, that's likely similar to their concerns. However, I think it's intellectually disingenuous for them to act like athletes aren't using ketones with the intention to enhance recovery and adaptation, guided by physiologists.
For background, ketone bodies are naturally produced from the breakdown of free fatty acids, and their production is upregulated during periods of low carbohydrate availability. Ketosis via nutritional interventions comes with way too many downsides for endurance athletes, including everything from reduced bone density to diminished performance. That makes sense intuitively because low carbohydrate availability is extremely counterproductive for most body functions, especially the endocrine system. Eat enough always.
After exercise, circulating ketone bodies are increased. However, any benefits athletes may see from a sustained increase are blunted in advanced athletes practicing good recovery nutrition. Exogenous ketones, enter stage left.
As stated by a review article that was published last year, ketones "may induce a unique physiological milieu to enhance post-exercise recovery and exercise adaptation as it allows to benefit from the potential beneficial effect of post-exercise ketosis in combination with other nutritional exercise recovery strategies (e.g., carbohydrate-protein recovery drink)." Unique physiological milieu is a wonderful way to say "lots of stuff seems to happen and we aren't entirely sure why." How wild is that?
To keep it simple, exogenous ketone supplementation may cause epigenetic changes that increase the adaptive response to exercise, they may influence the restoration of cellular energy status, they could improve hematological variables, and they could alter how the brain and body respond to exercise stress. But what caused the explosion of post-exercise ketone use was a series of studies finding real-world changes in recovery and blood markers.
A 2019 study had male athletes complete 6 days of twice-daily workouts for 3 weeks, with one group taking post-exercise ketones and one group taking a control drink. The ketone group had blunted signs of overreaching, including improved fatigue resistance in a 2-hour power test. (a subsequent Letter to the Editor disputed some of those findings.)
A 2023 study did a similar 3-week protocol with 10 training sessions per week. The post-exercise ketone group "increased the number of capillary contacts and the capillary-to-fibre perimeter exchange index by 44% and 42%" and "substantially increased vascular endothelial growth factor and endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression both at the protein and at the mRNA level." Perhaps most significantly, natural EPO concentrations increased by 26%. Another 2023 study also found similar changes in natural EPO concentrations after taking post-exercise ketones. However, a 2025 study found no changes in EPO levels when taking ketones during high altitude training.
It's still uncertain whether the natural EPO changes may lead to hematological changes, but it could improve red blood cell production in athletes with adequate iron stores. The exact mechanism is unknown. WHAT?! It probably happens via some changes in signaling in the kidneys. My guess is that lots more studies will come out on this topic in the next 5-10 years. Maybe the UCI is sitting on that data like an ovulating mother hen.
A 2025 pre-print study found that post-exercise ketones may enhance retention of ingested carbs, possibly helping explain why high-carb and ketones have been on similar trajectories in the cycling peloton. There are more studies on the potential glycogen recovery benefits, but this email is already long enough!
That's all contrasted by a study finding decreased testosterone levels after ketone supplementation. 20% reductions in circulating testosterone! SCARY! And in general, pre and during- exercise supplementation show decreased performance, sometimes by up to 2-4% (though some athletes swear by it, so perhaps there is an ultra protocol that isn't being studied).
The "No Secrets" Suggestion
Ketones essentially hack an evolutionary process, leading to lots of uncertainty. There are probably variable individual responses, and we can't be certain what happens long-term. But if you scan the landscape of professional endurance sports, you'll see a ton of the best athletes in the world taking their post-exercise ketone shots. I personally started taking them in 2023, and I felt a noticeable change in recovery and adaptation rates (or a noticeable placebo effect).
My public recommendation is still to only use ketones if you want, based on your interpretation of the research. But this is a "no secrets" space, so I'll let you in on the private recommendation I give to professional athletes I coach. Post-exercise ketones may provide a little recovery and performance nudge in heavy training when combined with high-carb approaches, but the science is still uncertain. Consider trying them in hard training, monitoring how you feel and ideally getting bloodwork that checks hemoglobin and hormone levels.
Hey! I just thought of an explanation for the press release. Maybe the UCI shorted the stock of companies selling ketones.
I think that's going to turn out to be a bad trade.
What I Use
I personally use Ketone IQ. It's a less expensive option that is not the ketone ester formulation used in most studies, but it's what I go for so that I can recommend choices that are more sustainable for athlete finances. The Raspberry Lemonade and Green Apple flavors are my favorite. All of the flavors are NSF Certified for Sport.
Note: all ketones taste like a robot's ass. But the new flavors make that more like a fun, date-night thing.
Don't forget the 30% off if you want to try it out. The code is: DavidKetones (save 30%, click here to apply it)
- David Roche |
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