4. POST-EXERCISE KETONES BOOST MUSCLE CAPILLARIZATION

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In a previous post, we saw as ingesting ketones during exercise is ineffective to obtain an immediate performance’s boost or sparing muscle glycogen.

However, in the last post, we saw a more promising ketones’ potential application: post-exercise ingestion to increase erythropoietin (EPO) production. EPO is a hormone which has several functions that can boost training adaptations: increasing haemoglobin mass, promoting angiogenesis (new blood vessels formation), and skeletal muscle regeneration. However, that study showed ‘only’ that ingesting one ketones’ dose post-exercise boosts EPO production in the following 4 hours, without verifying if repeating post-exercise ketones ingestion for weeks actually brings to superior physiological adaptations (Hb-mass, muscle capillarization) which can benefit performance.

Does chronic (for weeks) post-exercise ketones ingestion enhance training adaptations?

Let’s see the interesting study published by Poffé and Colleagues (KU Leuven, Belgium) in 2023 on Journal of Physiology. (1)

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WHAT DID THEY DO?

• They recruited 20 recreationally active males (VO2max: ~55, age ~21)

• They were divided in two groups (Ketones vs Control) which for 3 weeks performed the same very intensive training program: 8-13 hours per week including 4-6 high intensity training (HIT) sessions per week. The training load was gradually increased through the weeks, so that the third week was the most demanding (higher duration and number of HIT sessions).

• The only difference between the two groups was:

  • Ketones Group: ingested 25 g of ketone ester immediately after each training session and 30 min pre-sleep.

  • Control Group: ingested a control drink with no ketones and matched for the ketone ester calories.

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WHAT DID THEY FOUND?

Here the results collected at the end of the 3 weeks: