Quick one tonight because the AMA audio series dies at midnight, but you can still hop in

​https://miket.me/physflex <--full details

And before it dies, I need to tell you about the metabolic basement.

Most people walk around using two fuels:

Glucose and fat.

That’s enough to keep the lights on.

Enough to get through a normal day, to fake competence, and to survive mediocre training and decent sleep and a life that hasn’t started swinging a bat yet.

But downstairs?

There are two more systems waiting in the dark:

Lactate and ketones.

Not dead.
Nor missing.
Ignored.

That works fine right up until life gets mean.

Altitude.
Fasting.
Long output.
Recovery debt.
Stress that hits hard enough to make your usual fuel supply look like two mall cops trying to stop a prison break.

That’s when the real question shows up:

Can your backup generator actually turn on?

Most people never test it.

Especially ketones.

The whole keto circus got so loud that it buried the useful question under an avalanche of bacon-wrapped stupidity drowned in butter coffee.

I do not care whether you want to live in ketosis forever Keto Karen.

That’s ideology.

I care whether your system can make and use ketones when the job demands it.

That’s physiology.

Very different religion.

And yes, there’s data.

Stalmans et al. ran healthy men through simulated altitude around 4,000 to 4,500 meters. One group got a ketone ester. One got placebo.

The ketone group hit about 3 mM beta-hydroxybutyrate.

Real ketosis. No dietary cosplay.

Performance duration went up about 32%.

The men who got hammered by altitude under placebo? Their duration basically doubled with ketones.

That wasn’t just “extra fuel.”

Oxygenation improved.

The brain handled stress better.

The system changed how it managed the problem.

That matters because beta-hydroxybutyrate is not just fuel.

It signals, talks to fat tissue, and changes substrate handling.

It overlaps with some of the same machinery lactate uses.

So no, these backup systems are not sitting in separate rooms minding their own business.

They cross-talk, coordinate and make the whole machine more flexible.

Which means if you’ve never trained either one on purpose, you are missing more than two fuel sources.

You are missing the conversation between them.

That conversation is a big part of why one athlete bends and another one breaks.

So here’s the action step:

Test the generator.

Run a 24-hour fast.

Do one day of very low carbs.

Watch what happens.

You do not need to join the Church of Keto Konverted.

You do not need to buy a $45 ketone ester and drink something that tastes like paint thinner and broken dreams - although there is a place for it at times.

You just need to know whether the system responds.

Inside the Phys Flex Cert, I show you how to use ketone-based fuel work without turning into a nutrition cult leader.

How long to run it.
What to measure.
When to use it.
How to combine it with lactate, breathing, temperature, and pH so the whole thing works like a system instead of four random tricks stolen from podcasts.

​https://miket.me/physflex <--full details
​Payment plans are live at checkout via Affirm and Klarna.

If you need something else, hit reply.

Much love and beta-hydroxybutyrate,
Dr. Mike

PS — The AMA audio series expires tonight at midnight PST. Five calls. Four and a half hours. Enroll before then and it’s yours.

​https://miket.me/physflex <--full details

PPS — “I used the information in the Phys Flex course to assist losing 15kg of excess weight — all with no loss in strength.”​
— Mark Darbyshire

PPPS — Tomorrow morning I’m coming for CO2. Most coaches treat it like waste gas. Wrong. It’s part of the signal that helps unload oxygen where you actually need it. Miss that, and your athlete can be breathing hard while the tissues are still starving.

References

Stalmans, M., Tominec, D., Lauriks, W., Robberechts, R., Debevec, T., & Poffé, C. (2024). Exogenous ketosis attenuates acute mountain sickness and mitigates normobaric high-altitude hypoxemia. Journal of Applied Physiology, 137(5), 1301–1312.

Note: The 32% figure refers to protocol duration before developing severe AMS (Lake Louise Score ≥ 10) — not exercise performance per se. The protocol was terminated when participants developed severe altitude sickness. The ketone group lasted 32% longer before hitting that threshold.

____________________

Mike T Nelson CISSN, CSCS, MSME, PhD
Associate Professor, Carrick Institute
Owner, Extreme Human Performance, LLC
Editorial Board Member, STRONG Fitness Mag

Mike T Nelson is a PhD and not a physician or registered dietitian. The contents of this email should not be taken as medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem - nor is it intended to replace the advice of a physician. Always consult your physician or qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health.

..