William Apró, PhD

Associate professor (Docent) and group leader at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences

[Stuart Phillips (he/him) @mackinprof]

Tim, with respect, several of these don't hold up. Going through them.

1/ The "no RCT longer than 4 weeks" criterion is convenient but doesn't dissolve the contrary evidence. Burke's Supernova series (J Physiol 2017, J Physiol 2021, MSSE 2021) consistently showed impaired economy and race performance in elite athletes at 3 to 3.5 weeks. Your reply is that longer adaptation would reverse this. That is itself an unproven hypothesis. You are requiring receding goalposts, which is exactly the move you accuse the field of making.

2/ "Only elite athletes" cuts both ways. Your foundational RCTs are in recreational athletes doing capacity tests. The 5 to 7% ATP-yield-per-litre-O2 deficit (Krogh and Lindhard 1920, which you cite) shows up only at intensities that recreational athletes cannot sustain. Dismissing elite data while resting your case on recreational time-to-exhaustion is the double standard, not the rule against it.

3/ The SGP/LGP framing is a useful lens. The 16 lines of evidence include real contributions. They also include retrospective reinterpretations of studies whose original authors drew the opposite conclusion, rat models you criticize when others lean on them, and the "88%" claim that arithmetically gives 84% in your own Table 8 (105/125). I went through the Zenodo file line by line. The pattern is real, the framing is generous.

4/ The "cake problem" is not a strawman. Volek, Noakes and Phinney 2015 (Eur J Sport Sci) argued fat adaptation eliminates CHO dependence. If 10 to 20 g/h carbs during exercise is now required, that founding claim has collapsed. Ketones do not rescue it: Whitfield et al 2021 (MSSE 53:776-784) showed acute ketone ester plus LCHF impaired race walk performance.

5/ The biochemistry. Less ATP per litre O2 from fat is settled. At the oxidative ceiling that determines elite endurance pace, that deficit shows up as lost speed. None of the 16 lines of evidence engage with this directly. They route around it.

6/ On agenda. You were a high-CHO advocate for 35 years before reversing. The same charge of motivated reasoning applies symmetrically. I have no books to sell, no nutrition company shares, and no foundation downstream of the conclusion.

7/ "Bottom line" is a summary, not a fixed verdict. Carbs yield more ATP per litre O2. Fat oxidation tops out around 2 g/min even after weeks of keto adaptation. Elite marathon pace demands more energy per minute than fat can supply. Every elite marathoner, Kipchoge included, ingests 80 to 100+ g/h of carbs during competition. When the evidence changes I will update. Until then, carbs win at the top end. That is a conclusion, not an advertisement.

Mechanistic mechanisms for the glycogen-fatigue link that have nothing to do with rigor are well documented and you know this: SR Ca2+ release (Ørtenblad et al 2011, J Physiol 589:711; Gejl et al 2014, MSSE 46:496), subcellular pool depletion (Jensen et al 2020, J Physiol 598:4271), and downregulated PDH and glycogenolysis after fat adaptation (Stellingwerff et al 2006, AJP-EM 290:E380). The TAT you keep dismantling is not the position the field holds.

Honestly, thanks for your diatribe. But it's just more of the same.

[Craig A. Goodman @CraigAGoodman1]

Recent advances in understanding skeletal muscle ageing: Functional, morphological and omics perspectives
https://t.co/uqLRUEjepl

[Thibaux Van der Stede @ThibauxV]

Our musculoskeletal immunology and rheumatology research group at @InflamResCen @ugent_fge is looking for a PhD fellow to work on the mechanobiology of arthritis. Sharing is appreciated. Please reach out if you are interested.

https://t.co/SeL1GIePTL

[Demetriades Lab @DemetriadesLab]

💥 📢 We are recruiting! One postdoc 👨‍🔬👩‍🔬 and one PhD student 👨‍🎓👩‍🎓 position are now available in my new group 🔬 in ERIBA, part of the @umcg in Groningen.

Are you interested? Then send your application via the online platform, following the instructions in the links below 👇

[Adam Sharples Ph.D -Blue Sky🦋@profadamsharples @DrAdamPSharples]

1 week left to apply!

We are recruiting a Post‑Doc in Skeletal Muscle Molecular Physiology at @nih_sognsvann, Oslo

Join our EMMA multi‑omics project on mitochondrial epigenetic memory in human muscle ageing

4‑year position - Start May 2026

Apply: https://t.co/XB330EbNMz

[Thomas E. Jensen @tejensen23]

PhD position available in my group at UCPH. Focus on delineating mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy using cutting edge models and analyses💪 Deadline Jan 29, 2026.
Apply: https://t.co/SH5DnbrfGG

[Scott Powers @skppowers]

Strength training fans-check out this recent study published in JAP entitled "Divergent strength gains but similar hypertrophy after low-load and high-load resistance exercise training in trained individuals"
https://t.co/UJ74Tyt6ql

[The Hornberger Lab @HornbergerLab]

1/ Ever wondered how lifting weights makes muscles grow? 💪Our latest study reveals that mTORC1 doesn’t always hold the key. Full breakdown + preprint in this thread 👇https://t.co/WqkBT4Cvwj

[Craig A. Goodman @CraigAGoodman1]

Use of skeletal muscle fiber composition to assess relationship between amino acid metabolism and insulin sensitivity
https://t.co/8hwQRuh5Bn

[Journal of Applied Physiology @japplphysiol]

Research Article by KT Cumming et al. (@HorwathOscar @nih_physicperf) Divergent #strength gains but similar #hypertrophy after low-load and high-load resistance #exercisetraining in trained individuals: many roads lead to Rome
https://t.co/E3Yr626g2P

[Experimental Physiology @ExpPhysiol]

Congratulations to @HorwathOscar (@gihsweden), the winner of our 2024/25 Early Career Author prize!

Oscar's winning research article investigated how ageing impacts type I and type II myofibre properties in human muscle!

[Oscar Horwath, PhD @HorwathOscar]

Honored to get this award. I really appreciate initiatives like this that support young researchers. Grateful also to the colleagues and mentors who made this possible

[Lykke Sylow @LykkeSylow]

Interested in a pretty cool postdoc project with Dr @HenningLanger and I? 🔥

[Henning Langer @HenningLanger]

Hey Muscle And Metabolism Folks on Twitter, @LykkeSylow and I are looking for a Postdoc who is interested in applying for a prestigious @DDEA_Denmark fellowship with us. More details in the picture attached. Please share widely! @MYOTWlTTER

[William Apró, PhD @WiApro]

How about having the @E_C_S_S congress in Rimini every year?

😊

[Michalis Nikolaidis @mg_nikolaidis]

Vitamin C+E supplementation blunts molecular adaptations to sprint interval training but not performance gains.

Since performance wasn’t impaired, I wonder whether, and to what extent, the blunted molecular responses can truly be considered detrimental.

https://t.co/m0XcfmYi5z

[Marta Murgia @martamurgia]

Does #antioxidant supplementation influence the outcomes of #SIT #training? #skeletalmuscle fans, we might have some information for you. #proteomics leads the way!

https://t.co/KLOeUOVuaH

Kudos to the great Håkan Westerblad and to the whole amazing team.

[Colleen Deane @csbd7]

Fancy doing a PhD or know someone that does?

If so, please apply or share.

Deadline 18th June for mid/late Sept start

https://t.co/rYVHTxnzZU

[Gareth Wallis @gareth_wallis]

We @UBSportExR @unibirmingham are excited to be recruiting for an Assistant or Associate Professor in Exercise Physiology, deadline 5th June 2025 https://t.co/Et8WnPbMsJ

[Oscar Horwath, PhD @HorwathOscar]

Latest work from the Larsen group on the effects of a glucosinolate-rich drink on blood lactate during exercise 🥬 🏃‍♂️

@FilipLarsen77 @WiApro

https://t.co/32s4uGTaOU