Happy Friday!
This week, I sat down with my friend Tony Pemberton from The Enhanced Man channel on YT to go deep on mitochondrial peptides.
We covered MOTS-c and SS-31, and how I actually use both throughout the year.
Watch it here: https://youtu.be/tUhNExSrMtQ
It had been about 18 months since we last covered these two. A lot has changed since then.
We have millions more people using them now, which means we are also seeing a lot more about what works and what gets people into trouble.
Here is some of what we got into.
FYI, Taylor and I will be hosting a coffee talk live tomorrow at 10 AM EST. Bring your coffee and questions! Join live by clicking here.
MOTS-c
MOTS-c is one of my favorite peptides. But as more people use it, I am seeing more negative reactions.
Welts, hives, itching at the injection site, and in rare cases, people end up in the ER with a real allergic reaction.
Sometimes that is a sourcing issue. More often, the dose is just too high.
The old peptide lore said 5mg three times a week. For someone who has never touched it, that can be a mega dose your body is not ready for.
I start low and go slow. My protocol is 1mg a day, five days on and two days off, in an 8 to 12-week cycle.
Remember what MOTS-c actually does.
It is an exercise mimetic, basically signaling your body that you are training. Push that signal too hard, too fast, and your body pushes back with fatigue. Titrate up to your sweet spot instead.
SS-31
SS-31 is the one that quietly does a little of everything. Because it acts directly on mitochondria, the downstream effects show up throughout the body.
We talked about improved kidney filtration, fewer migraines, and some new papers examining it for brain protection. I described it as the closest thing we have to injectable red light therapy.
I think about dosing in three tiers.
1-2mg/day is the optimal range for healthy people.
2 -5mg/day is for real metabolic dysfunction.
10mg and up is for the chronically sick, the long COVID and chronic fatigue crowd.
How I Stack Them
The framing I keep coming back to is hardware versus software.
SS-31 repairs the hardware of your mitochondria. MOTS-c sends the performance signal on top of it. I bounce between them throughout the year.
The biggest thing I notice from both is recovery. Better heart rate variability, faster bounce-back between hard sessions, less of that beat-up feeling after cardio.
We also got into the small stuff that makes a difference.
SubQ vs. intramuscular timing before a workout. Why I think metformin is slowly becoming less essential as we get better tools. And why I reach for KPV when inflammation markers like IL-6 start creeping up from training stress.
None of this replaces the basics. Diet, sleep, and training still do the heavy lifting. These peptides amplify what you are already doing.
Final Thoughts
Tony is one of the sharper people I know in this space, and he goes deeper into the data than almost anyone.
If you are serious about mitochondrial health and performance, his content is some of the best out there.
Watch our full conversation here: https://youtu.be/tUhNExSrMtQ
Have a fantastic weekend, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow on the coffee talk!
Best,
Hunter Williams