Here is the twist that gets lost in most supplement headlines: everyone got faster. In a study of 100 young German athletes preparing for the London 2012 Olympics, both the placebo group and the ubiquinol group improved their peak power over six weeks. Training did most of the work. But the group taking 300 mg of ubiquinol a day improved more: +11.0% versus +8.5%. That gap, about 2.5 percentage points, is the entire story. Whether it's worth chasing depends on who you are.
Ubiquinol vs. Ubiquinone: What's the Difference?
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a compound your cells use in the mitochondrial electron transport chain, the machinery that turns food into ATP. It comes in two forms:
- Ubiquinone is the oxidized form, found in most traditional CoQ10 supplements.
- Ubiquinol is the reduced, "active" form. Your body converts ubiquinone into ubiquinol, and ubiquinol is the form that carries electrons and acts as an antioxidant.
Supplement makers often market ubiquinol as better absorbed, which is why it usually costs more. That claim has its own debates, and this study doesn't settle ubiquinol versus ubiquinone. It only tests ubiquinol against a placebo.
The Study: Who, What, How Long
The trial, published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition in 2013 (Alf, Schmidt & Siebrecht), was double-blind and placebo-controlled:
- Participants: 100 well-trained young German athletes (53 men, 47 women, average age about 20)
- Context: all were training for the London 2012 Olympic Games
- Dose: 300 mg ubiquinol daily or placebo
- Duration: 6 weeks
- Test: a maximal power output test on a cycle ergometer, expressed in watts per kilogram of bodyweight (W/kg) and measured at the 4 mmol lactate threshold
- Timepoints: baseline, 3 weeks and 6 weeks
Athletes trained individually throughout, following their own Olympic preparation.
The Results: Both Groups Improved, One Improved More
| Group | Start | End | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Placebo | 3.64 W/kg | 3.94 W/kg | +0.30 W/kg (+8.5%) |
| Ubiquinol | 3.70 W/kg | 4.08 W/kg | +0.38 W/kg (+11.0%) |
The difference in improvement was +0.08 W/kg, roughly 2.5%, and it was statistically significant (p < 0.03). Training clearly drove the big gains, since the placebo group still jumped about 8.5%. Ubiquinol appeared to add a modest boost on top.
Why a 2.5% Edge Matters (and Why It Might Not)
For a competitive endurance or power athlete, 2.5% is not trivial. Elite events are often decided by fractions of a percent, and a legal, low-risk intervention that nudges output upward is worth a serious look. Cyclists, rowers, sprinters and others whose results hinge on peak power have the most to gain.
For recreational lifters, the picture is less exciting. The test was a cycling power measure, not a squat, bench press or deadlift, so the results don't directly translate to strength training. A 0.08 W/kg difference is also small enough that you would never notice it without lab equipment. If your sleep, protein intake and training consistency aren't dialed in, those will move the needle far more than any capsule.
The Fine Print
Before you add this to your cart, consider the caveats:
- Training wasn't controlled. Each athlete trained individually. Randomization should balance this across groups, but it adds noise, and the large standard deviations (±8.2% in the ubiquinol group) show how variable the responses were.
- Industry ties. One author is a health ingredient consultant, and the work is linked to the ubiquinol industry (Kaneka is a major supplier). That doesn't invalidate the findings, but it calls for caution until independent groups replicate them.
- Small effect, single measure. The study relied on one performance outcome. It doesn't show benefits for strength, sprint times or competition results.
- Narrow population. Young, healthy, trained Germans. Older athletes, masters competitors and other populations may respond differently.
In short, this is a promising signal, not a definitive verdict.
Practical Takeaways
Dose: The study used 300 mg of ubiquinol per day.
Timing: CoQ10 is fat-soluble, so take it with a meal that contains fat. Eggs, avocado, nuts, olive oil or fatty fish will do. Taking it on an empty stomach is likely to waste money.
Duration: The study ran 6 weeks. Performance differences were assessed at 3 and 6 weeks, so don't expect an overnight effect.
Who it's for:
- Endurance and power athletes looking for marginal gains
- Athletes who already have training, nutrition and recovery well optimized
- Possibly people on statins, which can lower the body's CoQ10 levels. If you take a statin, talk to your doctor before supplementing, since CoQ10 can interact with some medications, including blood thinners such as warfarin.
Who can probably skip it: Beginners and recreational lifters whose bigger wins still come from basics like progressive overload, protein and sleep.
Cost vs. Value
Ubiquinol is typically pricier than standard CoQ10, and a 300 mg daily dose is higher than the 100 mg many labels suggest, so the monthly cost can add up. Expect to pay noticeably more than for basics like creatine or caffeine, both of which have much larger bodies of evidence for performance. For a competitor chasing every edge, the cost may be justified. For everyone else, it belongs well down the priority list.
Bottom Line
The headline number is real but modest: 300 mg of ubiquinol daily for six weeks was linked to about 2.5% more peak power improvement than placebo in athletes training for the Olympics. It isn't a magic pill, the evidence comes from one industry-linked trial, and training itself delivered most of the gains. If you compete at a level where small margins decide results, it's a reasonable, low-risk experiment. If you don't, put your money into the fundamentals first.
