Claims that MOTS-c must be separated from lifting by a precise interval usually join several biological ideas into a schedule that has not itself been tested. A mechanism can make a hypothesis interesting without making the proposed timing clinically useful.
A pathway is not a workout prescription
The original MOTS-c experiments connected the peptide with metabolic signaling in laboratory models. That finding does not identify a safe or effective injection time for a person training for strength.
The missing steps matter. Researchers would need to establish human exposure, the relevant tissue response, how that response changes with timing, and whether it affects an outcome such as strength, function or muscle size. Naming AMPK or mTOR does not answer all those questions.
Exercise observations do not establish a timing window
The exercise and aging study measured an endogenous human exercise response alongside separate animal experiments. It did not compare human MOTS-c administration before training, after training and on rest days.
A second common leap is to borrow a result from a different drug that affects an overlapping pathway. Even when that drug has been studied around exercise, the result belongs to that intervention and population. Shared pathway language is not proof of interchangeable effects.
How to assess a timing claim
Look for the actual comparison behind the advice. Was timing randomized? Was the compound administered to humans? Were training, nutrition and recovery conditions comparable? Was the outcome a short-lived laboratory signal or an important performance result? If the post offers only a pathway diagram and an anecdote, the timing recommendation remains speculative.
For practical training decisions, discuss persistent fatigue, recovery problems or changing performance with an appropriate clinician or qualified exercise professional. Do not use an untested schedule to compensate for an unresolved health concern.
The useful conclusion is not that every timing hypothesis is impossible. It is that the cited work cannot tell a reader which clock time or training day makes research MOTS-c safe or effective.