Human growth hormone (Somatotropin) is produced in the body by the
pituitary gland. Before this happens, Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone (HGHRH) and Somatostatin (SST) are released by the hypothalamus, and
that determines whether more or less HGH is produced by the
pituitary.
Many factors influence the release of HGH, however,
including nutrition and exercise
Once it is released, Human Growth Hormone (HGH), which is also called
Somatotropin (STH) has many functions in the human body. HGH is a protein that stimulates the body cells to increase both in size, as
well as undergo more rapid cell division than usual. In addition, it
enhances the movement of amino acids through cell membranes and also
increases the rate at which these cells convert these molecules into
proteins. Clearly, you can see that this would amount to an anabolic (muscle building) effect in the human body. HGH also has the ability to
cause cells to decrease the normal rate at which they utilize
carbohydrates, and simultaneously increase the rate at which they use
fats.(1) Fat loss and lean mass increases with HGH have been found at a
dose as low as . 0.028 iu/kg/daily for 24 weeks (4), however, in my
estimation, that would be insufficient for a bodybuilder trying to gain
muscle. Let´s use .028iu/kg as a working number; that´s 2.8iu for a
100kg (220lbs) bodybuilder. That´s certainly not unreasonable, and I
would say that that dose to 2x that dose is the range most bodybuilders
and athletes are finding their best results with. Also, that length of
time used in the study I just mentioned (24 weeks) is very typical of
HGH use, and in conversations with my friends who have used this
compound, have told me that they experience consistent results starting
well after the 2-month-mark, and they tend to either run this stuff for
6 months at a time, or year-round (if they have sufficient funds).
without the exercise LBM increases but
not usually maximum voluntary strength output. It should also be noted
that most athletes utilizing HGH are using it in a "cocktail" with (at
least) anabolic steroids, and usually with IGF, thyroid meds, and other
goodies such as an Aromatase Inhibitor. Let´s discuss exactly why this
is.
Most people who are taking the plunge into HGH use have reached a dead
end with their use of anabolics, and need to push through that wall.
I´m sure you´ve heard about the synergistic combination of using HGH
along with Anabolic Steroids, IGF, insulin and T3 (* usually synthroid, a thyroid medication). The reason is that when these hormones are used
correctly together, they´ll produce a large amount of synergy, the
insulin is able to shuttle nutrients into your muscle, the thyroid
hormone increases your fat-burning capability, the IGF will cause muscle growth as well as helping to grow new cartilage (thus preventing
injury), and the anabolic steroids like testosterone, specifically (in
addition to being anabolic) can increase IGF-1, in muscle tissue,
and maybe even increase your body´s ability to use it. Also, usually,
an increased amount of IGF usually tells your body to stop producing
HGH, but testosterone actually blunts this part of the Negative
FeedBack Loop And the addition of an Aromatase Inhibitor will
also stop conversion of testosterone into estrogen; estrogen reduces
IGF levels.Finally, the HGH does, well everything I just spent
the last few pages telling you about!
Thus, IGF, Testosterone (and of course other steroids), Insulin,
thyroid meds, and HGH will all combine to produce a pretty damned
effective fat-burning and muscle building cycle! You know what else?
HGH is virtually undetectable on any sort of currently used
drug-screening tests.HGH, Insulin, Thyroid meds, and IGF may also be
used pretty safely by those who may be subject to drug screening tests,
or as a non-HPTA suppressive "bridge" between cycles. Finally, I´ll
tell you how I´d take HGH, personally. There was a study done on
continuous HGH use vs. every other day injections (ED vs. EOD for the
sake of brevity), with a equal total weekly dose. Although it´s
counterintuitive, every other day injections produced better total
growth in the kids in this (2 and 4 year long) study. Take a look at
these graphs:
Growth velocity of children treated with alternate day HGH (the darker
bars) or with a daily HGH regimen before, during, and 2 yr after
stopping therapy. Values are the mean ± SD. *, P < 0.05; **, P <
0.01.(10)
Pretreatment and cumulative 4-yr growth velocity of children treated
with alternate day HGH ( the darker bars) or with a daily HGH regimen.
Values are the mean ± SD. *, P < 0.00 (10)
Shooting HGH every other day more accurately replicates the pulsile
frequency of HGH, and thus gave better results for growth (height)
deficient children, HGH pulsatility is necessary for proper function of the HGH receptor.(10) Dosing in the EOD nature reduces incidence of any
sort of withdrawal problems associated with normal HGH use, including
regression or retardation of growth after cessation of therapy.
Therefore, I feel very comfortable speculating that the use of HGH in
this manner, which more closely simulates the natural secretion pattern
of it, allows the HGH receptors and the rest of the body to more
efficiently recover from it, and this will result in much more muscle
growth over time (although height was examined in the previous study).
My recommendations therefore are 2 shots per day of .028iu/kg of
bodyweight, taken every other day, for a minimum of 3months, and
preferably for 2-3x that long, and preferably with the other
synergistic compounds we´ve just taken a look at.
Growth Hormone is usually secreted in rhythmic pulses while you are
sleeping, as two peptides, HGHRH and Somatostatin (SST) are alternately
released. As you can guess, HGHRH (Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone) is
the one responsible for the Release of Growth Hormone (And who said
scientists have funny ways for naming things.
Growth hormone also has the ability to stimulate the production (or
reproduction, in the case of an injury) of cartilage. This, however,
requires the presence of a mediator substance, Somatomedin (IGF), which
is released from the liver in response to HGH, and the IGF, in turn,
actually promotes the growth of cartilage.
Although it requires IGF to actually grow new cartilage, HGH is directly able to stimulate the elongation of bone tissue., and HGH
has also been shown to elicit a positive effects on erythropoeisis ,
which is great for both anabolism as well as endurance. Remember the
negative feedback loop I always tell you about? Well, of course, your
body has one which can stop the secretion of HGH, and it involves IGF.
When your liver receives secretes IGF-1, it sends a message to both
your Hypothalamus as well as your Pituitary to stop producing HGH.
As you have probably guessed by now, your body produces the majority of
it´s HGH during your early years, when you are experiencing growth
spurts. As you get older, however, you just produce less of this stuff,
and its effects are much less pronounced. which
from cadavers was
subsequently discontinued. Back then (the 80´s) there was also a fake
version of some purple looking HGH going around (it was HCG I believe,
mixed with B-12) called "Rhesus Monkey Growth Hormone", which is pretty
funny, looking back on it. To this day, however, if you get fake HGH,
it´s still probably HCG, since both come presented as a powder and
bacterioistatic water you need to use to reconstitute it (and then it
needs to be refrigerated).
Even if you are using the non-cadaver-derived stuff (and at this point,
I´m 100% sure that there´s none of the old Grorm left on shelves
anywhere), it´s possible that you experience some side effects like
carpal tunnel syndrome, acromegaly (a thickening or growth of bones,
most noticeable in the feet, hands, and forehead), and enlarged organs.
Gynocomastia is also possible as a side effect of HGH use, as well as
Fluid retention (the later being initially pointed out to me by a
female colleague who had a pre-contest bodybuilder using HGH as part of
his contest prep).
Now for some really interesting stuff:
Although HGH can easily produce very nice, high quality weight and muscle gains, it´s a very poor compound for inducing strength
gains That´s very counterintuitive, and certainly many
strength athletes have experienced great results in strength as well as
muscle size and fat loss from HGH.
