HGH 101: All about Human Growth Hormone
Out of all the performance enhancing compounds I have used over the past decade I have been in the gym nothing has drawn more questions or confusion more than HGH!!!! The biggest misconception that I often see is that it’s often confused as an anabolic steroid and that is simply not the case at all. HGH is a protein peptide, that is released by your Pituitary Gland, wheres steroids are testosterone or testosterone derivatives that are androgenic (produce masculine effects) in nature. In addition to that, the mechanisms of action are very different which I will be explaining here.
Anabolic steroids are primarily responsible for growth in regards to what we call hypertrophy, which is the enlargement of existing muscle cells. But, the one caveat here is that there is a cap to how much growth you will obtain, assuming training and nutrition are locked in and that is you only have a specific number of muscle cells in a muscle. Let’s take your chest for example, you have 1 million muscle cells in your pec, and that is largely genetic. Now through training, diet and the introduction of androgens (steroids), you can maximize just how big those existing cells will become. But again you still only have 1 million cells that can undergo that process. Now here is where GH, the granddaddy of performance enhancement (in my opinion, but many will agree) comes into play that will allow you to take your progress to a whole new level!!!!!
GH does not make existing cells bigger, they actually create new muscle cells through a process known as hyperplasia, which in turn can grow bigger!!!!! This is the biggest reason why HGH is such a sought after addition to a performance enhancing protocol, and this effect is invaluable and can lead to a much greater ability to continue building muscle well beyond what steroids can provide. In addition to creating new muscle cells, GH will provide a handful of additional effects including enhanced overall recovery, decreased body fat, increased metabolism, improved sleep, increased growth of cartilage and tendons, improved bone density and improved sexual performance!! But these improvements do come with some side effects and most of that is going to be dose dependent!!! Buuuuut, the greater the dose of GH the more performance effects we will see, so this is where it is like walking a tight rope. Side effects such as lethargy, decreased insulin sensitivity, numbing of the hands and feet and the potential growth of organs (with very high doses for an extended period of time) are not uncommon, but for the most part can be controlled with responsible use.
In regards to dosing we really have 2 categories here and that is therapeutic, mainly used for healing and rejuvenation and performance enhancement. For a therapeutic effect just 1-2 IUs a day is more than enough and should provide some nice effects, especially for the aging male. Now when it comes to performance enhancement this is where it can get a little tricky. Generally speaking a starting dose of 3-4 IUs a day will be a great place to start and allow your body to adjust to the addition of GH to the body. But to really begin to see the muscle gains that we seek, a dose of 5-6 is usually the sweet spot, where side effects are for the most part (except for feeling a bit tired) are kept at bay. But if we increase the dose up to 7-8 IU we will grow even more, but now we are having to counter act the host of side effects that come with this. The most notable is the insulin resistance, which is why its not uncommon for GH users to add insulin to the protocol as a way to combat this. But I will say this is not ideal, especially for someone not looking to compete at a high level. There is too much guess work dealing with insulin dosing and it is not worth it for most people to gain a few additional pounds of muscle. Stick to the 3-4 IU range and you should be fine!!!!!
GH ideally needs to be ran for at least 20 weeks, to really give your body time to slowly create and build the new muscle cells. When combined with anabolics (which is the only way I would see even using GH) those new cells that are built will continue to grow bigger and stronger leading to a bigger and leaner physique!!!!! Happy cycling!!!!!
BEYOND JUST BODYBUILDING