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Human Growth Hormone (Somatotropin)Complete info about Human Growth Hormone (Somatotropin)Human growth hormone is produced in the body by the pituitary gland. Before this happens, Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone (GHRH) and Somatostatin (SST) are released by the hypothalamus, and that determines whether more or less GH is produced by the pituitary.(1) Many factors influence the release of GH, however, including nutrition and exercise (6)(7). Once it is released, Growth Hormone (GH), which is also called Somatotropin (STH) has many functions in the human body. GH is a protein that stimulates the body cells to both increase 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. GH 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 GH have been found at a dose as low as . 0.028 iu/kg/daily for 24 weeks(4)...however that would be insufficient for a bodybuilder trying to gain muscle. Let's use .028iu/kg as a working number; thats 2.8iu for a 100kg (220Ibs) bodybuilder. That's certainly not unreasonable, and we can 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 mentioned (24 weeks) is very typical of GH use, and in conversations with athletes and bodybuilders who have used this compound, can be found 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). It can also be noted that cardio (fast walking, for an hour a day) is much easier while on GH than when off, and certainly the research would support his claim that submaximal aerobic ability is improved with GH use (5) (15). How anabolic is HGH? Even endurance athletes at rest (!) were observed in one study to be in an anabolic state (8). So you can basically run marathons and take this stuff, and still build some muscle. 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 GH...and the IGF, in turn, actually promotes the growth of cartilage.(1) Although it requires IGF to actually grow new cartilage, GH is directly able to stimulate the elongation of bone tissue.(1), and GH has also been shown to elicit a positive effects on erythropoeisis (9), which is great for both anabolism as well as endurance. Remember the negative feedback loop? Your body has one which can stop the secretion of GH, 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 GH. (1) Your body produces the majority of it's GH during your early years, when you are experiencing growth spurts. As you get older, however, you just produce less of this stuff, and it's effects are much less pronounced. This was the driving force behind the (always weird) life-extension crowd embracing GH in the early 90's. And, as usual,. The driving force behind the athletic world embracing GH was Dan Duchaine. He first wrote a teaser about it in his Underground Steroid Handbook, and then wrote extensively about it for the next couple of decades. At that time, Grorm, was being used. This nasty stuff was GH extracted from: the pituitary of dead bodies. That's real "Dawn of the Dead" style science. The GH extracted from the cadavers were found to be able to (in rare cases) carry a rare brain disease. This of course, infected the kids who received the infected GH. The use of GH from cadavers was subsequently discontinued. Back then (the 80's) there was also a fake version of some purple looking GH going around (it was HCG, 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 GH, 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 , 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. Gynecomastia is also possible as a side effect of GH use, as well as Fluid retention(16) (the later being initially pointed out to me by a female colleague who had a pre-contest bodybuilder using GH as part of his contest prep). Although GH can easily produce very nice, high quality weight and muscle gains, it's a very poor compound for inducing strength gains(2)(3)(4). That's very counterintuitive, and certainly many strength athletes have experienced great results in both strength as well as muscle size and fatloss from GH. Generally, many studies have focused on GH vs. GH and exercise, and without the exercise LBM increases but not usually maximum voluntary strength output. It should also be noted that most athletes utilizing GH 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. Most people who are taking the plunge into GH 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 GH 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(11), 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 GH...but testosterone actually blunts this part of the Negative FeedBack Loop (12)! And the addition of an Aromatase Inhibitor will also stop conversion of testosterone into estrogen; estrogen reduces IGF levels.(13)(14) Thus, IGF, Testosterone (and of course other steroids), Insulin, thyroid meds, and GH will all combine to produce a pretty damned effective fat-burning and muscle building cycle! GH is virtually undetectable on any sort of currently used drug-screening tests. GH, Insulin, Thyroid meds, and IGF may also be used pretty safely by those who may be subject to drug screening tests, or as a nonHPTA suppressive "bridge" between cycles. There was a study done on continuous GH use vs. every other day injections (ED vs. EOD for the sake of brevity), with 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. Shooting GH every other day more accurately replicates the pulsile frequency of GH, and thus gave better results for growth (height) deficient children... GH pulsatility is necessary for proper function of the GH receptor.(10) Dosing in the EOD nature reduces incidence of any sort of withdrawal problems associated with normal GH use, including regression or retardation of growth after cessation of therapy. Therefore the use of GH in this manner, which more closely simulates the natural secretion pattern of it, allows the GH 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). Therefore it is recommended 2 shots per day of .028iu/kg of bodyweight, taken every other day, for a minimum of 3months, and preferably for 23x that long....and preferably with the other synergistic compounds we've just taken a look at. References
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