Question
I’ve heard you talk about glycine, GABA and Carl’s had some great commentary about peptides for growth hormone release. I’m only 29 but on the shorter side and gains have slowed down since starting. I’ve been training seriously for around 5 years.
What about MK677? It looks like the best out of all of them?
Answer
For many, the first and most noticeable drop in performance (if not appearance) is the late 20’s or early 30’s.
And predictably, when it does happen people usually zero in on hormone levels.
The Fountain of Youth
One of these of course is Growth Hormone, the so called “fountain of youth.”
While it’s true GH drops quite a bit by age 30, it’s nowhere near being truly “low”, at least in comparison to age 40, 50 and beyond.
Unless you’re 35 or older then, I don’t think a GH product of any sort is really warranted – the likelihood of it working noticeably (or even at all) is marginal at best, in my opinion.
The one exception to this rule is if your sleep is poor, and then use of Glycine, GABA etc. would be waranted in my opinion.
Indirectly, those will increase Growth Hormone simply by virtue of the fact you’re sleeping better (the first 90 minutes of sleep leads to a very large increase in GH).
By the way, you can really help yourself out in that department by NOT going to bed on a belly full of carbohydrates, biggest mistake I see most people making.
Moving up the ladder, we have GHRH products such as CJC-1295, GHRP’s such as GHRP-2, 6, Hexarelin and Ipamorelin as well as MK677 and of course real GH.
They all work to some degree or another, but of course each is a little different.
Things like CJC and the GHRP’s are injectables and very effective. Problem being many people just don’t want to inject, especially multiple times per day.
Alternatively, they might not be able to get real GH.
What About MK677?
So many wind up where Mike did, inquiring about MK677. Since it’s the cheapest of the bunch, an oral and results are noticeable, that’s certainly understandable.
But MK677 is no free lunch, despite what you’ll hear on some boards – it’s use can pose several problems.
Problems such as elevated blood sugar, water retention, lethargy and ravenous hunger.
Plus, it stops working if you take it day in and day out, which many unfortunately do.
Yes, there are ways to mitigate these sides such as a 5 on 2off dosing strategy, only using it for a few months (with at least that much time off), concurrent use of GDA’s such as berberine or R-ALA, taking it at bedtime so the tiredness it induces works for you and using it as a bulking product, given its effect on appetite (ravenous, given it’s MOA – works via ghrelin).
Even then though, the sides might be too much given your goals (10lbs of water weight may help your bench, but will kill your handstand pushups and chin-ups). It also makes stairs and your conditioning absolutely miserable.
So as you can see, MK is far from the perfect legal solution its frequently pitched as.
If you’re looking for an additive muscle building/fat loss effect with androgens, I’d tell you to use real GH – it’s the easiest (and likely the only) way to reach the supra-physiological levels bodybuilders find effective for hyper-plasia, enhanced fat loss etc.
On a side note, I’ve had more than 1 IFBB pro (curiously, all of them women) tell me GH and Synthagen together are just mind blowing. At first, I thought they were just pulling my leg (you know, the old joke “XYZ supplement” works great – with Dianabol.
But having used Synthagen with both GH releasing peptides, MK and of course, each product individually – I found out real fast they weren’t joking. The rate of healing is absolutely insane.
Anyway, as with anabolics please don’t expect any miracles. GH optimization over say age 40 should give you a little more muscle, a little less fat, better sleep, clearer skin and a body that’s more resilient than it otherwise would be.
But it’s going to take time, and you’ve got to put the work in – just like everything else.
Just remember this: GH is a tool in the tool box. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Hope that helps.
