Growth hormone in bodybuilding

As our salespeople assure us, somatropin is the best preparation for gaining muscle mass and its effectiveness is equal to that of steroids. The bulging bellies of professional athletes, the hallmark of bodybuilding, only attest to this. One would think: why should there be any doubt? All you have to do is buy growth hormone and you are guaranteed to gain weight! However, if we get to the bottom of it, it turns out that the growth hormone supplementation is of no real significance for our muscles. But the growth hormone side effects and its health consequences are quite real.  We will tell you further if somatropin helps to gain muscle mass or not, and why we need it at all.

If we talk about hormones for gaining mass, the leader in this regard is testosterone, its authority in this matter is undeniable. The best proof of this is the fact that the muscle mass of men is greater than that of women by nature, even without training. However, those who use steroids can confirm this with a clear conscience.

If we compare a man who trains naturally, but works out without the use of testosterone, and the one who does not work out, but uses anabolic steroids, then the muscle mass will be greater with the latter, so strong is the effect of testosterone on muscle growth. Therefore, the level of the male sex hormone in bodybuilding has been, is and remains the cornerstone of muscle growth.

Growth Hormone and Growth (pardon the tautology)

Growth hormone, aka somatropin, is a peptide hormone that is produced by our body during the period of growing up. Thanks to it, we grow, develop and change from an infant weighing a few kilos to an adult. The maximum level of secretion of somatotropin hormone occurs in early childhood, with its peak values during puberty and a decrease in secretion of growth hormone from the age of 26. Gradually, with each passing year, the level of its production decreases, reaching its minimum values by the age of 60.

This is how somatropin, which is produced by our body, works. It is possible to buy growth hormone in a pharmacy. A lot of preparations based on it are produced, but they will be synthetic analogs of the natural hormone. But is the growth hormone really effective for muscles so obvious? If we compare somatropin to testosterone, a prominent representative of the class of anabolic steroids, then its effect on muscle growth will not be as obvious. Proof of this is in people who are unnaturally tall.

The inordinate, non-stop increase in their body, even in adulthood, is a consequence of improper functioning of the pituitary gland, the gland of internal secretion responsible for the production of this hormone. Sometimes, due to some malfunction, their pituitary gland begins to produce more somatropin than in normal people. This disease is called acromegaly.

If growth hormone, like steroids, had the ability to stimulate muscle hypertrophy, then such people would have unusually increased muscle mass. And in their appearance, they would resemble the Hulk in his pristine glory. However, very tall people with acromegaly have no athletic physique against the background of a gigantic amount of growth hormone in the body. Their muscles are normal in volume and if they differ from the muscles of people of normal height, then not for the better.

If we compare their achievements in gaining mass in weight training with the results of ordinary people, the comparison will also not be in their favor. The side effects of increased Somatropin production in such patients are similar to those of professional bodybuilders.

Side Effects of Growth Hormone

Before buying somatropin, it is a good idea to study its potential harm, because the side effects of growth hormone used in high doses are wide and varied. The human body is under its influence changing a lot, because everything, except muscles, is growing because of somatropin:

• The skeletal structure changes – the spine curves, the chest becomes bloated, barrel-shaped, the distance between the ribs becomes larger. The hands and face gradually swell, the skin becomes thicker and saggier, which makes the old gloves and rings look small;
• The timbre of the voice changes – it becomes more hoarse and muffled. This occurs due to thickening of the larynx, tongue, and salivary glands. The tissues in the upper air passages become thickened, which leads to snoring and persistent headaches;
• Myocardial hypertrophy is observed. There is a significant increase in the likelihood of sleep apnea syndrome, which leads to coronary heart disease;
• Cheekbones become larger. The lower jaw protrudes, the nose is much bigger, and the eyebrows and the skull in the occipital part stand out strongly. The size of the feet increases, which makes it necessary to wear larger shoes;
• During movements, pain appears, and flexibility decreases due to deformities of joints and cartilage caused by rapid growth of connective tissue;
• Infertility may occur in both women and men. Patients diagnosed with acromegaly often have adrenal hyperplasia, 30-50% of people with the disease have polyps in the intestines, form fibrous nodules, myoma cysts and other cancerous pathologies;
• Diabetes may develop. There are changes in the functioning of the gastrointestinal, nervous and endocrine systems.

The external symptoms of somatropin intake are visible to the naked eye at any bodybuilding contest, since the growth hormone has become very popular in bodybuilding. The protruding bellies (in spite of all attempts to remove them and narrow the waist), cause general criticism and are precisely the consequence of increased somatropin content in the body. This is clearly visible when comparing photos of modern professional athletes with representatives of the Golden Era of Bodybuilding. Growth hormone in bodybuilding is the cause of bulging bellies.

The main horror of bodybuilding is considered to be steroids, but the side effects of growth hormone are much more horrible. Only synthol can do more severe damage to your health.

The effect of growth hormone in bodybuilding

In simple terms, the effect of growth hormone in bodybuilding should be: to gain muscle mass, burn fat tissue, and improve the function of the ligamentous system. In theory. For in reality somatropin solo in competitive bodybuilding is rarely used, mainly by athletes who have suffered injuries in order to accelerate recovery. It is used in combination with some kind of steroid drugs. If you add up all the theoretical benefits of this hormone for athletes, you get the following picture:

• Muscle gain.
• Reducing the amount of fatty tissue
• Increase in bone strength and ligament elasticity
• Accelerated healing after injuries
• Strengthening of the immune system

In reality, growth hormone only really works in the last four areas. In a direct way, it has indirect influence on weight gain by improving the musculoskeletal system. That is why GR is widely used in powerlifting, but it is called there a preparation for joints and ligaments. That is, the stronger and more enduring they are, the more weight can be used in exercises. Translated into the language of bodybuilding, to gain more mass as a result. And this is not just my opinion, there are a number of serious scientific studies , cited:

In adults with GHD (people with growth hormone deficiency) there is evidence that serum GH (growth hormone) affects the maintenance of muscle mass, but in healthy adults neither GH nor IGF-I (insulin-like growth factor) have or enhance the hypertrophic effect of exercise.

Many athletes, especially competitive athletes, decide to buy growth hormone to increase muscle stiffness. The feedback of growth hormone users who have tried it say that the muscles become visually bigger, tougher and more relaxed while taking it. Except that it is not due to hypertrophy of muscle fibers. The fascia-shells, in which they are packed, just become denser, increasing in volume by a little. 

However, it has no effect on muscle growth. If injuries occur or the body fails to cope with the specified level of load, somatropin has a positive effect – with its help, the damage to muscles and ligaments heals faster. But to avoid such problems, it is enough to plan the training properly. In order to avoid such problems it is sufficient to plan your workout correctly, since overtraining, even in the presence of pharmacological support, renders weight gain impossible at all.

The use of somatropin has been practiced for quite a long time, and its properties have been fully studied. The production of preparations containing it dates back to Soviet times. If the growth hormone for muscles was really as good as anabolic steroids, it would have been used on a par with them. Nevertheless, this did not happen.

There were isolated cases of growth hormone use by bodybuilders in the Soviet Union, but solely for the purpose of increasing muscle stiffness. And some athletes, especially weightlifters, used the growth hormone somatropin for the rapid healing of the injuries sustained while working with excessive weights. In this case, the use of such a drug was justified.

But no hurricane muscle growth was observed because of somatropin. This is despite the fact that at that time it was extracted from the pituitary gland of the dead, i.e. it was natural and not artificial, i.e. more effective. The fact that at that time no one used somatropin to gain weight, shows its uselessness in this capacity.

The Quality of Growth Hormone

A negative fact about the use of growth hormone in bodybuilding is that the lion’s share of it is produced in China. Although a lot of well-known manufacturers from Belgium, France, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark produce somatropin, the Chinese growth hormone is ahead of all of them put together in terms of sales.

This is understandable, the price is the main factor influencing the desire to buy somatropin in the average visitor to the gym. The French Humatrope is more expensive than the mega-popular Jintropin, which is produced in the Celestial Empire by about 4.5 times, therefore the quality of the Chinese growth hormone is not paid much attention to. But everybody is aware of the methods of production of the goods produced in the Celestial Empire.

And don’t think that it doesn’t apply to pharmacology. The side effects of somatropin, described above, may become an urgent reality, although they do not manifest themselves immediately. The consequences of using cheap, low quality Chinese growth hormone can “please” the person who bought it for a long time. The irony of the Chinese growth hormone of poor quality is that the side effects of a cheap “fake” hormone can be many times less than the effects of the real drug.

How to increase growth hormone naturally?

If the above described side effects of somatropin have got you thinking, but at the same time you want to increase its level, I suggest knowing how it can be done naturally. In fact, there are a lot of such variants, and each of them is inferior to injections, but their complex application gives a tangible and lasting effect. And, importantly, without any harm to your health.

Everything is quite simple here. The basic exercises performed with a barbell in the first place and with dumbbells in the power style (6-8) repetitions in one approach and with a 1 minute rest between them have the greatest effect on growth hormone production. But there is one important condition: the training must be short, not more than 45-50 minutes without taking into account the warm-up and warm-up. Otherwise, the level of another hormone, cortisol, which suppresses the secretion of somatropin, rises sharply in the blood.

Exercises for growth hormone production can be combined into super-sets, i.e. doing two exercises, one after the other, without a break. In this case, the intensity of the workload will drastically improve even if the operating weight has to be reduced. The only problem is that such sets shall consist of basic exercises, and exercise machines are not suitable for such cases.

Growth Hormone Supplements

Vitamins in bodybuilding are important in and of themselves, but if we talk about those that positively affect GH synthesis, they include:

• Niacin (vitamin B3)
• Zinc
• Magnesium
• Arginine
• Melatonin

Arginine is a substitutable amino acid, meaning our bodies are able to synthesize it on their own from food. The champions of arginine content are the common pumpkin seeds, although it is also abundant in nuts (pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts, cashews) and most animal products: meat, milk, eggs, fish.

Note: sleep quality is the most important parameter for growth hormone production. Therefore, one of the supplements indirectly, but strongly influencing the increase of GH is melatonin (sleep hormone produced by the pineal gland). I even wrote a separate article about it: “Melatonin. Lord of the Night Hormones,” I really recommend you read it.

What else increases the level of somatropin?

Colostrum. To get it in conventional stores is extremely difficult, because this product is special. This is the name of a special kind of milk of domestic animals (lat. colostrum gravidarum), which they give during the first few days after calving. Colostrum contains a unique complex of nutrients, stimulating the level of growth hormone in a natural way. Colostrum is also available as a separate food supplement, but its biological activity is several times less than that of a natural product.

The use of somatropin is possible only for injuries of bone and connective tissues for their rapid healing and only in small doses, exclusively under the supervision of a doctor. It makes sense to use it to compensate for the deficiency in old age, but, again, under control. You can buy growth hormone in Ukraine in many places, but it is better to do it in a pharmacy. Yes, it is more expensive, but it is the only right decision, because the preparation should be real.