GROWTH HORMONE: The ULTIMATE Guide (Uses, Dosages, Biggest Mistakes)
Summary
TLDRIn this RX Muscle supplement and science review, Dave Palumbo discusses the role of growth hormone (GH) in muscle growth and its distinction from anabolic steroids. He clarifies that GH, a peptide hormone, stimulates liver production of IGF-1 leading to muscle hyperplasia, rather than directly building muscle like steroids. Palumbo emphasizes the ideal dosage for GH, suggesting 1-2 IU per day for women and 2-5 IU for men, with 4 IU being optimal. He also addresses common questions about GH, including its timing and the need for insulin, warning of potential side effects like insulin resistance and fluid retention. The video aims to educate on the proper use and expectations from GH in bodybuilding.
Takeaways
- 💊 Growth hormone (GH) is a peptide hormone, not a steroidal compound, and is naturally produced in the pituitary gland.
- 🏋️♂️ GH does not directly build muscle but stimulates the liver to produce IGF-1, which contributes to muscle hyperplasia and recovery.
- 🚫 GH lacks masculinizing effects and is not as effective alone as it is when used synergistically with anabolic steroids.
- 👩🔬 Ideal GH dosage varies by gender, with women typically using 1-2 IU per day and men starting at 2 IU per day with a sweet spot around 4 IU for enhanced effects.
- ⏳ Consistent, long-term use of GH is more effective than short cycles of high dosage, aligning with the body's natural GH release patterns.
- 🚫 High GH dosages can lead to side effects like fluid retention, increased blood pressure, and insulin resistance.
- 💉 The timing of GH administration is crucial; it's often best to take it in the morning to counteract the body's natural catabolic state.
- 🩸 Monitoring blood sugar levels is essential when using GH, as it can impact insulin sensitivity and overall health.
- 💊 The quality of GH matters; it's important to ensure the product is genuine and properly dosed to avoid underdosing or wasting money on ineffective fakes.
- ⚖️ Balancing GH and insulin use is key to maximizing muscle growth while minimizing health risks, especially for bodybuilders in the off-season.
Q & A
What is the difference between anabolic steroids and growth hormone?
-Anabolic steroids are steroidal compounds related to testosterone, while growth hormone is a peptide hormone made from protein and does not have masculinizing effects.
How does growth hormone contribute to muscle growth?
-Growth hormone indirectly stimulates the liver to produce IGF-1, which causes muscle hyperplasia, the production of new muscle cells, and aids in recovery of muscle tissue broken down during exercise.
Why do bodybuilders take growth hormone?
-Bodybuilders take growth hormone to stimulate the production of new muscle cells and aid in recovery, but it is more effective when used synergistically with anabolic steroids.
What is the recommended dosage of growth hormone for women?
-For women, the ideal dosage of growth hormone is one to two International Units (IUs) per day to avoid unwanted facial bone growth.
What is the sweet spot dosage for growth hormone in adult men?
-For adult men, a sweet spot dosage of growth hormone is about 1.5 to 2 IUs per day, with 2 IUs being effective and minimizing side effects.
What are some side effects of taking too much growth hormone?
-Excessive growth hormone can lead to fluid retention, pins and needles in the hands, sleepiness during the day, increased blood pressure, and antagonistic effects on insulin, potentially causing insulin resistance.
Why is it important to monitor blood sugar levels when taking growth hormone?
-Monitoring blood sugar levels is important because growth hormone can increase insulin resistance, leading to high blood sugar levels, which can strain the pancreas and lead to long-term health issues.
What is the role of insulin when taking growth hormone?
-Insulin can be used to help manage blood sugar levels and support the body's ability to absorb nutrients, especially when taking growth hormone, which can increase insulin resistance.
How often should growth hormone be taken for optimal results?
-Growth hormone is more effective when taken every day over longer periods rather than in short cycles of high doses, with the ideal dosage being two to five IUs per day.
What is the best time to take growth hormone injections?
-It is recommended to take growth hormone in the morning to counteract the body's natural catabolic state and potentially after training to aid in muscle recovery.
How can one ensure they are getting real growth hormone and not a fake product?
-One can use a growth hormone testing kit to verify the authenticity of the product, as there are many counterfeit products in the market.
Outlines
💊 Understanding Growth Hormone's Role in Bodybuilding
Dave Palumbo from RX Muscle discusses the misconceptions surrounding growth hormone (GH). Unlike anabolic steroids, GH is a peptide hormone produced in the pituitary gland and does not have masculinizing effects. Its primary function is to stimulate the liver to produce IGF-1, which leads to muscle hyperplasia, the creation of new muscle cells. GH is most effective when used synergistically with anabolic steroids, as it aids in recovery and muscle cell growth without directly enlarging existing cells. Palumbo clarifies that GH alone will not significantly bulk up muscles as anabolic steroids do.
💉 Optimal Dosage and Administration of Growth Hormone
Palumbo addresses common questions about GH dosage, timing, and the necessity of insulin. He explains that the ideal dosage varies by gender and purpose, with women typically using 1-2 IU per day to avoid facial bone growth, and men using 2-5 IU per day for muscle growth. He emphasizes that GH is more effective with consistent, long-term use rather than short, high-dose cycles. Palumbo also warns of the potential for insulin resistance and other side effects from excessive GH use, advocating for a balanced approach to dosing.
🩸 Managing Blood Sugar and Insulin with Growth Hormone
The discussion turns to the impact of GH on blood sugar levels and the role of insulin. High blood sugar levels can indicate poor blood sugar management, which can inhibit growth and lead to health issues. Palumbo suggests using long-acting insulin to support the pancreas and maintain normal blood sugar levels, especially when using GH. He recommends monitoring blood sugar with a glucometer and adjusting insulin doses accordingly. The video also mentions an upcoming video on insulin featuring Collette Nelson, an insulin expert.
🌐 Real vs. Fake Growth Hormone and Practical Usage Tips
Palumbo stresses the importance of using real GH and offers advice on how to test its authenticity. He compares different brands and sources, including pharmaceutical-grade GH, and warns against the risks of underdosed or fake products. He also provides practical tips on when to take GH injections, suggesting early morning use to counteract the body's natural catabolic state. Additionally, he advises taking GH with meals to prevent initial blood sugar drops and discusses the importance of not overdoing insulin to maintain a healthy balance.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Growth Hormone (GH)
💡IGF-1
💡Anabolic Steroids
💡Muscle Hyperplasia
💡Pituitary Gland
💡Dosage
💡Insulin Resistance
💡Side Effects
💡Long-Acting Insulin
💡Pharmaceutical Grade
Highlights
Growth hormone (GH) is a peptide hormone, not a steroidal compound, and is produced in the pituitary gland.
GH does not have masculinizing effects and is different from anabolic steroids.
GH indirectly stimulates the liver to produce IGF-1, which causes muscle hyperplasia.
GH is more effective when used synergistically with anabolic steroids for muscle growth.
The ideal dosage of GH for women is one to two IU per day to avoid facial bone growth.
For men, the lowest effective dose of GH is two IU per day, with four IU being the sweet spot for muscle growth.
GH is most effective when taken continuously over longer periods rather than in short, high-dose cycles.
High doses of GH can lead to insulin resistance and other side effects.
GH can have an antagonistic effect on insulin, potentially leading to high blood sugar issues.
Long-acting insulin can be used to help manage blood sugar levels when using GH.
The best GH is real and accurately dosed; pharmaceutical-grade GH is often more reliable.
GH should be taken in the morning to counteract the body's natural catabolic state.
It's important to test blood sugar levels regularly when using GH to ensure proper insulin function.
GH does not need to be taken in a low-carb state as it is not about inducing GH release but administering it.
Dave Palumbo recommends a GH testing kit to ensure the quality and effectiveness of the hormone.
The video concludes with advice on finding the right balance with GH and insulin use for optimal results.
Transcripts
[Music]
dave palumbo here with an rx muscle
supplement and science review
today's topic is going to be growth
hormone this is a
drug i get multiple questions about
every single day for multiple people
people are confused by it people think
um gh is actually a
stronger anabolic steroid and
really if we want to really
differentiate you know anabolic steroids
are steroidal compounds you know they're
they have a steroidal backbone they're
related to testosterone
whereas growth hormone is a peptide
hormone it's made from protein
and it has no
masculinizing effects it's produced in
the pituitary gland
the pituitary gland releases it
naturally as we're growing obviously we
produce a lot more growth hormone and
what growth hormone does it doesn't
really have a direct
growing effect or muscle building effect
what it does is it indirectly stimulates
the liver to produce a hormone known as
igf-1 or insulin growth factor or
insulin-like growth factor one which
will cause muscle hyperplasia which is
the production of new muscle cells
uh it will also you know help the long
bones to elongate and get bigger you
know assuming you're in your growth
years you know once you're
once your
i guess
bone plates are closed you're not going
to get any more long bone growth which
means you're not going to grow in height
but muscle cells can grow and obviously
when you when you break down muscle
tissue in the gym it's going to help
with recovery and so we bodybuilders
love to take growth hormone but if you
took growth hormone alone and didn't
take any other you know anabolic drugs
with that you probably would be greatly
disappointed in in the results you get
from it because gh is not a big muscle
builder it produces new muscle cells but
it doesn't make the existing cells get
larger
like steroids do anabolic steroids
actually take your existing muscle cells
and make them bigger
especially if you break them down in the
gym and subject them to you know the
stresses of you know training
so
gh has a better effect when it's used
synergistically with anabolic steroids
and we've noticed that over the years
that when you combine steroids
and gh you get a better effect and
that's because the steroids are making
your cells get bigger but the gh is
producing new muscle tissue it's
basically taking what we used to call
satellite cells now we call them stem
cells stem cells are just
undifferentiated cells that sit around
the muscle that you're training
and these cells have the potential to
turn into into the tissue that they're
near or related to so if you're breaking
down muscle tissue and you're taking gh
which is causing igf-1 release
some of those stem cells will turn into
new muscle cells
and add it to your existing cells you
wouldn't even notice the difference
because they're they're so small and now
when you train and work out and eat a
lot of protein
and take animals sorry those new cells
will get bigger so they they work
together that's really how it goes the
the questions though i have or i get are
number one how much should i take
when should i take it and do i need to
take insulin with it those are
invariably the three most common
questions and they're good questions you
know
how much
you can't look at what a child would
take you know you know who's trying to
grow in height that's not the right
dosage to look at because
the dosage needed to make the long bones
grow is a lot higher than the dosage
required to
increase muscle mass so it's a different
dosage and i think a lot of people make
mistake they go in and they look up
online what kids take you know to grow
and they say oh they're taking all these
they're taking you know 30 ius a week i
got to do the same thing but that's not
necessarily uh or it's you know based on
you know weight too
so if when they extrapolate that could
be like 50 60 i use a week you know that
an adult would take but that's just not
the right way to figure it out
we've figured it out over the years you
know we've been doing gh has been around
for a long time now so
the ideal dosage is usually
for women it's anywhere from one to two
ius per day and and and people would say
well why can't women take more gh well
you know
gh doesn't cause masculinizing side
effects because it's not it's not a
steroidal compound
but it does make the facial bones grow
you know the ears and the nose
you can get some growth from that and in
a man you know it might make him look a
little tougher and a woman probably not
gonna do
what she wants it to do to her face it
could make her face a little thicker
looking and a lot of women don't want
that look and it's not attractive
obviously so you don't want to overdo
the
growth hormone as a woman like i said
one to two i use per day is is good i i
see a lot of clients of mine using about
a gram of 1.5 iu's per day that seems to
be a nice sweet spot right there and
that and the good thing about that it
doesn't really cause too much insulin
resistance so
you could take that gh and it's not
going to affect your blood sugars now
men are going to want to use a little
bit more the the lowest effective dose
where you're going to actually get
growth
and you're really not gonna have many
side effects is two i use per day and
we used to take that back in the 90s
because the gh was so expensive and you
just couldn't afford to take more than
that and everyone got good results from
it so two i use is effective and it's
and gh is more effective if you take it
every day for longer periods of time as
opposed to doing short cycles of a lot
of it you know
and and that's just been proven you know
when you take too much you just get more
side effects you really don't get more
growth so the idea of being on it
continuously is a much more appealing
way to do it because you're going to get
better results also you got to remember
that when you take a shot of exogenous
growth hormone
okay the liver can only respond and
produce so much igf-1 in response to the
growth hormone injection so if you take
30 ius in one shot of gh your liver is
probably not going to produce any more
igf-1 than it would if you took say five
or six ius and so
you have to take that into account that
there's a waste factor and then what
you're just doing is making yourself
more insulin resistant more water
attentive you know more pins and needles
in your fingers and you just keep
creating more side effects and that's
the case with any drug i mean people
people like to od on on everything right
i mean if you if you take you know a
thousand or three thousand milligrams of
vitamin c a day you feel good if you
take ten thousand or twenty thousand you
might have a stomach ulcer okay so
there's a diminishing returns so i found
that the ideal dosage is about two to
five ius per day of gh
with probably four ius being the sweet
spot meaning that you get the best
benefits with the least side effects
because once you start going over four
ius per day you might get a little more
growth but you also get a lot more side
effects and what are some of these side
effects you know fluid retention
obviously
pins and needles in the hands they kind
of fall asleep during the day
um
you know blood pressure can go up if
obviously you're retaining a lot of
fluid from the gh which a lot of people
do
and that's not good but probably the
most
maybe harmful long term is is the fact
that
the more growth hormone you put into
your bloodstream
and gh can have an antagonistic effect
to insulin meaning that insulin can't do
its job insulin's job is to take the
sugar in the blood and push it into the
cells whether the muscle cells the liver
cells the brain cells
or the fat cells to produce stores fat
that's its job but if it can't get to
the receptor because there's too much gh
which is antagonizing the effects of
insulin which means it's blocking in a
sense to a certain degree your body has
to then produce more insulin and what
that does is it puts a tremendous strain
on the pancreas and if you're already
eating an enormous amount of food as a
bodybuilder especially in the off-season
and now you're creating more of a demand
for your pancreas to produce insulin
what can happen is the beta cells which
produce insulin in the pancreas can burn
out and that that's not something you
want to happen because
then they don't work right and then you
don't absorb your food and then you run
high blood sugars and you get side
effects from high blood sugars like eye
damage kidney damage extremity damage
the blood vessels get gunked up with
this glucose that's in the
excessive amount of glucose it's in the
bloodstream we don't want to do that so
we have to be smart so like i said three
to four i use gh probably the sweet spot
for i use being sweet but i usually use
four eye user guys in the off season
three i use pre-conference plus it makes
it a little more affordable too because
the stuff is expensive if you get real
gh that is i mean if you're buying fake
gh and you're getting a good deal on it
then you're really not getting any
benefits out of it even though you're
not spending as much money so
um i do sell a growth hormone testing
kit on davepalumbo.com so you can test
your growth phone and see if it's real
because i would say 50 of the stuff
floating around out there is is fake and
don't don't believe or trust anything
anyone says like i had a test you tested
tested you're going to spend and invest
a couple thousand dollars in growth
hormone you could spend another 100
bucks and test the gh to make sure that
it it works because it's real and you
know and that's important but getting
back to the insulin question is do you
need insulin well
the question is what are your blood
sugars
a lot of people just knee-jerk start
doing things and they don't even know
what the data is you know so go to
walmart
if you don't live in the united states
and you don't have walmart you can find
a comparable store but walmart in the
united states sells blood testing kits
or blood glucometers for like nine bucks
maybe it's up to ten dollars now they're
really cheap and you gotta get the test
strips to go with that particular
glucose monitor and you can test your
blood sugar every morning and that's
called your fasting blood sugars before
you eat anything and fasting blood sugar
should be under 90. okay
i know if you go for blood blood work it
says that they need to be under 100 but
that's
that's like for people who
don't want to be super healthy okay you
want to be under 90 on a regular basis
and if you're running high blood sugars
that are in the 90s or even in the
hundreds which i see a lot of people on
a regular basis running
faster blood sugars 110 105 those are
those are too high
that means your body's not managing its
blood sugar properly and it could be
because you're on gh it could just be
that you're eating a lot of food and
your body can't keep up with the with
the insulin production
and there's two negatives because of
that number one you're not absorbing
your food properly okay which is gonna
inhibit growth in a sense
and i noticed that when i used to use gh
back in the day i couldn't gain any
weight i would be ripped i couldn't gain
weight and i realized that and i didn't
even we didn't have glucometers back
then
no one had only type 1 diabetics had
them and i didn't even know how to i
wouldn't even know what to do with them
to be honest with you but i did notice
that when i put in
some insulin into my protocol
i was i started gaining weight again i
didn't use a lot but i was using enough
to help my body absorb the food and i
was eating an enormous amount of food
back in the days had a very fast
metabolism nowadays we can quantify
what's going on get a blood sugar
monitor
and you basically just test your blood
sugar every morning and you know if your
blood sugar is in the right range
then you're good if you're under 90 if
you're not you're running 96 98
you might want to think about getting a
what we call a long acting or basal
insulin
these insulins are basically made
they're not like the insulin you think
of i take a shot off i don't eat i'm
going to go low blood sugar now these
are long-acting insulins that work in
the background what it basically does is
it takes the burden off your pancreas
off your beta cells having to produce so
much insulin during the day and it gives
them a rest in a sense so instead of you
and i'm just going to give you like a
fictitious number let's say your
pancreas produces 200 units of insulin a
day okay
and now you're taking growth hormone and
you're eating more food because you're
bulking up and now it needs to produce
300 but it's only really capable of
producing 200 maybe 250. so now there's
50 units it's short so now you're going
to start running high blood sugars now
if you take a long-acting insulin maybe
50 units
you know per day 25 in the morning 25 at
night i'm just giving you for instance
these are not real numbers
now you've
helped the pancreas
produce what it's missing
and so now it's going to still produce
it's 250 but now you it has 50 that
you've taken extra on top of that and
now it's now your blood sugars are back
to normal because the pancreas can
handle that load
and that's what that's what long acting
insulin is all about and i'm going to do
another video on insulin uh with my um
my insulin guru as i call it collette
nelson in the coming probably next week
we're going to do uh an updated insulin
video because there's a lot of new
insulins out that a lot of people don't
even know about so
right now i think that the best
long-acting insulin on the market and
she would probably agree with me is
toshiba
but it's also the most expensive and
hardest to get
so a lot of people use other insulins
like uh toujeho is very close to toshiba
atlantis but these insulins need to be
taken twice a day even though the
doctors will save their 24-hour insulins
they're really not so you need to take
them at night in the morning and
depending on you know your size and how
much you you you know how big you are
and how much you're eating that will
dictate how much insulin your body needs
and we're going to do a separate video
on insulin i'm not going to talk about
insulin but i will say that toshiba is a
true 24-hour insulin you can take it
once a day
and usually tell people to start out
with about 10 ius a day and just see how
your body does on that if your blood
sugars are still running high you up it
by like two hours a day until you kind
of get into that range where you get it
down under 90.
and this is once again just helping your
body it's not a performance enhancer you
although you might get some muscle
growth from it because now you're
restoring
your normal uh
blood sugar balance in your body because
you're actually absorbing all the all
the food you're eating so you will get a
little surge and possibly muscle growth
but it's not the insulin that's giving
you the growth it's the it's restoring
the insulin balance and remember the
more gh you take the more insulin you're
probably going to need to take as well
because to counteract it so you don't
want to take too much insulin where
you're putting too much of it so you
don't want to take too much growth
hormone we're going to put too much of a
strain on the body and you're going to
have to take too much insulin because
excessive insulin is not good either
because even though long-acting insulins
don't really result in fat gain like
short-acting ones do
you never want to have to take extra
insulin above and beyond what you're
doing so it's all about the right
balance so
if you're looking to put some muscle
size on you have the funds to do it and
you have a source of real growth hormone
ideally four ius per day is probably the
sweet spot um in an offseason scenario
probably two i use in the morning and
two i use maybe for six hours later now
why take it early in the morning because
your body doesn't naturally produce gh
in the morning so why would you do that
well
that's the exact reason why because your
body isn't producing it in the morning
it does produce it at night and it does
produce it after you train so you don't
want to take it those times because your
body's naturally releasing at those
times your body is the most catabolic in
the morning meaning you produce the most
catabolic hormones like cortisol in the
morning uh hours so if you can take some
growth hormone and counteract some of
that uh catabolicness or metabolism
that's going on in your body then you're
obviously going to get a better growth
effect another thing people don't
realize is that it doesn't matter what
you're eating or not eating when you
take your gh shot because you're not
trying to stimulate growth hormone
release
what you're trying to do is you're
actually taking the growth hormone so a
lot of people get confused
well gh is naturally released in your
body in a low carb environment so i
better not eat any carbs well
you're not trying to induce gh release
you're taking the growth hormone itself
so it doesn't really matter what you're
eating or not eating matter of fact when
you first take gh you do get a blood
sugar drop initially because when you
get that igf-1 release from the liver
that has an insulin-like effect and it
drives nutrients into the cells and that
can sometimes lower your blood sugar so
you got to be careful i always tell
people to take the growth hormone when
you're eating so take a shot eat your
breakfast you know don't take a shot and
then go do cardio first thing in the
morning do your cardio first then take
your shot and eat breakfast and that's a
smarter way to go
so there's a lot of you know there's a
lot of questions around insulin what's
the i mean around growth hormone what's
the best growth hormone well the best
growth hormone is real growth hormones
if you have a real growth hormone that's
truly dosed they're all the same because
gh is gh the same 191 amino acids
sequence
anything that's pharmaceutical obviously
is going to be better quality you know
but there are pharmaceutical fakes too
there's serrano makes serous dim there's
genentech makes neutrophin uh eli lilly
i believe still makes uh hemotrope and
then there's nordotropin over in europe
and gentropin and there's
there's a lot of different ones out
there and then you got your generics
that come from you know from china and
and some of them are good and some of
them are not but
test them
number one to make sure they're real but
even if they're real they could be under
dosed so
that's something you have to consider
but if you're getting a tremendous
tremendously cheap price on something
compared to what a pharmaceutical price
would be
you might want to opt for that as long
as it tests out but it's real however
the on the other side of the coin
you might want to stick with the
pharmaceutical grade and just use less
all right you know what it's a lot more
expensive but at least you know it's
real so two i use is really two i use i
can justify using two i use every day of
pharmaceutical gh because at least i
know i'm getting real growth hormone and
so i think if i was you know competing
and taking growth hormone in this day
and age i probably would go with the
pharmaceutical grade spend the extra
money but just use a little less of it
um because you could be taking chinese
gh to test positive for being real gh
but you know you might think you're
taking six i use and you might be taking
one eye you don't know so
i don't i don't like that i always like
to know everything you know i don't i
don't like to be in the dark about
what's going on because here you are
thinking you're taking a nice healthy gh
dose and you could be taking nothing so
it's something to think about hopefully
this video helped clarify a couple of
these questions and points once again i
get these on a daily basis for multiple
people so i felt it was important to put
out a video explaining exactly you know
how this growth hormone works
what the right dosage is and when the
right time to take it is i'm dave
palumbo with an rx muscle supplement and
science review
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