Human Growth Hormone has become popular among the bodybuilding and weightlifting communities because of its known ability to help build muscle and burn fat. However, you must understand that HGH’s ability to increase lean muscle is mainly in people who have lost muscle mass due to growth hormone deficiencies or other “muscle-wasting conditions such as AIDS. Growth hormone treatment’s ability to increase muscle mass in otherwise healthy individuals with normal HGH levels is negligible.
However, that has not stopped people from expecting significant results when using HGH for bodybuilding. On this page, we will separate the myths from realities and discuss the results of HGH therapy you can expect when it is used legally and legitimately.
Before we get any further into this discussion, let’s be perfectly clear about one thing: Like anabolic steroids, it is illegal to use HGH strictly for bodybuilding. HGH is banned as a performance-enhancing drug by every major bodybuilding sanctioning organization. Therefore, using it for any kind of competitive bodybuilding is entirely out of the question. Still, people who are into weightlifting and bodybuilding but do not compete professionally often turn to HGH for its perceived benefit in helping them bulk up or increase muscle mass. However, this belief is largely erroneous. Studies have found that the ability of HGH injections to add significant muscle mass in otherwise healthy people with normal HGH levels is negligible.
This is not to say that HGH does not have any benefit in helping people build muscle and burn fat. It most certainly does! However, growth hormone injections really only increase muscle strength and the ability to perform physical activity in people suffering from growth hormone deficiencies.
Human growth hormone is one of your body’s most important hormones. It is produced and released by the pituitary gland. As a child grows into a healthy adult of full strength and stature, it is HGH that is primarily responsible for growth, particularly of bones and muscles.
Growth hormone injections are used to treat patients with growth hormone deficiencies. Growth hormone deficiency, or GHD, can occur in children or adults. One of the primary symptoms of GHD is increased body fat, particularly belly fat, and a loss of lean body mass. HGH injections in patients suffering from GHD, including “adult-onset” or “age-related GHD,” reverse those symptoms and help such individuals significantly increase muscle and improve body composition. It is because of this clinically proven effect of HGH that people mistakenly believe that it can help them bulk up when bodybuilding.
Rather than talking about the mechanism of action of HGH in bodybuilding, we should discuss how it helps improve body composition in patients who have been legitimately diagnosed with GHD gain back muscle mass. In such patients, HGH has a profound impact on muscle growth and repair. However, studies have shown that any benefits that HGH has for bodybuilding in persons with a normal HGH level are negligible.
When it comes to answering the question, “Can HGH be safe for bodybuilding,” we want to be 100% clear. HGH is banned by most professional sports organizations as a performance-enhancing drug. It is not legal to use HGH for bodybuilders to bulk up or for athletes to enhance strength, endurance, or stamina. As a Hormone Replacement clinic that prescribes HGH therapy for legitimate hormone imbalances and medical reasons, we DO NOT endorse the use of HGH for athletics.
You do not have to be a bodybuilder to benefit from having bigger or stronger muscles and lean body mass. Muscles are important to a man’s health because muscle, even in its resting state, raises your metabolism and helps you burn fat. Having the benefit of that higher metabolism due to adequate lean muscle mass also means you will turn calories into energy more easily, so you will feel fitter, more vital, and have more energy to do everyday tasks.
HGH positively impacts muscle growth, but does that mean you should use it for bodybuilding? Let’s take a closer look at how and why HGH benefits muscle growth and in what type of people HGH is legally used to enhance muscle growth.
HGH is instrumental to your body’s ability to build lean muscle. It also plays a major role in bone health and bone density.
Muscles, particularly skeletal muscles, derive strength and durability from their fibers. Think of these as the same tensile cables holding up a bridge. Just as those bridge cables can strain and weaken over time, that also occurs to your striated muscle fibers as you age, causing a degenerative muscle condition known as sarcopenia. HGH has been shown to reverse this deterioration of muscle fibers, which causes weakness and loss of stamina as men grow older.
Indeed, HGH is one of the most critical hormones necessary to build muscle mass. This is why it is banned in most sports, particularly in bodybuilding and weightlifting.
One of the most common symptoms of growth hormone deficiency, or GHD, is a loss of muscle tissue, also known as “muscle wasting.” Muscle wasting also occurs in other diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, and other degenerative muscle diseases, such as muscular dystrophy. One of the FDA-approved uses of HGH injections is to reduce muscle wasting in these conditions. However, it is considered illegal and illicit to use HGH for the purpose of growing muscle in otherwise healthy adults, such as for bodybuilding.
As we have mentioned, using genuine HGH injections for bodybuilding and only bodybuilding is an illegal way to prescribe HGH therapy. We do not and will not prescribe HGH therapy for this purpose. Other options are so-called “HGH boosters” or “HGH supplements,” which we will discuss in a later section. These may have some benefit in building muscle and increasing exercise capacity, but understand they are not genuine HGH. Authentic human growth hormone is only given in injectable form.
It is illegal to use HGH for bodybuilding, and it can also be dangerously unsafe to do so.
HGH therapy can have many benefits for patients who receive the properly prescribed dosage from a physician who specializes in hormone replacement therapy.
Human growth hormone is vital to your strength, vitality, and overall health. However, HGH levels, like another critical hormone – testosterone – drop as you age.
HGH injections are prescribed to treat this age-related HGH decline and are quite effective in bringing HGH levels back to the normal range and improving muscle tone, strength, and stamina. Because of these known benefits of HGH, it is often used illegally or purchased on the black market for athletes and bodybuilders who wish to bulk up. However, it is not only illegal to do so; it could be quite dangerous given the known side effects of HGH.
Is it legal to use HGH for bodybuilding? The short answer is “no.”
Currently, HGH is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency and most sports organizations; in the U.S., it is illegal to possess or distribute HGH for any purpose other than those uses approved by the FDA and prescribed by a physician. HGH is also on the Department of Defense (DoD) Prohibited Dietary Supplement Ingredients list.
As if it being illegal was not reason enough for you not to use HGH for bodybuilding, doing so also can have severe consequences and side effects.
HGH is a controlled substance for a reason. It should never be used without a legitimate doctor’s prescription and, even then, only with proper monitoring and medical supervision.
Some of the more severe side effects of HGH include:
“Bubble gut,” sometimes referred to as “HGH gut,” is a condition in which the stomach appears round and bloated due to excess growth of gut tissue and muscles in the abdomen.
It has become a relatively recent phenomenon among bodybuilders, as the aesthetic in the last decade has moved from “fit and cut” to “big and bulky.” Bubble Gut, also known as “Bubble Gut Syndrome,” is quite common in the bodybuilding community because bodybuilders often incorrectly and illegally use HGH and insulin drugs in an attempt to “bulk up.” Also, in pursuit of “getting big,” bodybuilders will consume a calorie-dense diet; this, combined with HGH and steroid abuse, can lead to Bubble Gut.
Bubble Gut Syndrome is often also referred to as “HGH Gut,” “HGH Bloat,” “Insulin Gut,” “Roid Gut,” or “Palumboism,” so named for David Palumbo, the professional bodybuilder who made the condition famous – or infamous.
The most common cause of Bubble Gut in bodybuilders, say the experts, is drug use, specifically insulin and Human Growth Hormone (HGH) in combination with a high-calorie, high-carb diet. HGH and insulin abuse can cause internal organs like the liver and intestines to enlarge well beyond their normal size. This enlargement can push the stomach out, leading to a bloated, Bubble Gut appearance.
Bubble Gut can be much more than an aesthetic concern for bodybuilders. Because the most likely cause of Bubble Gut is HGH, steroid, and other drug abuse, if you have Bubble Gut, you are also opening yourself up to all the other issues that can come with excessive and illegal use of HGH, anabolic steroids, and insulin – if you are not already experiencing them. These can include issues such as:
It is illegal to use synthetic growth hormone for bodybuilding, which has given rise to an entire industry of so-called “HGH boosters” or “HGH supplements.” The results of these products to help build muscle for bodybuilders and increase the results of working out and strength training are marginal. Some work better than others. Most of these products contain protein and amino acids, and you may want to add them to your regimen if you are trying to bulk up. However, as a treatment for adults with growth hormone deficiencies, these products are not a substitute for HGH injections. Suppose you have been legitimately diagnosed with adult-onset or age-related GHD. In that case, only the effects of growth hormone injections can bring your growth hormone levels back into the normal ranges.
As a treatment for legitimate growth hormone deficiency, as mentioned above, there is no comparison between prescription growth hormone therapy and oral “HGH” supplements. Genuine HGH is only given via injection. Any so-called “HGH supplement” or “HGH booster” that claims to be HGH or contains HGH that comes in any other form than an injection or can be bought without a doctor’s prescription is not genuine HGH.
These supplements may have some benefits for increasing muscle mass while bodybuilding, but any such products should be avoided as a treatment for low HGH levels. These products are not HGH. They are usually combinations of proteins, amino acids, or other ingredients that claim to be able to “raise” or “boost” your HGH levels. However, since these products are sold as “nutritional supplements,” they are not regulated by the FDA, which means any claims of their safety and efficacy are not verified by the government or any official scientific or regulating agency.
If you think you are suffering from HGH deficiency, the only treatment is genuine HGH injections prescribed by your doctor.
The expectations versus the reality of HGH use can be summed up as simply as this: If you expect to bulk up and gain significant new muscle mass by using HGH illicitly for bodybuilding, you are likely not only to be disappointed, but you can put your health at serious risk.
On the other hand, if you are experiencing the symptoms of HGH deficiency in adults and have been diagnosed with adult-onset GHD, your results from HGH injection therapy could be life-changing.
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