IFBB Pro tells me take my GH before bed

**BIGSNOR** · 07-28-2007, 02:52 PM

Hey a well known and well respected IFBB pro recently told me to take my GH before bed and get up a few hours later and take it again, then go back to bed. I always thought this was the exact opposite of what you should do, as I've heard it will suppress your own natural gh spike you produce at night. any thoughts on why they say this?? I know he's being honest and thats how he recommends all his bodybuilding clients and protege's as well.

**ZaneFan** · 07-28-2007, 03:46 PM

There are some non-pros who post here who shoot 3x a day. If your buddy is a pro he is probably doing at least 15iu a day and shooting 4x a day. If you shoot 4x a day 1 shot will be close to bed time. Your natural GH release at night is small compared to how much most do so even if it surpresses it you are still raising the level significantly.

**RedBaron** · 07-28-2007, 05:25 PM

If you have a normally functioning pituitary and can otherwise avoid injecting just before bed, then by all means avoid it ... you don't want to suppress your own HGH if you can help it.

If you are indeed one of the elite pros ... one who has said health and body be damned for the good of their chosen career ... then that would change that advice. As already mentioned, there are pros out there doing 15-30 IU's of HGH per day. At that level, suppressing the 1-2 IU's your own body produces at night is a pretty much mute point. The fact that a pro isn't going to get off HGH until he retires also factors into the equation.

What that leaves you with is this. IF you are an IFBB pro, take your HGH at night .. and morning ... and afternoon ... and early evening (I think you get the picture). If on the other hand you are taking HGH for general health, fitness, and amateur competitions, then by all means be as friendly as you can to your body and avoid taking it too close to bed.

***SPIKE*** · 07-28-2007, 05:39 PM

^^^^^^^^ Completely agree with RB.

The only time I'd recommend taking it at night would be the situation RB mentioned. The other might be if someone is much older and isn't producing much.

**fossilfuel7** · 07-29-2007, 12:44 AM

As always.. it's a pleasure to read your post's Redbaron.

**stocky121** · 07-29-2007, 03:54 AM

great post RB always a pleasure

**BIGSNOR** · 07-31-2007, 09:07 AM

asked the pro about it and he says that you can cut bodyfat better by taking it at night. hypothetically speaking, so if im running 6 IU ED, to get the maximimum results when would be the best time to take it, health be damned? and then i know the safer thing would be first thing in the morning, and mid afternoon, but I also figured this would be the best because I would also get my natural spike at night, that way you would get three spikes of GH throughout the day instead of the 2 that I administer myself. any thoughts?

**RedBaron** · 07-31-2007, 10:02 AM

It really depends on what you are trying to accomplish with it even when you're talking "health be damned". Here are some things for you to consider as you put together your own gameplan for best utilizing HGH in your cycles. HGH is doing a few things for you that we are presently aware of. In a nutshell it is -

•Interfering with your cells ability to uptake glucose, forcing fat mobilization and utilization for fuel to the cells ... result more fat loss.

•Acting on your cells (and your liver) to increase your growth factor levels ... result more muscle cells, more growth.

•It is also shuttling nutrients to your tissues in a complimentary fashion to insulin assisting with healing and recovery.

Many view HGH as having to be taken at bedtime because that is when the body would normally release its biggest burst - so they reason there must be some magic to that. Truth be told it is going to do its work for you whenever you take it and frankly your body releases it at other times of the day too.

For a window of time around your injection, it will interfere with glucose uptake. This can be a challenge if you routinely take in a lot of carbs through the day to fuel your body. When your body can't pull glucose out of your bloodstream efficiently for a window of time, the last thing we want to do is spike our blood glucose levels. While glucose fuels our cells and keeps our brain ticking, it works within a VERY fine range. Too much sugar is a poison that will kill off blood vessels and will poison organs. Too many spikes without the body having the ability to get those levels back in check naturally is over time going to result in a nice case of insulin resistance. You really don't want to battle that. Think about it - you are killing off blood vessels (needed to transport nutrients to your muscles, organs, and brain), you are poisoning organs (needed to filter and process nutrients and poisons from our system), and all the while you are robbing your muscles of glycogen because insulin isn't an effective shuttle anymore. All around a really bad deal.

For a pro level bodybuilder who is having to eat every 2-3 hours and taking in 10-12K calories everyday possibly night is a little easier to work into their schedule ... to keep the carbs up through the day without building insulin resistance by introducing HGH into the equation while needed carbs. There is no magic to night injections even in this regard though, and that is the time that your liver is dumping glucose into your system to fuel your body through the night, so this strategy is not necessarily keeping your BG levels down and insulin resistance at bay. If you are taking your HGH as a sleep aid, then certainly nailing yourself at night will equate to a really restful sleep. Even given that fact, I still have improved sleep through the night when I inject in the early morning.

The reason you see the suggestion to take it first thing in the morning and in the early afternoon is because it can be a strategy to manage your own cortisol levels as they hit their natural peaks at those times. While cortisol isn't all bad and is certainly a necessary evil for continued health and well being, for a bodybuilder trying to put on some size it is bad news. HGH taken during that approximate early morning rise of your cortisol level (the largest of the day) and at around noon (the second largest of the day), can blunt the effects of it somewhat. The other reason for this suggestion is that for the average person it is easy enough to avoid your protein/carb meals around this schedule.

The other little wrinkle to all of this is that different dosing protocols are going to work best for different individuals. I have experimented over about 8-9 years now with about every combination of doses, times of day and night, and every strategy that I have been able to come up with.

The result of all of that has been this - If I take a respectable amount of HGH in any given week - I benefit. If I run too low of a dose, I don't see much from it. I can run ED, EOD, 3 times a week, 2 mega injections a week, and all of these equate to progress and good looking blood panels. For me, my interest is in being all I can be now, but also in living to a ripe old age. Since that is my goal, everything I do I try to find the most "body system friendly" way to achieve my goal. I have found that while HGH will do an acceptable job as long as the weekly dose is respectable, there are little tricks for me that keep the gains coming while keeping the doses reasonable. I have shared some of those over the years on the forums. I am sure for some other individuals it will also work, while others will need to find their own protocols best suited to their body.

In my experiences, injecting a good amount of HGH (from 2-4 IU's and up to 6-8 IU's on occasion) early morning (4-5am) has worked well. My body has already given all it is going to give for the night (pulse will result about 2 hours after you fall to sleep), and as my cortisol levels are creeping up over the night, I am nailing them hard as they are getting rolling. Depending on my dose at the time, I will take a second injection of 3-4 IU's at 8-9am. Occasionally I will take another injection right before a late morning/early afternoon workout, followed by insulin right after the workout.

As you can see there are a million-and-one ways to approach it. What you will need to do to find the answer for you is to set down, chart out your typical day including your sleep patterns, eating patterns, workout patterns, and the like and then see where HGH makes the most sense for you. Personally, if you are reasonably young and have a healthy pituitary, I would avoid taking it for six or so hours before bedtime. I would also take into account where your carb meals are for the day. I would avoid taking it for a couple of hours around your carb meals. If you are using it to grow, I would consider taking it around your cortisol peaks. Other than that, like I have said, it is going to work for you whenever you take it. There is really no magic to one time over another .... just times that make more sense for your routine and daily schedule.

The key for you will be to log your results, keep a good check on your bg levels and your a1c, and pulling blood panels to measure your growth factors and the like will be very advantageous to crafting a protocol that works best for you. Best of luck to you.

**crazyhorse666** · 07-31-2007, 12:40 PM

wow! great post rb

**fossilfuel7** · 07-31-2007, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by RedBaron

It really depends on what you are trying to accomplish with it even when you're talking "health be damned". Here are some things for you to consider as you put together your own gameplan for best utilizing HGH in your cycles. HGH is doing a few things for you that we are presently aware of. In a nutshell it is -

•Interfering with your cells ability to uptake glucose, forcing fat mobilization and utilization for fuel to the cells ... result more fat loss.

•Acting on your cells (and your liver) to increase your growth factor levels ... result more muscle cells, more growth.

•It is also shuttling nutrients to your tissues in a complimentary fashion to insulin assisting with healing and recovery.

Many view HGH as having to be taken at bedtime because that is when the body would normally release its biggest burst - so they reason there must be some magic to that. Truth be told it is going to do its work for you whenever you take it and frankly your body releases it at other times of the day too.

For a window of time around your injection, it will interfere with glucose uptake. This can be a challenge if you routinely take in a lot of carbs through the day to fuel your body. When your body can't pull glucose out of your bloodstream efficiently for a window of time, the last thing we want to do is spike our blood glucose levels. While glucose fuels our cells and keeps our brain ticking, it works within a VERY fine range. Too much sugar is a poison that will kill off blood vessels and will poison organs. Too many spikes without the body having the ability to get those levels back in check naturally is over time going to result in a nice case of insulin resistance. You really don't want to battle that. Think about it - you are killing off blood vessels (needed to transport nutrients to your muscles, organs, and brain), you are poisoning organs (needed to filter and process nutrients and poisons from our system), and all the while you are robbing your muscles of glycogen because insulin isn't an effective shuttle anymore. All around a really bad deal.

For a pro level bodybuilder who is having to eat every 2-3 hours and taking in 10-12K calories everyday possibly night is a little easier to work into their schedule ... to keep the carbs up through the day without building insulin resistance by introducing HGH into the equation while needed carbs. There is no magic to night injections even in this regard though, and that is the time that your liver is dumping glucose into your system to fuel your body through the night, so this strategy is not necessarily keeping your BG levels down and insulin resistance at bay. If you are taking your HGH as a sleep aid, then certainly nailing yourself at night will equate to a really restful sleep. Even given that fact, I still have improved sleep through the night when I inject in the early morning.

The reason you see the suggestion to take it first thing in the morning and in the early afternoon is because it can be a strategy to manage your own cortisol levels as they hit their natural peaks at those times. While cortisol isn't all bad and is certainly a necessary evil for continued health and well being, for a bodybuilder trying to put on some size it is bad news. HGH taken during that approximate early morning rise of your cortisol level (the largest of the day) and at around noon (the second largest of the day), can blunt the effects of it somewhat. The other reason for this suggestion is that for the average person it is easy enough to avoid your protein/carb meals around this schedule.

The other little wrinkle to all of this is that different dosing protocols are going to work best for different individuals. I have experimented over about 8-9 years now with about every combination of doses, times of day and night, and every strategy that I have been able to come up with.

The result of all of that has been this - If I take a respectable amount of HGH in any given week - I benefit. If I run too low of a dose, I don't see much from it. I can run ED, EOD, 3 times a week, 2 mega injections a week, and all of these equate to progress and good looking blood panels. For me, my interest is in being all I can be now, but also in living to a ripe old age. Since that is my goal, everything I do I try to find the most "body system friendly" way to achieve my goal. I have found that while HGH will do an acceptable job as long as the weekly dose is respectable, there are little tricks for me that keep the gains coming while keeping the doses reasonable. I have shared some of those over the years on the forums. I am sure for some other individuals it will also work, while others will need to find their own protocols best suited to their body.

In my experiences, injecting a good amount of HGH (from 2-4 IU's and up to 6-8 IU's on occasion) early morning (4-5am) has worked well. My body has already given all it is going to give for the night (pulse will result about 2 hours after you fall to sleep), and as my cortisol levels are creeping up over the night, I am nailing them hard as they are getting rolling. Depending on my dose at the time, I will take a second injection of 3-4 IU's at 8-9am. Occasionally I will take another injection right before a late morning/early afternoon workout, followed by insulin right after the workout.

As you can see there are a million-and-one ways to approach it. What you will need to do to find the answer for you is to set down, chart out your typical day including your sleep patterns, eating patterns, workout patterns, and the like and then see where HGH makes the most sense for you. Personally, if you are reasonably young and have a healthy pituitary, I would avoid taking it for six or so hours before bedtime. I would also take into account where your carb meals are for the day. I would avoid taking it for a couple of hours around your carb meals. If you are using it to grow, I would consider taking it around your cortisol peaks. Other than that, like I have said, it is going to work for you whenever you take it. There is really no magic to one time over another .... just times that make more sense for your routine and daily schedule.

The key for you will be to log your results, keep a good check on your bg levels and your a1c, and pulling blood panels to measure your growth factors and the like will be very advantageous to crafting a protocol that works best for you. Best of luck to you.

WOW!!..another amazing post Red!