--- title: "Peptides for Muscle Growth: Research Bench | BodyHackGuide" url: https://www.bodyhackguide.co/stack/muscle-growth-peptides description: "six compounds sold for muscle growth, set against what their human trials measured. No dosing. Research use only." lang: en --- Skip to content Compare notes on r/BodyHackGuide (https://reddit.com/r/bodyhackguide) Compare notes with other researchers. Join r/BodyHackGuide (https://reddit.com/r/bodyhackguide) Research bench · research use only # Peptides for Muscle Growth MK-677, ipamorelin, hexarelin, IGF-1 LR3, follistatin-344 and ACE-031, sorted by what each trial measured no dosing on this page human data on 4 of 6 MK-677's fat-free mass result was read at one year, ACE-031's lean mass at day 29 after one dose and at 24 weeks in its Duchenne trial, hexarelin's body composition at 16 weeks; ipamorelin, IGF-1 LR3 and follistatin-344 have no human muscle timeline at all advanced ## 01 Overview six compounds sold for muscle growth, set against what their human trials measured. most of them raise growth hormone or IGF-1, or block myostatin. three have a human trial that measured lean or fat-free mass, and in only two of the three did it rise. no human trial of anything on the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench has shown a strength gain. the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench gives no amount, schedule or route for any compound on it. ### 02 Read this first every compound on the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench is research use only, and none of them is an approved medicine for building muscle. the search term says peptides; two of the six are short peptides, two are proteins, one is a protein analogue and MK-677 is a small molecule. the one BHG Labs listing on this page is the CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin vial, which holds ipamorelin together with a second peptide that is not on this bench; a certificate, where BHG Labs posts one on its certificates page (bhglabs.co/coa), covers a sample from one lot, not what a peptide does in a person. nothing here is an amount, a schedule or a route. the hard stops come from the trials themselves. heart failure or other heart disease: MK-677's hip-fracture trial was stopped early over congestive heart failure in a few frail patients, and in the two-year trial a 68-year-old woman had a heart attack seven days after starting the drug, reported without a causal claim. a bleeding tendency or fragile vessels: nosebleeds and dilated surface vessels ended ACE-031's Duchenne trial. cancer now or in the past: the label of the one approved IGF-1 drug contraindicates it there, and raising IGF-1 is what most of this page does. diabetes or prediabetes: MK-677 moved fasting glucose and HbA1c in healthy older adults. athletes: all six are named or covered by the WADA 2026 list, prohibited at all times. ## 03 The bench: 6 compounds roles and evidence, not amounts. this page does not publish doses or schedules for research compounds. evidence ladder human data on 4 of 6 - 4 small human trials - 2 no human data 01 MK-677 (ibutamoren)small human trials the guide (https://www.bodyhackguide.co/compound/mk-677) the oral one, and the only compound here that is not a peptide or a protein: a small molecule that acts on the ghrelin receptor, the same receptor ipamorelin and hexarelin use. Merck developed it as L-163,191, and every MK-677 trial on this bench gave it by mouth, once a day. it is not the only oral drug of its class to reach people: macimorelin, another oral ghrelin-receptor agonist, was approved in the US on 20 December 2017 as Macrilen, a product the FDA database now lists as discontinued. evidence: human trials, and the longest record here. the two-year trial is the one to read: 71 healthy volunteers between 60 and 81 were randomized, 65 reached the one-year endpoints, and fat-free mass came out 1.1 kg up against a 0.5 kg loss on placebo. body weight went up 2.7 kg against 0.8 kg, neither the visceral fat nor the total fat measurement separated from placebo, limb fat rose further on the drug, and strength and function did not change. a two-month trial in 24 obese men raised fat-free mass and left total and visceral fat alone, with basal metabolic rate up at two weeks but not at eight and an oral glucose test showing worse glucose handling at both. one week of it reversed the negative nitrogen balance of a calorie-restricted diet in eight healthy volunteers. in older people recovering from a hip fracture the functional results came out flat twice: a 161-patient six-month trial raised IGF-1 by 84% against 17% on placebo with no significant difference in functional performance or the sickness profile score, and a later 123-patient phase 2b raised IGF-1 by about 51 ng/mL and improved gait speed, but most of the other functional measures did not move, and the trial closed early on a congestive heart failure signal in a handful of patients. watch for: the glucose cost is measured: across that year fasting glucose gained about 5 mg/dL, HbA1c about 0.2 percentage points, insulin sensitivity dropped, and fasting glucose crossed from under 100 into the 101 to 110 mg/dL band in 16 people taking the drug against 2 on placebo. appetite rose in 67% of the treated group against 36% on placebo and settled inside about three months in half of them; the trial also logged mild swelling below the knee, muscle pain and a higher 24-hour cortisol. the FDA compounding list holds ibutamoren mesylate in category 2, citing the congestive heart failure potential that stopped the hip-fracture study. WADA names ibutamoren (MK-677) in section S2.2.4 of its 2026 list, prohibited at all times. what is in the bottle is a separate question: a 2017 analysis of 44 products sold online as SARMs found ibutamoren among the undeclared drugs, and a five-year survey by European official medicines control laboratories, published in 2025, found ibutamoren the most frequently identified of the 18 substances it looked for. 02 Ipamorelinsmall human trials, none on muscle the guide (https://www.bodyhackguide.co/compound/ipamorelin) one of the two short peptides on this bench: five amino acids (Aib-His-D-2-Nal-D-Phe-Lys-NH2), developed at Novo Nordisk as NNC-26-0161. it acts on the ghrelin receptor. the selective label comes from one swine experiment: ACTH and cortisol stayed at the level GHRH produced across the whole dose range tested, 200-fold past the half-maximal growth hormone dose. evidence: nothing in people on muscle. no published human trial has measured muscle mass, lean mass, body composition or strength on ipamorelin, and that is the whole of its record on this bench's subject. what patients were actually given it for was gut motility: a phase 2 in 117 people after bowel resection, where the first tolerated solid meal came at a median 25.3 hours against 32.6 on placebo, which the authors report as no significant difference (p = 0.15), and a 320-patient phase 2 that closed in 2014 without posting results. the only other human study is a dose escalation in healthy men, eight per infusion rate, which put the terminal half-life at two hours and found one growth hormone episode per dose, peaking around 40 minutes in. animals: hormone release in rat pituitary cells, anesthetized rats and conscious swine; a 15% body weight gain over two weeks in mice, growth-hormone-deficient ones included, with fat pad weight up relative to body weight, which the authors put down to something other than growth hormone; and calf muscle tetanic tension and periosteal bone formation held above glucocorticoid-only levels in rats given both for three months. watch for: the selectivity that sells it has never been tested in a person: the swine paper measured ACTH, cortisol, prolactin, LH, FSH and TSH, and the human study measured the drug and growth hormone only. the FDA compounding list puts ipamorelin acetate in category 2 for 503B outsourcing facilities, on the strength of a published report of serious adverse events including death after intravenous use for gut motility. WADA's section S2.2.4 names it, prohibited at all times. 03 Hexarelinsmall human trials, body composition unchanged the guide (https://www.bodyhackguide.co/compound/hexarelin) the other short peptide here: six amino acids (His-D-2-methyl-Trp-Ala-Trp-D-Phe-Lys-NH2), also called examorelin. in the four-route human study, one microgram per kilogram by vein released about twice the growth hormone that the same dose of growth hormone releasing hormone did. in rat hearts the hexarelin binding protein was identified as CD36, and hexarelin raised coronary perfusion pressure with dose in perfused hearts, an effect absent in CD36-null mice. evidence: human studies of hormone release, and one that looked at the body. in 12 healthy men, rising intravenous doses raised growth hormone with dose and the response was close to maximal at 2 mcg/kg. in 12 volunteers given four routes, availability against the vein was 77% under the skin, 4.8% by nose and 0.3% by mouth. the one long course that measured body composition is the honest result: 16 weeks of twice-daily injections in older adults left total body fat, lean body mass and bone mineral density unchanged, left IGF-1 and IGF binding protein 3 unchanged, and the growth hormone response to a test dose fell by week 4 and came back four weeks after stopping. shorter intermittent courses in older people, 8 days by nose and 15 days by mouth in seven subjects each, did not blunt the response, and the oral course nudged IGF-1 up while the nasal one did not. the two multi-month courses with an anabolic-looking result were in short children, open label, seven and eight children, both from one Tel Aviv group: growth velocity rose from about 5.3 to 8.3 cm a year in one and to 7.4 cm a year in the other, with IGF-1 up and skinfold thickness down. watch for: hexarelin is not the clean one: in a 12-volunteer double-blind study it raised prolactin, cortisol and ACTH as well as growth hormone. the response to it falls during continuous dosing and recovers after a break, and no study has compared that fall against another compound of the class. the fat on the body changes how much growth hormone it releases, which is its own problem for anyone reading the hormone number as a muscle number: across 21 healthy older subjects, fat mass was the strongest predictor of the peak. no human study has measured muscle strength on hexarelin in adults, and the one that measured lean body mass found it unchanged at 16 weeks. WADA names examorelin (hexarelin) in section S2.2.4, prohibited at all times. 04 IGF-1 LR3no human trials the guide (https://www.bodyhackguide.co/compound/igf-1-lr3) an 83-residue protein, not a peptide: mature human IGF-1 with arginine in place of glutamate at position 3, plus a 13-residue extension, the first 11 residues of pig growth hormone followed by valine and asparagine. it was built at CSIRO in Australia as a research reagent, and the point of the design is weak binding to the IGF binding proteins, which leaves more of it free. it skips the growth hormone chain entirely and acts on the IGF-1 receptor. evidence: PubMed holds no peer-reviewed human study of IGF-1 LR3 by any route, and nobody has published a half-life for it in people; a 2026 review of growth hormone axis performance compounds puts it in its bottom evidence tier. cells: in lines that secrete binding proteins the Long [Arg3] analogue beat IGF-1, and in a line that secretes none it was weaker than IGF-1, which is the whole mechanism in one result. rats: in animals made catabolic with dexamethasone it was about 2.5 times as potent as IGF-1 at restoring nitrogen balance and weight while binding the type 1 IGF receptor about 3 times more weakly, and the IGF analogues raised gut weight by up to 45%. in tumour-bearing rats it cut food intake, added no carcass protein alone or with insulin, cut carcass fat by 30%, and the treated animals' tumours grew faster, though the same peptides did not make those tumour cells grow in culture. the nearest human evidence belongs to other molecules: mecasermin, recombinant native IGF-1, is an approved drug and a different molecule; and in an open-label trial in 15 adults with myotonic dystrophy type 1, with no placebo arm, 24 weeks of recombinant IGF-1 complexed with its binding protein 3 raised lean body mass by 1.95 kg with no change in muscle strength or function. watch for: the label of the approved IGF-1 drug is the closest thing to safety data for anything on the IGF-1 side of this bench, and it leads with hypoglycemia: severe hypoglycemia with seizures has been seen on mecasermin, which is why its label ties every dose to a meal. that label also warns about lymphoid tissue growth with snoring and sleep apnea, carries postmarketing reports of malignant neoplasms, and contraindicates the drug in anyone with a cancer or a history of one. none of this has been measured for LR3, and no study has given it to a person. doping laboratories describe the market product as low grade: a 2021 detection paper found oxidised forms abundant in black market material, and a Cologne laboratory listed unpurified long-R3-IGF-1 among confiscated products. WADA names insulin-like growth factor 1 and its analogues in section S2.3, prohibited at all times. 05 Follistatin-344no human trials of the protein the guide (https://www.bodyhackguide.co/compound/follistatin-344) a glycoprotein, not a peptide, and the 344 is a precursor length rather than the circulating molecule: the human gene makes a 344-residue and a 317-residue precursor by splicing the same message. follistatin binds myostatin and activin A and keeps them off the activin receptor type IIB, which is the same brake ACE-031 releases from the other side. evidence: the pathway is solid in mice and the human work is gene therapy, not an injected protein. mice: deleting myostatin gave two to three times normal muscle mass through both bigger and more numerous fibres, and mice engineered to make extra follistatin in muscle grew about as much. monkeys: an AAV1 vector carrying the FS344 splice form, injected into macaque quadriceps, raised muscle size and strength, and a 2026 erratum now sits on that paper, with no abstract on the erratum's own record to say what it corrects. people: the same vector went into the quadriceps of six Becker muscular dystrophy patients, where four walked further on the six-minute walk test, by 58 and 125 m in the first cohort at one year and 108 and 29 m in the second at six months, and two did not change, with less fibrosis on biopsy, no consistent gain in quadriceps strength in either cohort, and no significant adverse events related to gene transfer; and into six people with sporadic inclusion body myositis, where the group reported a 56.0 m per year gain against a 25.8 m per year decline in eight untreated comparators, a reading another neurologist disputed in print in the same journal. no study has given follistatin-344 to a person as an injected protein. the closest protein result used a different molecule built to stay in the muscle it enters: a placebo-controlled phase 1 in 58 postmenopausal women where the largest increases were 14.5% in the injected thigh muscle and 8.9% in the injected shin muscle, with no significant change in mean muscle strength. watch for: what is sold under the name is often not it: a doping control laboratory bought 17 products labelled follistatin 344 and found follistatin in nine, all of those His-tagged and heavily oligomerized, with growth-promoting peptides such as MGF and GHRP-2 turning up in some of the rest. blocking this pathway is not a general muscle fix either: in a severe spinal muscular atrophy mouse model, follistatin overexpression improved neither motor function nor survival, and a soluble activin receptor gave a minimal motor improvement and no survival gain. WADA names myostatin-binding proteins including follistatin in section S4.3, prohibited at all times. 06 ACE-031 (ramatercept)small human trials, program stopped the guide (https://www.bodyhackguide.co/compound/ace-031) a decoy receptor rather than a peptide: the outside part of the human activin receptor type IIB fused to the tail of human IgG1, so it soaks up myostatin, activin A and GDF-11 before they reach a cell. Acceleron Pharma developed it and stopped in 2011. both ACE-031 trials read muscle mass, in each case as a secondary endpoint behind safety. evidence: two published human trials, and they are the reason this bench exists. 48 healthy postmenopausal women, one injection from 0.02 to 3 mg/kg: at day 29 on the top dose, total body lean mass was 3.3% higher by DXA and thigh muscle volume 5.1% higher by MRI, both at p = 0.03, with a half-life of 10 to 15 days. 24 ambulatory boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, nine per treated regimen and six on placebo, 12 weeks of treatment and 12 of follow-up: lean body mass rose 4.1% on the higher regimen and 3.6% on the lower against 2.6% on placebo and lumbar spine bone density rose, differences the published report calls trends rather than significant results, and hand-held strength testing moved little in any group, with knee extension falling by much the same amount on both regimens and on placebo, -3.6, -3.3 and -3.7 in the registry's posted myometry table. the six-minute walk difference is a trend too by the same report, not a significant result. a second phase 1 in 70 healthy postmenopausal women completed in 2011 and posted no results. animals: in marmosets, 14 weeks raised lean body mass, fibre cross-sectional area and the force the leg muscle produced for its size; in dystrophic mice a version of the same construct carrying a mouse antibody tail raised body mass 41% and forward pulling force 42.5% without changing that force corrected for body mass. watch for: the Duchenne trial stopped after the second regimen over nosebleeds and small dilated surface vessels: epistaxis in 5 of 9 boys on the higher regimen against 0 of 6 on placebo, telangiectasia in 5 of 9 against 0 of 6. both registry records give preliminary safety data as the reason for stopping. nothing is published past 12 weeks of treatment, nothing in men, and nothing in older adults with age-related muscle loss. what is sold as ACE-031 is usually not ACE-031: of 14 black market products tested by a doping laboratory, 12 held full-length activin receptor IIB instead of the receptor-antibody fusion and 2 held no reactive protein at all. FDA's drug approval database returns no application for ACE-031 or ramatercept, and WADA names decoy activin receptors in section S4.3 with ACE-031 as its example, prohibited at all times. ## 04 At a glance form lyophilized vials for the injectables, as sold; MK-677 is the one compound here sold as an oral, though hexarelin trials also used oral and nasal routes human data two randomized trials for ACE-031, both of which measured lean mass, one of them strength as well; several small trials for MK-677, the longest two years; dose-response, route and 16-week studies for hexarelin; one pharmacokinetic study and one missed phase 2 for ipamorelin; gene therapy and a different fusion protein for follistatin; nothing for IGF-1 LR3 evidence 4 small human trials, 2 no human data BHG Labs listings 1 product, below level advanced timeline MK-677's fat-free mass result was read at one year, ACE-031's lean mass at day 29 after one dose and at 24 weeks in its Duchenne trial, hexarelin's body composition at 16 weeks; ipamorelin, IGF-1 LR3 and follistatin-344 have no human muscle timeline at all schedule not applicable, no schedule published. the courses the trials ran: MK-677 daily for one to two years, ACE-031 every two to four weeks for 12 weeks, hexarelin twice daily for 16 weeks, with the growth hormone response to hexarelin falling by week 4 and recovering four weeks after it stopped. ### 05 Why these together they share a search term and two pathways. MK-677, ipamorelin and hexarelin act on the ghrelin receptor and raise the body's own growth hormone, which raises IGF-1. IGF-1 LR3 skips that chain and acts on the IGF-1 receptor. follistatin-344 and ACE-031 work on the other side, taking myostatin and activin away from the activin receptor type IIB, one by binding the ligands and one by holding out a decoy receptor. the reason to read them on one page is what the two pathways have produced in people. growth hormone itself, pooled across 27 randomized samples of physically fit young adults, added about 2.1 kg of lean body mass without improving strength or exercise capacity. on the myostatin side, the best-tested drug of the class is bimagrumab, an antibody against the same receptor that is not on this bench: it raised lean body mass 7% against 1% on placebo in 180 older adults with muscle loss and still missed its physical performance endpoint. mass and function are separate questions, and most of what is sold here has only ever been measured against the first one. no study has given any two compounds on this bench together, in people or in animals. ### 06 Overlap the three ghrelin-receptor compounds are the clearest duplication: MK-677, ipamorelin and hexarelin reach the same receptor and differ in route, half-life and how much ACTH, cortisol and prolactin they move, not in target. follistatin-344 and ACE-031 block the same receptor from the outside, which is why WADA lists them in one subsection. IGF-1 LR3 sits downstream of the first three, so putting it with a growth hormone secretagogue is the same pathway twice. the 2026 review that sorts these compounds by evidence says the stacking protocols circulating online rest on extrapolation from related molecules rather than on trials, and PubMed holds no study of any pairing from this page. ### 07 Conflicts heart failure, fluid retention or coronary disease: the MK-677 phase 2b in hip-fracture patients was terminated over a heart failure signal, one woman in the two-year trial had a heart attack a week after starting the drug, and mild lower-leg swelling was common in that trial. diabetes or prediabetes: fasting glucose, HbA1c and insulin sensitivity all moved the wrong way on MK-677 over a year, and the obese-men trial found worse glucose handling at two and eight weeks. a bleeding tendency, a vascular malformation or fragile vessels: that is the one documented human safety signal for ACE-031. cancer now or in the past: mecasermin's label rules that drug out in anyone with a cancer or a history of one, the ACE-031 trials excluded a malignancy history, and the two-year MK-677 trial recorded a cancer diagnosis in two people who had taken the drug and one who had taken only placebo, with no causal claim made either way. hypoglycemia risk, including insulin or other glucose-lowering drugs: severe hypoglycemia with seizures is on the mecasermin label, which ties each dose to a meal, and nothing comparable has been worked out for IGF-1 LR3. two ghrelin-receptor compounds at once: the same receptor twice, and no study behind the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench pairs them. follistatin-344 with ACE-031: the same block from two directions, with no study in any species that combines them. athletes: MK-677, ipamorelin and hexarelin are named in WADA section S2.2.4, IGF-1 analogues in S2.3, and follistatin and decoy activin receptors in S4.3, all prohibited at all times and all non-specified substances. ### 08 What the evidence actually is ACE-031: a 48-person single-dose trial with a lean mass gain, a 24-boy Duchenne trial stopped over vascular findings whose strength testing did not move, a 70-person phase 1 with no posted results, and a 2026 marmoset study. every ACE-031 trial and animal study carries Acceleron Pharma authors. MK-677: the two-year trial in older adults, a two-month trial in 24 obese men, a one-week nitrogen balance study in eight volunteers, and two hip-fracture trials that missed on function, one of them stopped early. the compound was Merck's, and ibutamoren is back in a phase 3 under another company as LUM-201, in children with growth hormone deficiency rather than for muscle. hexarelin: dose-response and route studies in volunteers, a 16-week course that left body composition unchanged, and open studies in short children from one Tel Aviv group. ipamorelin: one pharmacokinetic study, one phase 2 that missed its endpoint, one larger phase 2 with no results posted, and founding papers from Novo Nordisk. follistatin-344: mouse genetics, a macaque gene therapy study, two small gene therapy trials from one group at Nationwide Children's Hospital with a published dispute over the second, and one phase 1 of a different follistatin-based protein. IGF-1 LR3: cell and rodent work from the CSIRO group that built it, no human study of any kind. ### 09 What people report no study behind this bench collected user reports, so this is what the trials measured. MK-677 added 1.1 kg of fat-free mass over a year while body weight rose 2.7 kg, visceral and total fat did not move, and strength and function did not change. ACE-031 added 3.3% lean mass at day 29 after a single dose, and the strength testing in its Duchenne trial did not separate from placebo. 16 weeks of hexarelin left fat, lean mass and bone density where they started. no muscle or body-composition outcome has been measured in a person for ipamorelin, IGF-1 LR3 or follistatin-344. ### Who It's For people who searched for the best peptides for muscle growth and want to see, one compound at a time, which of them has a human trial that measured muscle and what that trial found ### What to Track fasting glucose and HbA1c, body weight against a tape measure rather than the scale alone, any swelling of the hands, ankles or feet, nosebleeds or new surface vessels, and the lot number and certificate of anything bought as a research compound ## 10 Sourced at BHG Labs BHG Labs posts certificates at bhglabs.co/coa. Research use only. Code BHG20 takes 20% off at checkout, and the store links below apply it for you. CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin 5mg+5mg $69.99 · out of stock https://bhglabs.co/product/cjc-1295-ipamorelin-5mg5mg/?ref=zmgqyxku&coupon=BHG20 BHG Labs has one product on the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench, the CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin vial, and it lists ipamorelin only inside that vial; no BHG Labs listing names MK-677, hexarelin, IGF-1 LR3, follistatin-344 or ACE-031. ### Read the compound guides MK-677 (ibutamoren): https://www.bodyhackguide.co/compound/mk-677 Ipamorelin: https://www.bodyhackguide.co/compound/ipamorelin Hexarelin: https://www.bodyhackguide.co/compound/hexarelin IGF-1 LR3: https://www.bodyhackguide.co/compound/igf-1-lr3 Follistatin-344: https://www.bodyhackguide.co/compound/follistatin-344 ACE-031 (ramatercept): https://www.bodyhackguide.co/compound/ace-031 ## 11 Frequently Asked Questions six compounds sold for muscle growth, set against what their human trials measured. most of them raise growth hormone or IGF-1, or block myostatin. three have a human trial that measured lean or fat-free mass, and in only two of the three did it rise. no human trial of anything on the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench has shown a strength gain. the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench gives no amount, schedule or route for any compound on it. the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench covers 6 compounds: MK-677 (ibutamoren), Ipamorelin, Hexarelin, IGF-1 LR3, Follistatin-344, ACE-031 (ramatercept). ## Related Stacks 01 research bench CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin GH Secretagogue Bench CJC-1295 and ipamorelin beside sermorelin, tesamorelin and MK-677, one receptor route at a time 6 compounds human data on 4 of 6 https://www.bodyhackguide.co/stack/gh-secretagogue-peptides 02 research bench Endurance Stack meldonium, bemethyl, bromantane, ITPP and methylene blue, read against creatine 6 compounds human data on 6 of 6 https://www.bodyhackguide.co/stack/endurance-stack 03 research bench Wolverine Stack BPC-157 with TB-500, plus the GHK-Cu and KPV that turn the pair into GLOW and KLOW 4 compounds human data on 2 of 4 https://www.bodyhackguide.co/stack/wolverine-stack ### Want a personalized stack? The Stack Builder matches you to the right protocol based on your goals, experience level, and medication sensitivities. Back to all stacks: https://www.bodyhackguide.co/stack Was this page helpful? BodyHackGuide (https://www.bodyhackguide.co/) Your biohacking research hub: compound pricing, brain health protocols, dosing tools, and vendor reviews. support@bodyhackguide.co Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/Mhq5UdRYBA r/BodyHackGuide on Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/BodyHackGuide **Affiliate Disclosure:** We rank every vendor on the same public, reproducible methodology (https://www.bodyhackguide.co/vendors/methodology). Full details in our affiliate disclosure (https://www.bodyhackguide.co/affiliate-disclosure). **Research Disclaimer:** All compounds listed are for laboratory and research purposes only. Not for human consumption. This site does not sell or ship any products. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional and comply with local regulations. © 2026 BodyHackGuide. All rights reserved. - Terms: https://www.bodyhackguide.co/terms - Privacy: https://www.bodyhackguide.co/privacy ## Structured data ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "WebPage", "name": "Peptides for Muscle Growth: research bench", "description": "six compounds sold for muscle growth, set against what their human trials measured. most of them raise growth hormone or IGF-1, or block myostatin. three have a human trial that measured lean or fat-free mass, and in only two of the three did it rise. no human trial of anything on the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench has shown a strength gain. the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench gives no amount, schedule or route for any compound on it.", "url": "https://www.bodyhackguide.co/stack/muscle-growth-peptides", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "BioChonch", "url": "https://www.bodyhackguide.co/about", "jobTitle": "Founder & Lead Researcher", "sameAs": [ "https://reddit.com/r/BodyHackGuide", "https://reddit.com/r/BrainHackGuide", "https://reddit.com/r/Biohackingher" ], "worksFor": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "BodyHackGuide", "url": "https://www.bodyhackguide.co" } }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "BodyHackGuide", "url": "https://www.bodyhackguide.co", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.bodyhackguide.co/bhglogo.png" } } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "What is the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "six compounds sold for muscle growth, set against what their human trials measured. most of them raise growth hormone or IGF-1, or block myostatin. three have a human trial that measured lean or fat-free mass, and in only two of the three did it rise. no human trial of anything on the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench has shown a strength gain. the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench gives no amount, schedule or route for any compound on it. the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench covers 6 compounds: MK-677 (ibutamoren), Ipamorelin, Hexarelin, IGF-1 LR3, Follistatin-344, ACE-031 (ramatercept)." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Is there human data behind the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "human data: two randomized trials for ACE-031, both of which measured lean mass, one of them strength as well; several small trials for MK-677, the longest two years; dose-response, route and 16-week studies for hexarelin; one pharmacokinetic study and one missed phase 2 for ipamorelin; gene therapy and a different fusion protein for follistatin; nothing for IGF-1 LR3. ACE-031: a 48-person single-dose trial with a lean mass gain, a 24-boy Duchenne trial stopped over vascular findings whose strength testing did not move, a 70-person phase 1 with no posted results, and a 2026 marmoset study. every ACE-031 trial and animal study carries Acceleron Pharma authors. MK-677: the two-year trial in older adults, a two-month trial in 24 obese men, a one-week nitrogen balance study in eight volunteers, and two hip-fracture trials that missed on function, one of them stopped early. the compound was Merck's, and ibutamoren is back in a phase 3 under another company as LUM-201, in children with growth hormone deficiency rather than for muscle. hexarelin: dose-response and route studies in volunteers, a 16-week course that left body composition unchanged, and open studies in short children from one Tel Aviv group. ipamorelin: one pharmacokinetic study, one phase 2 that missed its endpoint, one larger phase 2 with no results posted, and founding papers from Novo Nordisk. follistatin-344: mouse genetics, a macaque gene therapy study, two small gene therapy trials from one group at Nationwide Children's Hospital with a published dispute over the second, and one phase 1 of a different follistatin-based protein. IGF-1 LR3: cell and rodent work from the CSIRO group that built it, no human study of any kind." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Why does the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench not list doses?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "the research compounds on the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench are sold for laboratory research, not as supplements, so the bench sets out roles, evidence, overlap and conflicts for them, never amounts or schedules." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What conflicts with the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "heart failure, fluid retention or coronary disease: the MK-677 phase 2b in hip-fracture patients was terminated over a heart failure signal, one woman in the two-year trial had a heart attack a week after starting the drug, and mild lower-leg swelling was common in that trial. diabetes or prediabetes: fasting glucose, HbA1c and insulin sensitivity all moved the wrong way on MK-677 over a year, and the obese-men trial found worse glucose handling at two and eight weeks. a bleeding tendency, a vascular malformation or fragile vessels: that is the one documented human safety signal for ACE-031. cancer now or in the past: mecasermin's label rules that drug out in anyone with a cancer or a history of one, the ACE-031 trials excluded a malignancy history, and the two-year MK-677 trial recorded a cancer diagnosis in two people who had taken the drug and one who had taken only placebo, with no causal claim made either way. hypoglycemia risk, including insulin or other glucose-lowering drugs: severe hypoglycemia with seizures is on the mecasermin label, which ties each dose to a meal, and nothing comparable has been worked out for IGF-1 LR3. two ghrelin-receptor compounds at once: the same receptor twice, and no study behind the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench pairs them. follistatin-344 with ACE-031: the same block from two directions, with no study in any species that combines them. athletes: MK-677, ipamorelin and hexarelin are named in WADA section S2.2.4, IGF-1 analogues in S2.3, and follistatin and decoy activin receptors in S4.3, all prohibited at all times and all non-specified substances." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Does BHG Labs sell these?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "BHG Labs lists CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin 5mg+5mg for research use only. BHG Labs posts certificates for some of its products on its own certificates page (bhglabs.co/coa). BHG Labs has one product on the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench, the CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin vial, and it lists ipamorelin only inside that vial; no BHG Labs listing names MK-677, hexarelin, IGF-1 LR3, follistatin-344 or ACE-031." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Who is the Peptides for Muscle Growth bench for?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "people who searched for the best peptides for muscle growth and want to see, one compound at a time, which of them has a human trial that measured muscle and what that trial found" } } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://www.bodyhackguide.co" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Stacks", "item": "https://www.bodyhackguide.co/stack" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Peptides for Muscle Growth", "item": "https://www.bodyhackguide.co/stack/muscle-growth-peptides" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://www.bodyhackguide.co#organization", "name": "BodyHackGuide", "alternateName": "BHG", "url": "https://www.bodyhackguide.co", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.bodyhackguide.co/logo.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 }, "description": "Evidence-based research reference for peptides and nootropics. 273 compound profiles, interactive dosing calculators, vendor price comparisons, and trust-scored vendor reviews scored on a public, reproducible methodology applied to every vendor. We earn a commission on purchases through some of our links.", "foundingDate": "2024", "founder": { "@id": "https://www.bodyhackguide.co/about#person" }, "sameAs": [ "https://reddit.com/r/BodyHackGuide", "https://reddit.com/r/BrainHackGuide", "https://reddit.com/r/Biohackingher", "https://discord.gg/Mhq5UdRYBA" ], "knowsAbout": [ "Peptide research", "Nootropic research", "Biohacking", "Compound dosing", "Vendor transparency" ], "publishingPrinciples": "https://www.bodyhackguide.co/editorial-standards", "ethicsPolicy": "https://www.bodyhackguide.co/editorial-standards", "diversityPolicy": "https://www.bodyhackguide.co/editorial-standards" } ] ```