Goal

Muscle growth

Compounds14

With human trials2

Fourteen compounds, no primary matches, and one important distinction between asking the pituitary and bypassing it.

The first thing to notice is that no compound on this page is weighted 5. That is the dataset being honest rather than an omission. Most of what follows works on the growth hormone and IGF-1 axis, which improves recovery, connective tissue quality and body composition at the margins, but does not build muscle the way androgens do. Training stimulus, protein and sleep remain the variables that carry the result.

Three mechanisms are represented. GHRH analogues — CJC-1295 with and without DAC, sermorelin, tesamorelin — ask the pituitary to release growth hormone. Ghrelin receptor agonists — hexarelin, GHRP-2, ipamorelin, and oral MK-677 — trigger a pulse through a separate receptor, which is why the two families are so commonly paired. The third group bypasses the pituitary entirely: IGF-1 LR3 and MGF act directly on tissue, which removes the feedback loop that makes secretagogues self-limiting, and that is precisely why they carry more risk and thinner human evidence than anything else on the page. A fourth, weakly weighted group — MOTS-c, 5-Amino-1MQ, SLU-PP-332, TB-500 — is here for muscle metabolism and repair rather than hypertrophy.

If you are choosing between secretagogues, selectivity is the practical axis: ipamorelin was picked over hexarelin and GHRP-6 precisely because it triggers a pulse with little effect on cortisol and prolactin. Hexarelin is more potent and blunts within two to four weeks, so it is cycled short rather than run continuously. Anything that raises IGF-1 is contraindicated in active malignancy, and the direct growth factors deserve particular care: their doses are in the tens of micrograms, where a decimal error is not a wasted dose but an emergency.

How to read this

Match — how squarely it aims here

The weight the dataset gives this compound for this goal, 1 to 5. It describes intent and mechanism, not benefit, and not direction: a 5 means the compound acts hard on the system in question.

5/5primary use

Evidence — whether anyone has shown it

Read from the compound’s evidence note and handling grade, for the compound as a whole rather than for this goal alone. A 5/5 match on animal data is a hypothesis, not a result.

Human trialsRandomized or controlled human trials exist, or the compound holds a regulatory approval somewhere. Trials existing is not the same as trials succeeding — some of these were negative.
Some human dataPublished human work exists but is small, early-phase, acute, or from a single group that nobody has replicated.
Animal data onlyThe case rests on rodent and cell work. Doses shown are extrapolated, not established in people.
Anecdotal onlyNo published trial record of any kind. Every number comes from vendor packaging and community practice.

14 compounds, strongest match first

Ranked for muscle growth

Match 4/5 · Strong secondary

Match 3/5 · Meaningful contributor

Match 2/5 · Marginal

Named stacks

Protocols built around this goal

GH Pulse (Ipamorelin + CJC-1295 no-DAC)Also targets12 weeksBeginnerThe standard growth hormone secretagogue pairing: a GHRH analogue (CJC-1295 without DAC, also sold as Mod GRF 1-29) plus a ghrelin receptor agonist (ipamorelin), injected together so the two mechanisms produce a larger pulse than either alone. Both are short-acting, which is the point - it mimics a natural pulse instead of flattening it.Retatrutide + GH PulseAlso targets16 weeksAdvancedWeekly retatrutide for the fat loss, plus the standard nightly GHRH + GHRP pulse (CJC-1295 without DAC and ipamorelin) bolted on. The stated reason is preserving lean mass through an aggressive incretin cut. Read the evidence note before you buy that reason - the lean-mass problem is real and measured, but this specific fix is not.Tirzepatide + TesamorelinAlso targets26 weeksAdvancedThe same idea as Retatrutide + GH Pulse, built from the two compounds in their classes that actually have FDA labels: weekly tirzepatide for the weight loss, daily tesamorelin for visceral fat and the GH axis. It is the conservative version of the muscle-sparing stack - better documented on both sides, more expensive, and with a clearer glucose problem to watch.

Not sure this is your goal

Most people arrive wanting two or three of these at once, and the honest answer is usually to pick one and run it properly. The quiz weighs your goals against your experience, the routes you will tolerate and your contraindications, then shows its reasoning rather than just a name.

Take the quiz

Other goals

Educational information only, not medical advice. Talk to a licensed clinician before starting, changing, or stopping anything.