ITRC: Lean Out and Muscle Up Now!

People, and especially bodybuilders, who have so much muscle to show, want to get lean. In case you haven't heard, growth hormone has been shown to supercharge fat burning. It's been known to work miracles in both the muscling-up and leaning-out departments, not to mention the anti-aging realm. Because of that fact, we're repeating one of our most popular Research Team features, the GH-boosting stack.

Growth hormone is getting a reputation as a miracle rejuvenating compound. According to a bevy of studies, a surge in your GH can increase your muscle mass; burn bodyfat; strengthen connective tissues, including tendons and ligaments; help heal injuries; revitalize your skin and hair; bolster your immune system and give you more energy. It's no wonder drug companies have been overwhelmed by the demand since GH was first introduced more than two decades ago. Today aging baby boomers consider it the fountain of youth, which is driving demand even higher.

Most bodybuilders couldn't care less about revitalizing skin and hair, but GH's muscle-building, fat-burning potential has lured them to it like nerds to a 'Star Trek' convention. Bodybuilders began experimenting with GH in the late '80s and early '90s, and now almost every pro is using or has used it. Many experts believe that human growth hormone is so powerful, it's the reason physique athletes are so much bigger and leaner now than they were in past decades. In fact, GH may be the single biggest reason there are so many behemoths stalking the stages at pro contests'it's the ultimate muscle-building, fat-burning compound, especially when used in conjunction with other substances–legal or otherwise.

Scientists are beginning to understand that GH has synergistic reactions with other anabolic hormones in the human endocrine system, including testosterone. The problem is, GH is a prescription drug that you have to administer intramuscularly. So the question becomes, How do you increase your GH naturally to harness its amazing power without having to inject it and risk dangerous side effects? The answer is, you take advantage of scientific training techniques and supplements that are based on the latest research.

Training for GH release involves keying in on the big compound exercises, like squats and rows, and also getting a burn in the target muscles by supersetting exercises and/or using other set-extending techniques. The reasons those strategies work are discussed in Michael Gundill's 'Mass Combustion' series, Part 3 of which appears on page 164. The training routines in the book Compound Aftershock by Steve Holman are designed to trigger a surge in GH, and some of the bodypart routines in this month's 'Train, Eat, Grow' on page 104 incorporate the Aftershock technique, but if you want an even bigger, better surge, you should use supplements that complement the technique, specifically GH Stak, an effervescent growth hormone booster, and Cort-Bloc, a cortisol-control compound.

GH Stak and Cort-Bloc synergize to ratchet up your natural growth hormone levels. As Gundill explained, 'When GH users are unhappy with their results, the culprit is usually cortisol. Cortisol and GH are mortal enemies. Studies have demonstrated that GH's anabolic effects are blunted when cortisol is high. Scientists think cortisol reduces the number and/or the responsiveness of GH receptors to growth hormone. What's more, high-cortisol secretion is usually associated with a reduced GH secretion. Research has shown that GH boosters fail to elevate GH secretion whenever cortisol is high.' That pretty much sums up the synergy of the two supplements. Here's how and why they work.

GH Stak. New research points to a number of amino acids along with a host of other compounds that together can create a growth hormone tidal wave. One supplement that incorporates all of the latest research into a powerful GH-releasing compound is Muscle-Link's GH Stak.

Bodybuilders at the IRONMAN Training & Research Center have been experimenting with this product, effervescent tablets'like Alka Seltzer'that you dissolve in water and drink either before you train or at bedtime on an empty stomach. During the test phase of GH Stak drug-free bodybuilder Jonathan Lawson made some spectacular gains using it, adding more than 10 pounds of muscle to his ripped competition weight the first time he tried the product for an eight-week cycle (see his before and after photos on page 84). He got that amazing result thanks to GH Stak, Cort-Bloc and his high-intensity Positions-of-Flexion training protocol, which incorporates Aftershock supersets and stretch-position exercises. Stretch-position exercises are important because inordinate muscle elongation can increase growth hormone and insulinlike growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Perform them in high-intensity fashion with a GH Stak kicker, and you'll light the anabolic fuse that can ignite explosive muscle hypertrophy. According to GH Stak's developer, noted pharmacologist James Jamieson, who also invented the patch delivery system for drugs, you get a synergistic effect from the compounds in the effervescent supplement and the GH-releasing effects of high-intensity exercise.

Why is GH Stak in an effervescent form? Because studies show that there's a significant increase in GH from oral glutamine when the glutamine is in that form. The effervescent action also enhances the delivery of other growth hormone precursors, such as L-arginine, which is included in GH Stak in a more bioactive pyroglutamate form than what you get from standard L-arginine supplements.

GH Stak also contains anterior pituitary peptides that normalize somatostatin, a hormone that can shut down GH and IGF-1 receptors. That's extremely important because when you elevate GH and IGF-1, you don't want somatostatin to smother their effects. GH Stak's anterior pituitary peptides prevent the shutdown, which drastically increases the effects.

As for the research, an unpublished study on GH Stak showed that bodybuilders had anywhere from a 12 percent increase in IGF-1 levels after just one day of using the supplement all the way to a 36.6 percent increase after only six days. The results have been so spectacular that doctors at anti-aging clinics are using this product in place of GH injections. (IGF-1 levels are more stable and have a direct correlation to GH levels, which is the reason they're used to measure GH output.) Cort-Bloc (phosphatidylserine). With intense training comes increased cortisol, a stress hormone that can cannibalize muscle tissue and blunt the anabolic effects of GH. Fortunately, one compound can fight that negative effect and in turn increase the power of GH: phosphatidylserine. In two Italian studies PS showed impressive anticatabolic properties in endurance athletes, suppressing cortisol by more than 30 percent. In a recent study by Thomas Fahey, a professor at California State University, Chico, it was shown that soy-based PS reduced blood cortisol during and after bodybuilding-type workouts by almost 30 percent, an especially important finding for weight trainers who classify themselves as hardgainers.

ALLCortisol production is a primitive mechanism that's triggered when the fight-or-flight response is invoked. That means, if you're under a lot of stress during the day, cortisol could be causing your body to waste muscle tissue at almost every turn. It's believed that hardgainers are cortisol overproducers. In addition, the body perceives intense workouts as a threatening stress and, therefore, pumps cortisol into your system after every hard training session. It also perceives hunger as stress, a key reason to take a cortisol-control supplement like Cort-Bloc with your last meal at night prior to the three-hour fast that precedes your growth hormone booster. Remember, you want your cortisol to be low when you take your GH booster because cortisol blunts GH's anabolic effects.

You can also take GH Stak before you train instead of before bed, which is how members of the ITRC got the best gains. You should fast for two hours before you take it, then take your Cort-Bloc after you train and before bed. With so many factors causing cortisol release and impending muscle catabolism, is it any wonder that it's so hard to build muscle? The catabolic facts regarding cortisol make it obvious that PS should be on every bodybuilder's supplement list, especially high-strung individuals who generally overproduce cortisol. Take it prior to your workouts, and by reducing your cortisol levels, you'll also get more anabolic power from your GH. By the way, Cort-Bloc contains vitamin B6, which has been linked to increases in natural growth hormone output.

To get both GH Stak and Cort-Bloc at an incredible price, call 1-800-447-0008 and ask for the IM Research Team GH-Boosting Special. You'll get the following rushed to your door, and we'll also throw in an ITRC T-shirt:

Two boxes of GH Stak (60-day supply'a $160 value).
Two 60-capsule bottles of Cort-Bloc (a $100 value).
An IRONMAN Training & Research Center T-shirt.

That's more than $250 worth of supplements, but you get it all for only $169.95 plus shipping and handling. In other words, you save more than $100 for a two-month supply of two of the best growth-hormone-boosting supplements around'and all you have to do is give us feedback on the products and before and after pictures. If you don't feel particularly photogenic, you can skip the photos, but we do want feedback via the questionnaire and comments after you make your spectacular progress. (That's what we get out of the deal, feedback to use in IRONMAN'and before and after photos are a big plus.) Call 1-800-447-0008 immediately to take advantage of the IM Research Team GH-Boosting Special. Ask for it when you call'don't forget to give us your T-shirt size'and we'll rush your supplements to your door.

Join the Team, test hot new supplements and get big with the program! It's a plan to grow on.