Best HGH Boosters for Muscle Building: What Works

Ask ten lifters for the “best HGH booster” and you will get ten product names. Ask an exercise scientist and you will probably hear something less exciting: the best growth hormone booster is a hard training session followed by a good night of sleep.

That answer is not a dodge. In this article, we rank the things that raise growth hormone and build muscle, from the strongest evidence to the weakest, so you can spend your time and money where it counts. Supplements are on the list, just not at the top.

1. Intense resistance training

Exercise is one of the most reliable natural triggers of growth hormone release. Research in athletes shows that the growth hormone response depends on exercise intensity, duration, the amount of muscle involved, and rest periods. Fitness level and age also affect the size of the response ^[1].

For muscle building, that points to compound lifts such as squats, deadlifts, presses, and rows, done with real effort, plus some sets with shorter rest. More importantly, resistance training builds muscle directly, regardless of growth hormone.

2. Deep sleep

The largest growth hormone pulse of the day happens early in the night during deep sleep ^[2]. Deep sleep and growth hormone both decline from young adulthood to midlife in men ^[3]. If you are training hard and sleeping six hours, sleep is your biggest missed opportunity.

3. Enough protein and calories

Muscle needs raw material. Spreading protein across three or four meals and eating enough total calories to support training matters more than any booster. Growth hormone does not build muscle out of nothing.

4. Staying lean

Higher levels of abdominal fat are associated with lower growth hormone release. Losing excess fat through diet and training tends to improve your hormonal environment and your training at the same time.

5. Creatine

Creatine is not an HGH booster, but it is one of the best-studied supplements for strength and muscle. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements describes creatine as one of the supplements with the strongest evidence for improving performance in short, high-intensity exercise ^[4]. If you want one supplement for the gym, start here.

6. HGH booster supplements

Most HGH boosters are built on amino acids such as arginine, ornithine, lysine, and glutamine, sometimes with GABA or herbal extracts. Here is what the evidence shows:

• Arginine taken at rest can raise growth hormone somewhat, but taking it before exercise can actually reduce the growth hormone response to the workout ^[5].
• The NIH found the research on arginine for strength and performance limited and conflicting ^[4].
• Even prescription growth hormone increased lean mass but not strength in healthy, fit adults ^[6].

So if prescription growth hormone does not make healthy lifters stronger, a supplement that may or may not nudge growth hormone is unlikely to be a game changer.

Common mistakes

• Changing everything at once. If you start a new program, a new diet, and a booster in the same week, you will never know what worked.
• Taking arginine right before training to “boost GH.” Research suggests this may blunt the natural growth hormone response to the workout ^[5].
• Cutting sleep to train more. You lose the deep sleep window when much of your natural growth hormone is released.
• Judging results after two weeks. Muscle changes take months.
• Ignoring the label. Proprietary blends make it hard to know what dose you are taking.

If you still want to try an HGH booster

• Pick one with a full ingredient list and amounts.
• Take it consistently for 8 to 12 weeks while keeping your training and diet steady.
• Track strength, body weight, and waist size so you can judge it honestly.
• Choose a product with a clear money-back guarantee.

Our HGH supplements guide compares the ingredients and research for GenF20 Plus, SeroVital, Provacyl, GenFX, and Sytropin.

The ranking in one line

Train hard, sleep well, eat enough protein, stay lean, consider creatine, and only then think about an HGH booster. For more on growth hormone itself in bodybuilding, see Human Growth Hormone for Bodybuilding: Does It Work?

Earlier versions of this article named a spray as the best HGH booster and described it as FDA approved. That was not accurate, and we have corrected it.

This article is for information only and is not medical advice. HGHSpecial does not sell prescription HGH or somatropin. Talk to your doctor before taking any supplement, especially if you have a health condition or take medication.

Sources

1. Godfrey RJ, et al. The exercise-induced growth hormone response in athletes. Sports Med. 2003
2. Van Cauter E, Plat L. Interrelationships between growth hormone and sleep. Growth Horm IGF Res. 2000
3. Van Cauter E, et al. Age-related changes in slow wave sleep and REM sleep and relationship with growth hormone and cortisol levels in healthy men. JAMA. 2000
4. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Dietary Supplements for Exercise and Athletic Performance
5. Kanaley JA. Growth hormone, arginine and exercise. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2008
6. Liu H, et al. Systematic review: the effects of growth hormone on athletic performance. Ann Intern Med. 2008