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In this week’s edition of The Morning Dose:

💉 Peptide Spotlight: Ipamorelin vs. Sermorelin

📰 In the News: Tristan Thompson Receives 25-Game Suspension for Banned Substances

💪 Boost Your Workouts with Cialis

⚠️ A Warning For GLP-1 Users (Don’t Make This Mistake)

Let’s inject this.

☕️ First time reading? I’m Matt, and this is The Morning Dose. Every week, our team scours hundreds of sources to bring you need-to-know news and insights you won’t find elsewhere. All in 5 minutes.

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💉 Peptide Spotlight: Ipamorelin vs. Sermorelin

For this week’s spotlight, rather than focusing on one specific peptide, we’re going to do a comparison between two of the most popular peptides used for increasing growth hormone…

Ipamorelin and Sermorelin.

Both of these peptides are often used to boost growth hormone production, but what’s the difference? Which one is better?

Let’s take a look.

Ipamorelin is a peptide analog of ghrelin, the natural hormone that regulates your appetite. Ghrelin is produced in the gastrointestinal tract and sends signals to your brain that it’s time to eat.

Ipamorelin is a synthetic peptide that very closely resembles the molecular structure of ghrelin. It acts on your body’s ghrelin receptors and triggers the release of growth hormone.

Even though ghrelin itself increases appetite, research shows that Ipamorelin can increase your body’s growth hormone levels by 30%, which will have a significant impact on fat loss and muscle gain.

Sermorelin, on the other hand, is a synthetic version of a Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone (GHRH), which also increases your body’s growth hormone levels.

While Ipamorelin acts on the body’s ghrelin receptors, Sermorelin directly acts on the pituitary gland to increase growth hormone, similar to natural GHRHs in the body.

Sermorelin is also FDA-approved for treating growth hormone deficiency in children, while Ipamorelin is not FDA-approved yet for anything.

While they both increase growth hormone, they act on different pathways, and only sermorelin is FDA-approved to treat growth hormone deficiency.

That doesn’t mean Ipamorelin is necessarily dangerous, but it means that you may have an easier time getting a doctor to prescribe sermorelin if you’re using a peptide clinic.

But if you can only get one or the other, don’t sweat it–both are quite effective at increasing your growth hormone levels.

 📰 In the News: Tristan Thompson Receives 25-Game Suspension for Banned Substances

Tristan Thompson, center for Cleveland Cavaliers, just received a 25-game suspension for failing a drug test.

While we usually assume athletes fail drug tests for PEDs, Thompson tested positive for ibutamoren and LGD-4033. Ibutamoren is a peptide, and LGD-4033 is a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) – we’ve covered both in-depth on our website.

Together, these compounds could have been increasing his growth hormone levels, as well as supporting muscle growth and recovery from training.

Another NBA star, Joakim Noah was also suspended for LGD-4033 back in 2017, but aside from that, you don’t hear much about peptides in professional sports.

We found this interesting, not because he failed the test, but because peptides and SARMs are making their way into professional sports… and we suspect this is only the beginning.

Professional athletes are recovering faster than ever from injury these days.

The most notable example is NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who tore his Achilles tendon in week one of the NFL season and was cleared for practice only 11 weeks later.

This is a mind-blowing recovery time, and while he didn’t take the field again due to the Jets’ miserable season, he was seen running and throwing on the field.

Rodgers would have been the first player to tear his Achilles and come back in the same season.. at the age of 40. I don’t think ordinary physical therapy can accomplish this.

We can only assume he was using various compounds to accelerate his healing, similar to Tristan Thompson.

We may never know what athletes are using these days to heal injuries faster than ever, but this is only the beginning. I would be shocked if we don’t hear about even more professional athletes using peptides and SARMs in the coming years.

💪 Boost Your Workouts with Cialis

We’re going to let you in on a little secret that’s been making its way around bodybuilding circles for years…

Cialis, or tadalafil, is a GREAT pre-workout supplement.

Yes, that ED medicine we all know and love is a powerful tool for any gym enthusiasts out there.

Here’s the deal.

If you’ve never taken Cialis, it doesn’t immediately cause an erection or any kind of sexual arousal. Instead, it’s a PDE5 inhibitor, which increases levels of nitric oxide in your blood, relaxing blood vessels and improving blood flow.

You know those pre-workout supplements that claim to deliver “skin-tearing pumps?”

Well, it turns out Cialis may actually do that.

The first time I tried Cialis before a workout, I had veins popping out of my shoulders, which had NEVER happened before. This stuff is legit.

On top of improving your blood flow, Cialis may also increase your testosterone levels and lean muscle mass. Not to mention, improved blood flow during a workout means your body will have an easier time shuttling fresh nutrients to the muscle tissue in your body.

So if you’ve got some Cialis, or generic tadalafil on hand, try taking a small dose before your next gym session, and you may be pleasantly surprised!

⚠️ A Warning For GLP-1 Users (Don’t Make This Mistake)

As our community continues to grow by the day, so many of you have told us that you’re using GLP-1s, or weight loss peptides, to help improve your body composition and lose fat.

While we’re huge fans of GLP-1s, we want to make sure that you’re not making one critical mistake…

Relying on peptides to do the work for you.

They’re tremendously powerful, but that does NOT mean you can skip the gym and get shredded. GLP-1s are meant to be used along with a proper diet and training plan, not something you inject while sitting all day long.

First, resistance training protects muscle mass.

Anytime you’re losing weight, peptides or not, you run the risk of losing muscle. This is all but guaranteed if you’re losing weight without resistance training, and many health experts like Peter Attia have been very vocal that muscle loss may be a real concern for GLP-1 users.

Even if you don’t want to bulk up and get big, which actually takes a LOT of effort (and extra food!), strength training is incredibly important to maintain muscle as we age, weight loss or not.

Unless you want to be that person who can’t get up from a couch without help when you’re older, you need to be resistance training.

Second, exercise helps you maintain your weight loss.

This study found that semaglutide users regained two-thirds of their weight when they stopped using the peptide.

Again, while peptides are effective, they only work long-term if you change your habits. Regular exercise keeps your calorie burn as high as possible and makes sustaining weight loss significantly easier.

If you’re not going to lift weights, at least make sure to do your cardio, or get plenty of steps in every day.

So if you’re using GLP-1s, please don’t make the mistake of skipping out on your exercise.

Your muscles will thank you, and you’ll have a much better chance of maintaining your new physique.

Not sure where to start?

Muscle + Brawn head coach Daniel Louwrens can help you get started with a custom nutrition and training plan to help you reach your goals.

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You’ll be able to ask your questions, get feedback from our head coach, Daniel Louwrens, and interact with other members of the Muscle and Brawn community.

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