Ibutamoren, otherwise known by its research names MK 677, L-163,191 and Oratrope, is a novel growth hormone secretagogue initially developed to treat growth hormone deficiency.
It wasn't long however, before bodybuilders discovered it can be used to boost growth hormone levels, improve muscle growth, enhance sleep quality, and burn fat.
In today's guide, we'll be covering:
- What is MK 677?
- How MK 677 Works
- Proven MK 677 Benefits
- The Best MK 677 Dosage
- How to Cycle MK 677
- Any Potential Side Effects
- Where to Buy MK 677
- …and much, much more
I've been experimenting with research chemicals for over a decade now, so if you want to know everything I've learned about MK 677, then keep reading this ultimate guide.
What is MK-677?
Before we get into how to use MK 677 for bodybuilding, we first need to clear up the most common conception, which is that MK 677 is a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM).
Contrary to popular belief, MK 677 is NOT A SARM. It's something called a growth hormone secretagogue, which massively boosts your body's growth hormone production.
This leads to clinically proven benefits, like:
- Building Lean Muscle Mass
- Improving Bone Mineral Density
- Accelerated Fat Burning
- Protected Brain Health
- Higher Sleep Quality
- Better Cognitive Function
- …and more
There's a reason why they call human growth hormone, or HGH, the “fountain of youth,” because it literally makes you feel like you're 10 years younger. Before we explain how to use it though, let's quickly go over exactly how it works, the history of its development, and the data.
Mechanism of Action
How does MK 677 work? According to the scientific evidence and scientific research, there's two main mechanisms of action that give MK 677 its growth hormone boosting effects.
- Mimicking The Hormone Ghrelin – By mimicking a natural hormone in your body, MK 677 binds to ghrelin receptors and “tricks” your body into producing more growth hormone, which leads to massive physical benefits throughout the body.
- Activating the GH-IGF-1 Axis – According to clinical trials, MK 677 also activates the part of the brain responsible for producing IGF-1, or Insulin Like Growth Factor 1. This leads to a significant increase in muscle tissue growth and recovery.
MK 677 boosts growth hormone by mimicking a very special hormone called ghrelin, that your body naturally produces in abundance when you're young, but that declines as you get older.
The hormone ghrelin leads to the production of growth hormones. It works by binding to ghrelin receptors in the brain, which tells your body to make more growth hormone.
This is why MK 677 Ibutamoren is so effective at increasing growth hormone. It literally mimics a natural hormone ghrelin in your body, binds to ghrelin receptors, and tells your body to jack up the growth hormone production like it's going out of style. [R]
MK 677 vs HGH
The most obvious question I get is, if MK 677 increases growth hormone, why not just take more growth hormone, then? There's a couple of different answers for this.
First off, real HGH costs between $1,000 and $5,000/month from reputable clinic. Even if you manage to get some black market HGH, that will still cost you at LEAST $1,000/month.
Compare that to the cost of MK 677, where you can literally get a month's supply for less than $100 or $200, from a reliable, reputable SARMs vendor. That's literally less than 10% the cost.
Second, is you need to inject HGH, whereas you can take MK 677 orally. Obviously, most people don't like needles, so that's a huge benefit right there.
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Lastly, is taking exogenous growth hormone causes your pituitary gland to stop producing its own. Oral administration of MK 677, however, has been shown to increase your body's growth hormone levels, WITHOUT shutting your natural production down.
Is it any wonder why people are ditching HGH and just taking MK 677 Ibutamoren instead?
History of MK 677
MK 677 Ibutamoren was initially developed as a way to treat children with growth hormone deficiency. The idea was that HGH injections were too expensive, and shut down the body's natural growth hormone secretion, whereas MK 677 was cheap to manufacture, and didn't.
Here's a timeline of Ibutamoren's development:
- 1995 – MK 677 first developed to treat growth hormone deficiency [R]
- 1998 – MK 677 begins Phase I Clinical Trials in healthy young adults [R]
- 2005 – MK 677 begins Phase II Clinical Trials with the FDA [R]
- 2018 – Lumos Pharma acquires the rights to MK 677 from Merck [R]
Ibutamoren MK 677 is currently undergoing Phase II clinical trials with the FDA to ascertain the safety of long term oral administration and any potential long term side effects.
That being said, the current clinical endocrinology data and research studies regarding MK 677 Ibutamoren are extremely promising, and so is the anecdotal bodybuilding evidence.
Is MK 677 Legal?
Is MK 677 legal? Yes. MK 677 is legal to buy and possess, but only for research purposes. In other words, it's legal to buy, sell, and own, but is not legal for human consumption, unless you're a pharmaceutical company running clinical trials.
That being said, this hasn't stopped tens of thousands of bodybuilders from buying it and using it to improve sleep quality, muscle strength, bone density, and body composition.
For the most part, while it's technically illegal to consume Ibutamoren MK 677, unless you literally take it in front of a cop, there's almost zero chance you'd ever have to worry.
MK 677 is legal to buy and own in the following countries:
- United States
- United Kingdom
- South Africa
- Canada
- Singapore
- India
- South America
- Most of Europe
Australia is really the only country that has problems with SARMs, so if you're in any other country than that, you shouldn't have to worry about if you get caught with MK 677.
Professional Athletes
The only time you should really be concerned with MK 677 usage is if you're a professional athlete and you might get tested. Because MK 677 Ibutamoren gives you such a huge advantage in athletic competitions, it's outright banned and often tested for.
The following organizations have banned MK 677 from competition:
- World Anti Doping Agency [R]
- US Anti Doping Agency [R]
- National Collegiate Athletic Association [R]
- Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority [R]
With its ability to help you pack on pounds of lean muscle mass as fast as if you were on anabolic steroids, it's really no wonder that MK 677 has been banned from competition.
MK 677 Benefits
Now onto my favorite part. Let's start talking about how you can use MK 677 to pack on pounds of muscle mass, improve bone mineral density, and transform your physique.
Here are the clinically proven benefits of MK 677:
- Increased Growth Hormone
- Rapidly Build Muscle Mass
- Accelerated Fat Burning
- Improved Sleep Quality
- Full Body Healing
- Increased Appetite
- …and more
Overall, I absolutely love the way my body feels when I'm on MK 677. It's a god send for any hard gainers that have trouble bulking up and eating enough calories, as you'll soon find out.
Enhanced Production of HGH
The most obvious and clinically backed benefit of Ibutamoren MK 677, is its ability to act as a ghrelin receptor agonist, and drastically and rapidly boost levels of HGH in the body. [R]
Many of the key benefits that Ibutamoren MK 677 offers, comes from its ability to do this. By increasing growth hormone levels in the body, MK 677 gives you all the benefits of HGH.
Faster Muscle Building
While it isn't as strong as other SARMs like RAD 140 when it comes to building muscle, you can't ignore the positive effect Ibutamoren MK 677 has on muscle growth.
In fact, one study stated that:
“Fat-free mass increased significantly in the MK-677 treatment group when determined with dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (P < 0.01) or using a four-compartment model (P < 0.05). Changes in body composition and energy expenditure were of an anabolic nature, with a sustained increase in fat-free mass and a transient increase in basal metabolic rate.”
-The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Volume 83, Issue 2 [R]
“Fat free mass,” is a term researchers use to describe “lean muscle mass,” which in layman's terms, means that MK 677 will help you gain lean muscle mass on a cycle.
Improves Sleep Quality
Another awesome benefit of Ibutamoren MK 677 is its ability to increase REM sleep. This may be where a lot of the healing properties of MK 677 come from, is by improving sleep quality.
One study found the following about MK 677 and sleep:
“In young subjects, high-dose MK-677 treatment resulted in an approximately 50% increase in the duration of stage IV and in a more than 20% increase in REM sleep as compared to placebo (p < 0.05). The frequency of deviations from normal sleep decreased from 42% under placebo to 8% under high-dose MK-677 (p < 0.03). In older adults, treatment with MK-677 was associated with a nearly 50% increase in REM sleep (p < 0.05) and a decrease in REM latency (p < 0.02). The frequency of deviations from normal sleep also decreased (p < 0.02).”
-Journal of Neuroendocrinology, Volume 66, No. 4, Published Oct. 1997 [R]
In other words, not only did prolonged oral treatment of MK 677 increase REM sleep, but it decreased the odds of users having a “bad night” of sleep, and gave them deeper sleep.
My MK 677 Review
Overall, my review of MK 677 Ibutamoren is that it's an amazing compound for bulking, healing, strength building, and overall health with very minimal side effects.
Here's my MK 677 cycle information:
- Cycle Length: 8 Weeks
- MK 677 Dosage: 25mg/day
- Goal of Cycle: Bulking
- Workout Routine: 5-Day Split
- On Cycle Support: No
- Post Cycle Therapy: No
- Muscle Gained: 19 Pounds
- Body Fat Lost: 3 Pounds
Overall, even though my food consumption was WAY higher on this cycle, I ended up building a ton of muscle and shredding off a few pounds of excess fat. MK 677 is typically considered a bulking compound, so people don't really take it to lose body weight.
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The only gripe I had with MK 677 is that right after I took it, I'd always get very sleepy, so as I'll talk about in the dosage guide section below, it's best to always take right before bed.
Dosage & Cycle Facts
What's the best MK 677 dosage? While there's no FDA approved dosage just yet, based on the clinical data, most people seem to respond very favorably to just 25mg/day.
Some people have taken as much as 50mg/day and experienced no side effects, but this is usually the absolute max that bodybuilders recommend you take. Anything more than 50mg/day hasn't been very well studied, in human trials or in animal research.
Here's the MK 677 dosage guidelines:
- Beginner Dosage: 10mg/day
- Intermediate Dosage: 25mg/day
- Advanced Dosage: 50mg/day
For my first cycle, I took the “intermediate” dose, and this was more than enough to shred off a few pounds of fat mass, and pack on a whopping 19 pounds of lean body mass (AKA muscle).
MK 677 Cycle Guidelines
While technically Ibutamoren MK 677 doesn't shut down your body's production of HGH, long term use is still not recommended. More research should be done on long term use to determine if there's serious adverse effects or not.
That being said, all of the clinical data suggests MK 677 Ibutamoren is very safe, especially when taken in “cycles” of no more than 16 weeks, or 4 months. Generally the procedure you want to follow, is if you take it for 4 months, you want to take 4 months off right after.
Does MK 677 Require PCT?
Thankfully, no. MK 677 Ibutamoren does not require a PCT, because it doesn't suppress your natural testosterone production or natural HGH production. You can just stop taking it.
MK 677 Stacks
If you want to stack this growth hormone secretagogue with other SARMs to get even more physical benefits, then be my guest. Ibutamoren is an absolutely amazing bulking compound.
If you're looking for more of a cutting compound, I recommend Ostarine (MK-2866), which is a little bit more versatile. When it comes to Ibutamoren, it is 100% for bulking & healing.
The only time I'd ever consider using MK 677 on a cutting cycle, wouldn't even be for cutting, but just to help me sleep better and reduce any joint pain or tendon pain my cycle might cause.
MK 677 Bulking Stack
If you want to feel like you're on a powerful anabolic steroid, pack on pounds and pounds of lean body mass, and rapidly increase muscle strength, then this is the stack for you.
Sample MK 677 bulking stack:
- Ibutamoren (MK 677) – 25mg/day
- RAD 140 (Testolone) – 10mg/day
- YK11 (Myostine) – 10mg/day
This stack will literally make you look like a different person in just 2-3 months.
Where to Buy MK 677
There's a small risk factor anytime you buy research chemicals online, because most of the companies that sell them are actually loading up their “SARMs” with junk fillers.
In fact, according to a study by JAMA, only 48% of SARMs products actually contain SARMs, and even then, most of them weren't entirely pure (and contained dangerous compound). [R]
That's why if you want to get all the important benefits of MK 677, we suggest you buy it from a vendor that we've vetted and reviewed before, like this one here.
Potential Side Effects
While according to research, this compound is generally very safe, there's still some potential side effects you should be aware of, especially if you plan on taking it to bulk up a bit.
MK 677 can have minor side effects, like:
- Increased Blood Pressure
- Increased Appetite
- Fatigue & Sleepiness
- Lower Insulin Sensitivity
Overall these aren't much to worry about, but if you have diabetes or existing high blood pressure to begin with, you should NOT be taking MK 677 Ibutamoren.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Ibutamoren is an amazing compound for muscle growth, healing effects, better quality sleep, boosting the immune system, and improving cognitive function. Its applications actually go far beyond bodybuilding, although that's mostly what it's used for.
If you do decide to get MK 677 we highly recommend you get it from here.
