Research
Hormonal
GH replacement in GH-deficient adults improves exercise capacity (VO2max, ventilatory threshold) and lean body mass, but does not improve performance in healthy normal subjects.
If you are diagnosed with Growth Hormone Deficiency, replacement therapy will likely improve your exercise capacity and lean mass. If you are healthy, taking GH will not improve your performance and carries significant health risks.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Measures of exercise performance including maximal oxygen uptake and ventilatory threshold are impaired in adult GH deficiency and improved by GH replacement... In normal subjects... there is no evidence that exercise capacity is enhanced by administration of GH to normal subjects
Why this rating
Based on multiple controlled trials in GHD, but limited by small sample sizes and heterogeneity.
Source
The Growth Hormone/Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Axis in Exercise and Sport
James Gibney et al. · Endocrine Reviews · 2007
DOI 10.1210/er.2006-0052
narrative_reviewCited 177×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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