Can hCG be used alone?

When hCG is used alone, it is usually used medically to treat fertility related conditions. For bodybuilder, hCG makes less use alone.

Can hCG be used alone to increase testosterone levels?

Adult male testosterone levels gradually decrease with age. As testosterone levels drop, it makes it harder for bodybuilder to gain muscle.

The purpose of using AAS in bodybuilder is to supplement exogenous testosterone and keep the body at a high testosterone level, which helps gain muscle mass during bodybuilding.

hCG stimulates the production of testosterone in the testicles. Can it be used to raise your own testosterone levels?

hCG can increase testosterone levels to some extent, but hCG is mainly used to recover from low testosterone levels. If the testes are stimulated with hCG for a long time, the Leydig cells of the testes will be damaged.

So bodybuilder typically does not use hCG alone to boost testosterone levels, opting instead for AAS.

Can adding hCG alone to the steroid cycle prevent testicular atrophy?

Testosterone is produced in the testicles. The pituitary gland releases two gonadotropins, LH and FSH, to promote testosterone secretion in the testicles. Exogenous supplementation of AAS can inhibit the signals from the pituitary to LH and FSH and reduce the secretion of testosterone. In the steroid cycle, the body’s testosterone level was always at a high level, so the reduced endogenous testosterone level did not show its influence on the body. When the steroid cycle ends, the testosterone level is suppressed and the information from the pituitary to LH and FSH is weak, so the testosterone level is difficult to recover, and the effects of low testosterone symptoms on the human body are very obvious.

If the steroid cycle is short and we end it in time, it will have less impact on the testicles when the testosterone level rises. It will cause testicular atrophy if the steroid cycle is prolonged and the endogenous testosterone is in a low level or even off state for a long time. Therefore, if the bodybuilder steroid cycle is long, it needs to add hCG in the cycle.

However, the use of hCG has been shown to increase aromatase activity in the body by increasing the expression of aromatase in the testis, the enzyme responsible for converting androgens into estrogen. At this point, when you’re already taking AAS supplements, there’s a lot of free testosterone in your body, which is aromatized and converted into estrogen. Therefore, in addition to stimulating endogenous testosterone production and preventing testicular atrophy, adding hCG to the steroid cycle would increase the estrogen level in the body.

Therefore, when bodybuilder adds hCG to the steroid cycle to prevent testicular atrophy, it is generally not added alone, but together with aromatase inhibitors.

Does adding hCG alone to the pct cycle restore normal testosterone levels?

Most pct drugs are Tamoxife(Nolvadex) and clomiphene(Clomid). Both of these drugs are SERMs(Selective Estrogen receptors), which promote the release of LH and FSH and contribute to the increase of testosterone secretion.

The action mode of hCG is a little different. hCG directly simulates the action of LH, stimulates the secretion of testosterone, and helps the pituitary release the suppressed LH and FSH to improve the level of testosterone. hCG does not stimulate the secretion of the true luteinizing hormone, so it is usually used with nolvadex or clomid in the pct cycle and rarely alone.

Back in the 1960s, pct didn’t even exist, and most AAS users didn’t use any compounds to help restore endogenous testosterone levels. By about 1980, hCG was gaining popularity, and at that time, hCG was the only pct drug available. It was not until the side effects of long-term use of hCG alone became apparent that people began to use hCG more scientifically.

In summary, hCG was mainly used in steroid cycle and pct cycle to prevent testicular atrophy and restore testosterone level. However, hCG is rarely used alone and is often used in combination with aromatase inhibitors or SERM.