More Gains 4 Less (K4L Reta and GH Log)

[elit3keraed]

So after my touchdown of Dragon GH from Kits 4 Less I decided to start a new log to give some in depth reviews of their Reta 60mg and their Dragon GH. They have some posts in their forums with people saying they like it but I figure I’ll go a step further.

I do have experience with IL GH in the past so I know what to expect sides wise (if any) and results wise. Also been running an off board brand of Reta for the last 10 or 11 weeks) so I’ll have something to compare K4Ls to.

Currently at 2.5mg of Reta. Trying to decide if I want to go up to 3, stay at 2.5 or go down to 2. Started the dragon GH Saturday night (starting with 2ius but intend to push the dosage as time goes on). Sleep has been great in terms of feeling rested when I get up in the AM. Unfortunately I’ve had a sore throat the last 3 days so I’ve been waking up a ton throughout the night. If it wasn’t for the GH I’d 100% be a zombie right now.


I’m only on a TRT dose of test (150mg EW) so nothing else going on drug wise that could impact the results from the Reta and GH.


I’ll post my stats tomorrow morning but for now a quick progress photo from the last 14 months. I was 240 in the first pic (having just been released to workout after having my hamstring reattached) and 180 in the 2nd. Obviously different lighting and pose but it’s pretty clear how much of a fat shit i was.



Goal is to see what happens with the GH in the mix, my caloric intake staying at 2300 on days I don’t workout and 25-2600 on the days I do. Once I get a good baseline for the GH and the Reta combo I’ll be increasing my food and trying to add size.

Training split is basically Push/Pull/Off/Legs/Push/Pull/Off

Mondays off and sometimes a shoulder day thrown in before leg day just for some extra volume. The order is kind of odd but I hit legs on Friday since it’s my “weekend” and this way I can recover before starting my week on Sunday.

I got 3 kits of GH and will order another 2-3 depending on my experience with what I have. So I plan on a nice long growth phase without letting myself become a fat slob again.

 

[elit3keraed]

Woke up with a low grade fever. Throat is still kinda fucked up and having an all around bad time.

Push day today.

Incline Leverage Press: 2x190x10 140x8
Dips: 2x35x12 1xBWx12
Pushups: 22, 20, 15
Superset
Incline Cable Fly: 3x10x12
Supinated DB Front Raise: 3x10x12
Lateral Raise: 3x30x20
Tricep Rope Pushdown: 3x38x12
DB Kickback: 3x15x12
Cable Crunch: 3x55x20
Side Crunch: 3x33x12
Knee Raise: 3x20


Came home to a nice big bowl of PB Cookie Cream of Rice and a shake. Then 7oz of top sirloin and 400g of basmati rice.

Just finished a 30 minute ride on my peloton. Nothing too crazy HR stayed around 120 the entire ride.

Might do another 30 before bed but it felt good to get some blood flowing.

Thank god for the GH cuz my sleep was shit last night and I know id 100% feel even worse had the little sleep I got not been super refreshing.

 

[elit3keraed]

Sleep sucked last night. Fever broke around 3am so I woke up drenched in sweat.

Not sure if I’m just going to bed too early been falling asleep around 830 and waking up at midnight then getting lots of broken up sleep til 4 before I’m wide awake…I feel well rested at least but I’m going to wait till 10 to pin my GH and go to bed.


Scale weight is 178 this morning. Gut motility seems to have sped up.

Was pull day today. Sticking to a similar program I was doing the last few months but shifted rest periods, tempos and total sets. 90 second rest for compounds, 60 seconds for isolation and abs. Drop set is notated with a “>”

Wide Grip Pulldown: 143x12 143x10 > 121x8
DB Row: 110x8, 110x 10, 75x12
Cable Shoulder Extensions: 49x12, 2x55x12
Yates Row: 3x135x12
Smith Machine Upright Row (close grip) superset with Plate Overhead raise: 3x102x12 & 3x2x15
Preacher Curl Machine: 3x60x12
Hammer Curls: 3x27.5x12
Hanging Leg Raise: 3x15
Pallof Press: 3x10x12


Also hit an hour long ride on my bike. Took some “endurance class” on the peloton app it has. Stayed in between zone 2 and 3. Had some crazy quad vascularity going on.

Diet was “on point”. MFP automatically adds carbs and protein based on my expended calories from my lifting app and peloton app. I don’t plan on eating to the exact amount they indicate but definitely gives me an idea of how much I’ve done for the day and the wiggle room I have. I do find that when MFP shows a consistent 1k deficit I tend to lean out very quickly (2lbs a week) so it works well enough for me for now.



Back to work tomorrow after taking the last two days off. Then I’ll be off Friday and Saturday. So that means legs and another push day.

I felt a bit bloated today but that’s most likely from being sick. Could possibly be the GH but we’ll see over the next few days as I feel better.

 

[elit3keraed]

weight: 178.8

No lifting today. Was a planned off day. Slept better last night, only woke up twice and both times to pee before knocking back out. Was wide awake about 630.

Did a 30 minute ride on the bike. Took some “beginner endurance” class. Seemed a lot harder than a beginner class but then again I usually run so it’s a new modality. Really gets my VMOs pumped lol.

Wound up keeping calories pretty low until dinner. Then had a biggish meal. 10oz top sirloin and 300g jasmine rice.

Tomorrow is shot day. I’m still waffling between going to 3 or staying at 2.5 for the Reta. I’m 5 days into the GH and I’m noticing I seem to be taking some pretty monstrous dumps lol. Like Stan when he took the record shit on South Park lol. Not sure if it’s just because I’m close to shot day and the Reta half life is here or if it’s the HGH speeding up motility. Buddy said he is eating a ton and shitting a ton so maybe it’s a combo of both? Didn’t realize how much I had siting inside me though because I never look bloated or anything but if it means things are moving along better than I’ll take it.

Might add a CGM to the mix since I’m going to be increasing my carb intake but not sure if I wanna drop $50 for one.

Legs tomorrow. Anyone wanna drop some of their favorite exercises/intensity boosters to give me some ideas? I already have my leg day planned out but I’m always thinking of new ways to hit my hamstrings and quads. My new favorite is smith machine RDLs. Really lets me get a good stretch and feel the contraction through my hamstrings and glutes more.

 

[elit3keraed]

Morning weight: 180

Was really puffy this morning. Actually woke up with my hands hurting. Just kind of a swollen tight feeling but they didn’t look swollen. Obliques are definitely squishy/jiggly though. Could be the GH or could be that I bumped my HCG dosages to 750 IUs yesterday alongside my test shot instead of my normal 500 (was going to try 750 2x weekly instead of 500 3x weekly)


Legs and abs today. Decided to break leg training up into 2 days with one focusing on quads and the other on hamstrings.

Kneeling leg curl: 3x20x12
Belt Squat: 3x208x12
Leg Press (close stance, toes out): 3x310x20
Single Leg Extensions: 3x40x15
Prone Machine Curls: 3x70x12
Hip Abduction: 3x100x15
Hip Adduction: 3x80x15
Calf Raise Machine: 3x40x12
Seated Calf Raise: 3x110x12
Ab Coaster: 3x80x20
Side Cable Crunch: 3x35x12

Had an insane pump. Legs looked like sausages .

Skipped the bike cuz I don’t think I could handle the extra burn.

Calories were a little short today but it is what it is.

I did open up the Reta from kits today. 60mg. Took 3mg. Didn’t feel anything different from 2.5. Not sure if I’ll notice but but if I remain sides free I’ll probably see if I can push to 4mg which is supposedly the glycogen saturation point.


If the GH works as synergistically with the Reta as it is for my buddy (and from what a few members have said) then I maybe not much of an appetite suppression going further. But I’m excited to see what happens

 

[elit3keraed]

180 again today.

Hit a wall during dinner. Food just absolutely stopped looking good and I was flat out nauseous. The 3mg Reta is definitely legit from what I can tell.

Pissed my brains out all day.

Push day today. Chest delts and triceps.

Leverage Incline press: 2x200x12, 150x12
Dumbbell Cross Body Raise: 3x27.5x12
Dips: BWx20
Machine Fly: 3x110x12
Shoulder Press (Neutral): 3x40x15
Lateral: 30x20, 27.5x25 25x30 (45 second rest between sets)
Tricep Rope Pushdowns: 3x44x12
Overhead Rope Extensions: 2x38x12 25x12
Rope Crunches: 3x80x12
Cable Bell Crunch: 3x50x15

Feeling a little off today. Not sure if it’s the Reta or what.

Pull day tomorrow and work. We will see what this week brings.

 

[elit3keraed]

179 when I woke up. Bloating was down and I looked like my midsection was tightening up a bit.

Pull day. I tried some new exercises for back but not really happy with them so I’ll be tweaking the routine as time goes on.

Lat Pulldown Mag Grip: 2x-153x12, 131x12
Cable Row Mag Grip: 2x121x10
Shoulder Extensions: 3x55x12
Leverage Chest Supported Row: 2x126x8
Smith Machine Shrug: 3x152x12
Superset Plate OH Raise: 3x25x15
Seated Bent Over Rear Delt Fly: 3x15x30
Preacher Curl Machine: 3x60x12
DB Hammer Curl: 3x30x12
Hanging Leg Raise: 3x20
Pallof Pres: 3x17.5x12

Calories about where I wanted. 2600 for the day. Might go a little higher with some protein before bed depending on how I’m feeling.

 

[elit3keraed]

Morning weight: 178

Was rushed today. Had to drop the kids off at school first thing so wound up speeding through my session. It was hamstring dominant leg day. I’ll be making more changes for my next hamstring session.

Kneeling Single Leg Curl: 20x12, 2x25x12
Smith Machine RDL: 3x192x10
Lying Leg Curl: 3x80x12
Hip Abduction: 3x100x20
Hip Thrust Machine: 3x155x12

Will probably swap smith machine RDLs for RDLs on the belt squat platform. Or maybe DB RDLs. I am working on strengthening my psoas to help with my inability to arch my low back throughout traditional SLDLs so its always been tough getting my hamstrings working on this.

Work was a headache. A billion dollar company spends a ton of money building a system that fucking blows then hires a bunch of Indians who literally can’t tell their ass from a hole in the ground to be our IT. Like “delete the app and redownload it and it will resolve”…no I’ve spent the last 2 hours doing this it won’t fix it…then I do it anyways it doesn’t fix it and they just go “oh well it must be this then”…..it never is…and they love to call/email at 2am on my days off and leave a bunch of passive aggressive emails over the course of 5 hours (literally 2am to 7am) cc’ing my bosses as they keep giving me “gentle reminders to respond or they’ll close my ticket”…then of course they close my ticket because I am not on my WORK PHONE at 2 in the fucking morning.


Sorry rant over.

Anyways 30 minutes on the bike when I got home. Calories were within range for the day. About 2600. Took some magnesium Threonate and my GH. Gonna see how my sleep is tonight. Probably going to wake up a bunch to piss cuz I was drenched in sweat from cycling.



On a side note, I’ve noticed an increase in my RHR and my HR while sleeping now that I’m on growth. It DID go up a bit on Reta but seems to have jumped even more with the GH. Not retaining a ton of water, scale weight is the same as it always is.

But the one upside is I seem to have improved cardiac output. I seem to have a much higher endurance and “pain tolerance” than normal. My VMOs are on fire but it seems to be manageable…then with the Reta and the neural drive it gives me I can pretty much just shut off the “okay time to stop this is tough”. So being able to physically endure PLUS having the mental willpower to just keep going is a wild combination. Can’t wait for push day tomorrow

 

[elit3keraed]

Felt like ass today. I have noticed when I take my 5mg cialis on consecutive days I start to get body aches throughout the day so I’ll be dropping it to once every 2-3 days.

I feel fuller on the GH already and have noticed some better endurance so far. Was pissing like a race horse all day long. Got down about 170oz of water but calorie intake was a little low. Fiber is back up through the roof (80+grams a day).

Went a little different for chest today. Only 2 working sets but a variety of lifts. Noticed my strength seemed to just drop off after 2 hard sets so switching to another lift allowed me to push harder.

Push day:

Incline Leverage Chest Press: 210x12, 210x11
Decline Leverage Chest Press: 2x164x10
Pushups Superset with Cable Incline Flyes: 2x20 + 2x18x12
Hammer Strength Pec Fly: 2x85x12
Chest Support DB Front Raise: 3x10x15
DB Lateral: 3x25x20
Cable Tricep Rope Pushdown: 3x38x15
Overhead Rope Extensions: 3x38x12
Rope Crunch: 3x88x12
Cable Side Crunch: 3x38x12

Pump was really good. Actually noticed it stuck around for a while. Normally I finish a muscle group and pump goes away but my chest stayed pumped all the way through abs.

Hit some cardio on the bike tonight when I got home. Idk if it’s the GH or going up another .5 on Reta but I feel a ridiculous level of drive when I cycle. My quads will be on fire and I just keep peddling because it’s not 30 minutes yet. I also managed to figure out how to hack Netflix onto the peloton tablet so now I don’t need to pay $50 a month for a class and can watch whatever I want during cardio

 

[elit3keraed]

Thought I posted last night but apparently fell asleep before hitting post.


Pull day yesterday.

Wide grip pulldowns: 2x158x10
DB Row: 3x100x12
Shoulder Extensions: 3x49x12
Cable Row: 3x143x10
Face Pulls: 3x27x12
Reverse DB Fly: 3x15x30
Leverage Shrug: 3x140x12
Preacher Curl Machine: 3x60x12
DB Hammer Curl: 3x30x12

 

[elit3keraed]

179 waking weight:

Slept like a log last night. Did 30 minutes on the bike this morning as it was a rest day.




Calories stayed low today. Reworked my diet into more of a calorie cycling plan. Higher in leg day and medium on push and pull days.

Work was a fucking bitch and spent most of my day getting slammed with nonsense. 4 hours trying to fix a machine that wound up being fucked up due to the customer fucking with the pressure regulator. It was cool cuz I learned something I didn’t know but shit I as so hyperfocused on troubleshooting that I wound up missing lunch and chugging 3 bottles of water and a sugar free Gatorade for the electrolytes.

Brain is done for the night. Fucked up and pinned 4 units of GH. Got blood tests tomorrow for my quarterly checkup and quads as well. Then dentist appointment and catching up on a ton of cleaning and organizing. Oh and next Reta pin tomorrow.

 

[elit3keraed]

Morning weight: 179

Legs today. Was feeling pretty shit most of the day. Girlfriend decided to pick a fight at 930 last night as soon as we laid down to go to bed. GH pinned, magnesium popped and then got upset cuz I asked her what was wrong and she said “idk” and I left it at that instead of harassing her so she could get mad at me for “asking her what’s wrong over and over”.

Then proceeded to rehash said fight till midnight so I wound up with about 5 hours of sleep and a long ass day. Cuz of course she comes in first thing in the morning for hugs and attention because she felt insecure over the fight she picked . Fucking women man.

Had a doctors appointment and an RMR test this morning then hit legs. Dentist after for a good hour of hell.

Got a good hamstring pump off the standing leg curls. Quads had a decent pump.

Standing Leg Curl: 20x12, 2x25x12
Belt Squat: 3x248x12
Leg Press (heels together toes out): 4x315x20
Single Leg Extensions: 3x45x15
Lying leg curls: 3x80x12
Hip abductions: 3x115x15
Hip Adductions:: 3x90x20
Standing Calf Raise: 5x10x20
Seated Calf Riase: 5x70x20
Cable crunch: 3x88x12
Cable Side Crunch: 3x33x12

Macros for today


3mg of Reta and 3ius GH pinned (Reta AM and GH pre bed). Was pissing like a maniac today. Felt like every sip of water was pissed out almost immediately. Seemed to mellow out after I had a decent sized carb meal after the dentist. Maybe it was excess fluid from going slow carb yesterday?

Did an RMR test. New RMR is 1704 from 1534. So roughly 170 calorie increase from when I first started Reta. My body has also apparently moved towards burning more fat that carbs at rest. Obviously these tests aren’t 100% accurate but it’s interesting to see.w

There is one thing mind blowing to me. My cardio abilities. My Apple Watch says my resting heart rate average has gone up from 60-69 the last month. Basically when I bumped to 2.5mg. Today during the testing it was 78BPM which was concerning.

Decided to go for a run though and according to my Apple Watch my heart rate got up to 200bpm. Pre Reta I pushed it to 195 several times during sprints.

My cardio recovery was 54 after a minute (dropped from 194-140) and I ran an 8:16 mile. Haven’t run in like 2 months. I hust recently started cycling a week ago and even that’s not getting my cardio that high AND i hit legs less than 8 hours prior to my run and had only had some cream of rice, a protein shake and some Greek yogurt. So fairly carb depleted and not only did I shave off over a minute and a half from my average run time but I felt perfectly fine. No strain, no real issues.

This combo of GH and Reta really is potent as fuck.

 

[elit3keraed]

Push day:

Incline Leverage: 210x12 210x10 175x6
Cross Body Front Raise: 3x27.5x12
Dips: BWx 25
Machine Fly: 3x120x12
High Incline Shoulder Press: 3x25x15
DB Lateral: 25x20, 2x20x20
Tricep Rope Pushdown: 3x49x12
Overhead Rope Extension 3x38x12


Was feeling super fatigued today. Woke up super dehydrated so I wound up chugging half a gallon of water preworkout and another 32 ounces during. Close to 2 gallons for the day (or will be by the time I go to bed)

Went really high in carbs today. Seems like everytime I had carbs my energy was better for a bit after then immediately went back to feeling fatigued and tired.

I might pull back my Reta dose to 2mg if I don’t feel better this week. Might just be a little much being at 3.

One thing I did notice is that I feel hot as fuck after eating carbs. A really weird feeling to have but it is what it is.

 

[elit3keraed]

Missed the last few days. Still grinding.

Noticed that increasing my carbs has seemed to boost my fat loss. Back to having loose skin in my lower abs and getting more defined. Noticed some shoulder veins starting to come out today during push.

Incline Leverage Press: 2x210x10, 210x6
Decline Leverage Press: 2x184x10
Cross Body Chest Raise: 3x27.5x12
Superset
High Incline Shoulder Press: 3x27.5x12
DB Front Raise: 3x15x10
DB Lateral: 2x27.5x12, 27.5x10
Tricep Rope Pushdowns: 3x49x12
Overhead Rope Extension: 3x44x12
Rope Crunch: 3x93x12
Cable Side Crunch: 3x33x15


Got 25 minutes on the peloton today before I started getting really bad tingling in my hands. My CGM was reading hypo but by the time I made it out of the garage and upstairs my BGM said 83. Obviously there is a margin of error with these things but I did notice the tingling hands lined up with the duration of my CGM showing hypo. Pretty sure 3mg has my glucagon receptors firing to keep my blood sugar up since it stopped pretty quickly after I stopped cycling.



Went way over on protein but still stayed roughly in a deficit.

 

[elit3keraed]

180 today when I woke up. Was a little bloated but had a quest bar right before bed. I notice anytime I eat too close to bed since starting the GH I tend to hold a little more water than usual.

Pull day:

Lat Pulldown (Mag Grip): 2x165x12, 165x10 > 88x8
DB Row: 3x110x12
Shoulder Extensions: 3x49x12
Face Pulls: 3x38x20
Seated Rear Delt Fly: 3x15x15
Leverage Shrug: 3x140x12
Preacher Curl Machine: 2x70x12, 70x9>40x10
DB Hammer Curl: 3x27.5x12
Hanging Leg Raise: 3x12
Paloff Press: 3x22.5x12


No cardio tonight. Had to pull some OT for work and I’m just tired. Went up 1 iu for a total of 3 tonight. Let’s see if the carpal tunnel feeling starts to come back this time.

Might do some extra shoulders tomorrow morning. Or I’ll just do an hour on the bike.

Macros were on point today the deficit is from it clocking the total activity from my Apple Watch

 

[elit3keraed]

Stayed under 2k calories yesterday. Was a shit storm at work but I did do some cardio before work so I got to move a bit instead of having a straight “off” day.

2nd day of 3mg GH. Woke up once last night with numb hands and then knocked back out till 5:50 when my alarm went off.

Currently only the bike doing 45 minutes of LISS. After listening to another podcast about GH I learned that what I learned a decade ago regarding GH peak and active time is incorrect. I guess it’s 10-12 hours not 6-8. So I figured I would try going to bed a bit earlier, wake up and do 45 minutes of LISS to take advantage of the FFA release from GH and then hit a carb shake around 730 and be in the gym by 8 for weights.

Small tweak but if I can burn a little extra fat just by some easy bike riding why not?

 

[elit3keraed]

Legs yesterday. Was too fried to remember to log lol. Pinned 3mg of Reta and am did night 2 of 3ius. Hands are numb when I wake up in the middle of the night unless I have my arms straight.

Legs:

Standing Leg Curl: 3x25x12
Belt Squat: 2x248x12, 248x20
Single Leg Extension: 2x45x12, 50x12
Bulgarian SS “Dropset Of Death”: (à la John Meadows) 20x12, 10x8, 5x6, 0x8
Lying Leg Curls: 3x85x12
Standing Calf Raise Superset Seated Calf Raise: 5x10x20 & 5x70x20


Only hit 2100 calories yesterday. Just straight up forgot to eat. Woke up sore this morning so that was a good reminder to NOT forget to eat.

 

[elit3keraed]

Today:

180 upon waking (up 1lb from yesterday).


Push day today.

30 minutes of LISS this morning. Hit my preworkout carb shake after then hit the weights. 50g of carbs, a mix of karbolyn, pea starch and HBCD.

As usual “>” is dropset


Incline Leverage Chest Press: 210x12, 210x 10, 210x6
Decline Leverage Chest Press: 3x204x8 > 114x8
Cross Body DB Chest Raise: 3x30x12
High Incline DB Shoulder Press Superset DB Front Raise: 3x35x15 & 3x10x12
DB Lateral: 3x27.5x20
Tricep Rope Pushdowns: 3x49x12
Tricep Overhead Extensions: 3x44x12
Hanging Knee Raise (to face): 3x12
Cable Side Crunch: 3x50x12


Pump was okay but it frustrates the fuck out of me how quick I fatigue in incline press. But then again 90 seconds rest isn’t optimal if I’m trying to keep my strength and the slow negatives probably doesn’t make it easier either lol.

Had an extra serving of flavor gang COR around 7 just for some additional carbs.

Part of me wants to see what would happen if I just tried to pack away as many calories as possible in terms of gym performance and results but I’m going to keep on this slow recomp type thing for now. Curious if the morning fasted LISS will make any difference.


Dropped a few hundred bucks for those new meta glasses. Literally just wanted the camera function (mostly for work stuff) but I’m curious if I’ll be able to get some good workout shots cuz I don’t wanna be that asshole who sets a full tripod up at the gym, but sometimes I notice some crazy lines or veins popping up during shoulders and it would be cool to get a shot of it .