Field Guides / Guide 12
The GH-Axis Choice — CJC/Ipa vs Sermorelin vs Tesamorelin
Four compounds, one growth-hormone axis — which secretagogue fits which person, and why the blend became the community default.
Restoring the growth-hormone pulse is the center of half the programs on this site — and the first fork in the road is which compound does it. Here's the comparison in one place.
The three-second version
| CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin | Sermorelin | Tesamorelin | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | GHRH analog + GHRP, blended | The original GHRH analog | The strongest GHRH analog |
| Personality | The community default | The clinic classic | The visceral-fat specialist |
| Typical run | 200 mcg pre-bed, fasted | 300 mcg pre-bed | 1.5 mg daily |
| Why pick it | Two mechanisms, one draw — amplitude + a clean pulse | Decades of prescription history; the compound clinics reach for first | Trial-proven against deep belly fat specifically |
How to actually choose
- Default — most people, most goals: the CJC-1295 + Ipamorelin blend. The two compounds hit the axis from both sides (more GH released per pulse, more pulses), which is why it's the foundation slot in nearly every program here — sleep first, then recovery, then body composition, on a months timescale.
- You want the longest human history in the slot: sermorelin — an FDA-approved-analog lineage and the compound medical practices have prescribed for decades. Slightly gentler, deeply known. The practitioner page exists partly because of this compound.
- The specific mission is deep belly fat: tesamorelin — the only compound in the class with trial-proven visceral-fat reduction as its headline result. It shows up in the Over-40 and Weight & Metabolic optimal layers for exactly that reason.
- Not on this menu: ipamorelin solo is gentle but half the story; and exogenous growth hormone itself is a different conversation entirely — everything here works by asking your pituitary, which is the entire safety argument for the class.
What doesn't change, whichever you pick
- Pre-bed, fasted, consistently. The axis pulses at night; food blunts it. This class rewards boring discipline more than any other.
- Months, not weeks. Commit to 12 weeks before judging — the First 30 Days guide covers what the early quiet stretch feels like.
- Tested athlete? The whole class is S2-prohibited at all times — read If You Compete first.
Research protocols, not a prescription — talk to a physician before touching anything.