This is the best review and guide for MK 677, also called Ibutamoren or Nutrobal. MK 677 is, just like Cardarine, commonly mistaken as a SARM, but Ibutamuren is actually not a SARM at all, it’s a growth hormone secretagogue.
We will cover these topics:
- Is MK 677 legal
- What is MK 677 and how does it work
- What are the benefits and side effects of MK 677
- Where to buy MK 677
- What is the half-life of Ibutamoren and what is the best time to take it
We will answer all of these questions as well as cover other MK 677 topics such as Ibutamoren for height growth, MK 677 before and after results…
Before we begin, however, you have to remember that this compound isn’t approved for human consumption. It’s only meant for research. I am in no way promoting the use of this compound in this article or providing medical advice. You should only talk to your doctor for medical advice.
With that being said, let’s first start by explaining what MK 677 actually is and how it works.
What is MK 677
Some people mistake MK 677 for a SARM (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator). In reality, it’s actually not a SARM at all, it’s a growth hormone secretagogue.
This means that it will promote the production of GH (Growth Hormone) and IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor 1) in the body.
Ibutamoren has great benefits such as:
- Reduced body fat
- Increased muscle mass
- Increase skin, hair and nail quality
- Better sleep
We will go over all of the benefits and side effects in detail later in this article.
Now, let’s go over how this compound actually works.
How does MK 677 work
As we said, MK 677 is a growth hormone secretagogue. This means that it encourages our body to produce more natural growth hormone.
More specifically, it encourages your body to produce more GH (growth hormone) and IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor 1). For those of you who aren’t familiar with IGF-1, it’s basically a mediator for growth hormone in most cells and tissue.
Gowth hormone levels will be raised to a similar level that they were when we were teenagers.
Teenagers can still take this compound, it can cause a slight growth spurt if you didn’t finish growing yet. But remember, MK 677 is a lot weaker in comparison to growth hormone shots/therapy that people with a deficiency in growth hormone take. This compound will make our body produce more natural growth hormone instead of getting the hormone from shots.
How well is it researched
This is another great thing about MK 677, it’s very well researched. There have been a lot of studies done on it including multiple human and animal trials. It’s not FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved yet, but it’s getting there.
Currently, it’s in clinical trials and all studies are reporting really good news about this compound.
So to summarize, MK 677 is really well researched with a lot of studies and research backing it up. In fact, it’s even successfully going through clinical trials right now in 2020.
is MK 677 legal
Obviously it’s important to know if this compound is actually legal. It would be no use for us if Ibutamoren was this great compound but was illegal.
To make this short, yes, MK 677 is legal to buy and use anywhere in the world. An exception, however, is Australia. If you want to legally buy and use MK 677 in Australia, you will need a doctor’s prescription for it because it’s a Schedule 4 prescription only compound.
You have to remember though, that this compound is illegal for competitive athletes in professional sports because of the unfair advantages that it provides.
If you want to get more information about the legality of this compound, read our article where we answer the question; is MK 677 legal.
MK 677 benefits
We explained what MK 677 is and how it works, now let’s go over the benefits that it gives.
The benefits are:
- Reduced body fat
- Increased muscle mass
- Enhanced recovery
- Increased sleep quality
- Increased hair and skin health
Let’s go over each benefit in detail:
Reduced body fat
One of the great benefits of MK 677 is that it will lower our body fat over longer periods of time.
In fact, a study tested this on 40 people who volunteered for a 16-week cycle. They were closely monitored and the study found out that the ones who were taking MK 677 at 15mg a day lost 3% of their body fat over the course of 16 weeks.
This is because of the increased levels of growth hormone. It encourages the body to lose fat and instead gain muscle.
Increased muscle mass
Increased muscle mass is along with fat loss probably one of the most lucrative MK 677 benefits.
Similar to the fat loss study, there was a study on the topic of how much MK 677 increases muscle mass. A test group was given 12.5mg of Ibutamoren a day for 16-weeks and over that period of time, they gained 2lbs of muscle. Remember, that was without even training or changing up their diet.
Because of this, Ibutamoren is also a great compound to use after a SARM (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator) or steroid cycle. It will allow us to keep the muscle gains from the cycle very easily.
Enhanced recovery
Normal recovery time after training is around 72 hours. With this compound, you can expect that to drop to about 48 hours. This is great because it will allow you to train more frequently.
But still, the reduced recovery time isn’t as reduced as it would be on a SARM cycle.
Increased sleep quality
This is the benefit that MK 677 is probably most famous for. A lot of people praise it and I agree with them, it feels amazing.
The increased levels of growth hormone will make your sleep a lot deeper. Because of this, you will feel more rested in 6 hours than you would normally in 8 hours. You will have more energy throughout the day and just feel a lot more rested.
If you want to fully experience this benefit and want to sleep like a baby, I recommend that you take your dosage about an hour before going to bed.
You should notice better sleep quality in the first two weeks of taking the compound.
Increased hair and skin quality
Along with the increased sleep quality, this compound is also very famous for the increased hair and nail growth and increased hair and skin quality.
People (I can confirm as well) report that their skin and hair look much better. Their hair and nails also grow faster and some people even get thicker hair from Ibutamoren.
So it isn’t very surprising when we tell you that a lot of people even take this compound as a balding prevention regime. This is because the compound increases the growth of hair follicles and promotes their healing which results in faster and thicker hair growth.
Dosage and cycle length
Some people take Ibutamoren for cycles of 16 weeks, then they take a 5-week break and repeat. There are some who like this compound so much that they take it for years without taking breaks. So far the studies found no side effects when taking this compound for an extended period of time. I suggest that you do a 16-20 week cycle then take a break for at least 5 weeks.
If you want to read an in-depth article that explains the best and safest Ibutamoren dosages, consider reading our MK-677 dosage guide.
This is because most people, including me, do this with good results and we don’t experience any side effects. Another good reason for this recommendation is because most studies and research are done around this cycle length.
A good MK 677 cycle example:
Week | MK 677 |
1-16 (or 1-20) | 20mg a day |
Half-life
Ibutamoren has a half-life of 24-30 hours. Recent research confirms that the half-life is 24 hours.
This means that we can get the most optimal results by taking it once every 24 hours.
Some people take their dosage in the morning and some in the evening. When you take your dosage depends on what you want to do. People who take it in the morning usually see increased hunger and this way they can gain weight faster. Those who take it in the evening avoid the hunger effect and report amazing sleep.
You can even take it a step further and split your dosage into two parts and take the first in the morning and the second in the evening. This results in the most optimal MK 677 levels in your body, it won’t make a huge difference if you just take it once every 24 hours though.
Stacking with SARMs
Stacking MK 677 with SARMs (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators) or even anabolics is great. Most people use it on their other cycles to prevent hair loss or hair shedding and even for its amazing sleep quality effects.
In fact, a lot of people, including me, use Ibutamoren during SARM cycles. This is because it makes it easier to keep the strength and muscle mass gains from the SARM cycle.
PCT
Ibutamoren doesn’t reduce our natural production of testosterone. Because of this, we don’t have to worry about doing a PCT (Post Cycle Therapy) after the MK 677 cycle. Great, right?
In fact, a lot of people even use this compound as a PCT after a steroid / SARM cycle. This is because it will make it easier for them to keep their muscle and strength gains.
If you want to take MK 677 as a PCT for your SARM cycle, take it from the start of the SARM cycle and continue it for 8 weeks after the cycle is over. For example, if you do 8 weeks of SARMs, start MK 677 at week 1 and end it at week 16 or 20. This way you will be able to easily keep all your gains.
Side effects
Now that we covered the benefits of this compound, let’s go over the side effects. The great thing about this compound is that it has no serious side effects, this is backed by a lot of studies and research.
An important thing to keep in mind when it comes to the side effects of this compound, this is also true when it comes to the side effects of other compounds like SARMs. Some companies sell bunk products that have other substances mixed into their products. This reduces the effectiveness of the compound and increases the side effects.
This is why I always recommend that you buy real, high-quality, pure MK 677 and other SARMs, to avoid unnecessary side effects and to get the best results from your cycle.
Possible side effects:
- Water Retention
- Increased hunger
- Reduced Insulin Sensitivity (rare)
- Headaches (rare)
Some people also report an increase in anxiety when taking MK 677. This is rare but it can happen. You can read more about it in our article on MK 677 anxiety.
Water retention
This is a somewhat common side effect when it comes to Ibutamoren. Most people don’t experience this compound but some do. We can easily go around this side effect by drinking more water. In fact, the reason that water retention occurs on some people’s MK 677 cycles is because they drink too little water or their diet is really bad (high sodium etc.).
So if you notice water retention on your cycle, make sure to drink more water or keep an eye on your diet. It should go away in a few days. Even if it doesn’t, this side effect is mostly harmless and it will go away in a few days – weeks after the cycle on its own anyway.
If you want more information on this topic, read our article about MK 677 water retention.
Increased hunger
Increased hunger is probably the most famous “side effect” of MK 677. For you, it might be a benefit, for some other people it might be a side effect.
If you want to avoid an increase in hunger, take the dosage before going to sleep. If you want to have increased hunger, take the dosage in the morning. This effect wears off in a few weeks into the cycle anyway.
You should notice an increase in hunger in the first week or two. But some people don’t even experience this, we are all different so not everyone experiences this but most people do.
Reduced insuling sensitivity
Some people report that their insulin sensitivity got reduced on their MK 677 cycle. Very few people report this, but still, some do. This could be a problem for type 2 diabetes patients.
The good news is that clinical trials have researched this by measuring blood glucose levels. It turns out that MK 677 doesn’t actually change blood glucose levels at all, proving that Ibutamoren won’t reduce insulin sensitivity.
We can assume that the few people that report this most probably have bunk products. This is a good example of why it’s so important that we buy pure compounds.
MK 677 before and after results
In the first two weeks, you can expect to notice the increased sleep quality benefit as well as the increase in hair and skin quality. Around the same time, you will also notice that your hair and nails are growing faster.
Body changes, such as fat loss, lean muscle gains and strength gains as well will be noticeable at around week 10 for most people.
We recommend that you take frequent pictures of yourself for easy progress tracking.
Remember, the results are also dependent on the work you put into your training and the dedication to your diet.
If you want to see some MK 677 before and after results from real people to give you a better idea of what to expect from your cycle, read our MK 677 before and after results with pics article.
Before and after results #1
This is an example of Ibutamoren only cycle. The results here aren’t that impressive, he could have definitely gotten better results by training harder and taking his diet a bit more serious. Still, it’s a nice little transformation without that much hard work
His cycle:
Week | MK 677 |
1-16 | 15mg a day |
Before and after results #2
We can see that this is a great and complete body transformation. The important thing to note here is that this person used LGD 4033 along with MK 677. This allowed him to gain a lot of muscle mass as well as lose some body fat.
An interesting thing about his cycle is that he didn’t use a PCT (Post Cycle Therapy) even though he used LGD 4033. This is because MK 677 by itself acted as kind of a PCT and he used a low dosage of LGD 4033 so he definitely didn’t even need to do it. You can read our article about PCT for LGD 4033 if you are interested in more information about this.
His cycle:
Week | MK 677 | LGD 4033 | |
1-8 | 15mg a day | 5mg a day | |
8-16 | 15mg a day | / |
My Review
I have done multiple Ibutamoren cycles and I plan to do more. Actually I do two 16-week MK 677 cycles every year.
From the compound, I experience an amazing increase in sleep quality. When I sleep for 6 hours, it feels like I slept for 8 and I’m completely rested. Another thing that I love about this compound is the hair and skin quality increase. My hair grows very fast and gets thicker during the cycle. I would even go as far as to say that my hair is thicker every since I have been doing two MK 677 cycles per year.
When it comes to muscle gains and fat loss, Ibutamoren is definitely useful. It’s not as good at it as SARMs, but it’s still noticeable. I think that gaining about 3-5lbs of muscle and losing a few lbs of fat is a good expectation from this compound. At the end of the day though, the results depend on your training and diet.
Growing taller with MK 677
A lot of people are interested in MK 677 because they want to increase their height.
In short, yes, you can grow taller with this compound. The trick, however, is that your growth plates must be open.
So basically, if you are over the age of 25, for example, your growth plates are almost 100% closed and because of that you sadly won’t be able to grow taller with the help of Ibutamoren.
If you want more information on this topic, read our article on MK 677 height growth.
Where to buy MK 677
Like we already mentioned, it’s very important that we buy high-quality, pure MK 677 to get the best possible results and to avoid unnecessary side effects. This is because some companies actually sell bunk products and because of that their effectiveness is a lot lower and they have a lot more side effects than a pure product.
I tested a lot of companies that sell Ibutamoren. The company that I recommend is hands down the best, it brings me the best results and I don’t experience any side effects with their products.
A good thing about them is that they are 3rd party tested for purity and that they have a 90day money-back guarantee. So basically you have nothing to lose and you don’t have to be afraid of getting bunk products and wasting your money.
Conclusion
My opinion on Ibutamoren is that it’s a great compound. I will continue to do cycles of this compound, I love the increased sleep benefit as well as the hair and skin quality increase. I recommend everyone to try this compound out, especially because it’s very safe and is backed by a lot of research.
We recommend that you buy high-quality MK 677 to get the best possible results and to avoid side effects from bunk products