Peptides
MGF (Mechano Growth Factor)
Also called MGF · IGF-1Ec
MGF is promoted for muscle repair and growth after training, particularly bringing up a lagging muscle. Those are hoped-for benefits of injected products; studies of the body’s own growth signals do not show that an MGF injection produces local muscle growth.
Dosage & duration
One commercial guide’s reported-use claim, not a human study regimen.
IronGorillas MGF guide
Reported use · unapproved regimen- Dose
- 200–400 mcg per injection
- How often
- Described as post-workout
- How long
- Cycle length not verified
The guide does not establish efficacy, product identity or a safe route/timing strategy.
Do not mistake a naturally occurring exercise response for validation of this schedule.
Why people look into it
Why lifters look into MGF
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Muscle growth
The hope is to turn hard training into more muscle.
-
Workout recovery
People want to feel ready for their next hard session.
Why lifters look at MGF
The appeal is turning a hard training session into better repair and growth. Research found changes in MGF-related signals after exercise, but observing that response is different from proving that an extra injected peptide improves it.
Can it grow the muscle you inject?
Local growth is a common selling point. The cited human work involved muscle biopsies and related cell experiments, not a controlled trial of site injections. Other investigators could not reproduce some claimed effects in muscle cells.
MGF versus PEG-MGF
PEG-MGF adds a chemical modification intended to prolong exposure. That changes the research product; it does not establish greater gains, an effective human half-life or the best workout timing.
Model details: MGF (Mechano Growth Factor) · relative timing
Compare timing and buildup for this compound. The values are not blood concentrations or a measure of strength.
Shows a relative timing scenario; absolute blood concentrations are not calibrated.
Timing assumptions and sources
Retained only as an explicit mathematical timing assumption; not a verified human half-life. No concentration-unit amplitude is supported.
One 1 mg input peaks at 1 relative unit after a single dose. Other amounts scale proportionally; overlapping doses add when accumulation is on. Different compounds use separate relative scales.
- Timing half-life used
- 0.48 hours
- Absorption half-life assumed
- 0.12 hours
- Reference amount for the relative scale
- 1 mg
- Absorption half-life is assumed to be one quarter of the slower timescale (0.12 h); it is not a measured absorption parameter.
- A single 1-unit input has a peak of 1 relative unit; scaling and repeated-dose addition are mathematical assumptions. This normalization is independent of the example dose.
- Do not substitute IGF-1, intact IGF1Ec or tissue-expression time courses for isolated MGF blood kinetics.
- Philippou et al.: IGF-1 isoform expression and MGF E peptide
Human exercise biopsies and in-vitro peptide experiments concern expression/signalling rather than human drug concentration-time measurements.
- Fornaro et al.: MGF peptide replication experiment
Distinguishes isolated MGF peptide from mature IGF-1 and full-length precursor; activity experiments do not supply systemic calibration.
mgf-relative-timing-2026-10 · version 1
Common questions
Does injecting MGF into a muscle make that muscle grow?
The checked human evidence does not establish that claim.
Is MGF the same as IGF-1?
The names relate to IGF biology, but marketed MGF fragments are not interchangeable with the full IGF-1 molecule.
Sources Labels, studies and notes behind this guide
Catalog evidence: Animal or laboratory research. This describes the type of evidence, not a clinical review of every claim.
Summary and fact source checks: 2026-10-07. This records source checking, not medical review of the whole page.
Notes on the quick facts
- Why people seek it
- A reported aim rather than a demonstrated injection benefit.
- Common claim
- Not established by the human biopsy studies.
- Closest comparison
- A modified product with separate evidence gaps.
- 1. Philippou et al. — muscle expression and cell experiments
Human exercise biopsies plus in-vitro work; not an MGF injection trial in people.
- 2. Fornaro et al. — MGF replication experiment
No activating response to native or stabilized MGF peptides in tested muscle cells; preclinical findings conflict.
- 3. Philippou et al.: IGF-1 isoform expression and MGF E peptide
Human exercise biopsies and in-vitro peptide experiments concern expression/signalling rather than human drug concentration-time measurements.
- 4. Fornaro et al.: MGF peptide replication experiment
Distinguishes isolated MGF peptide from mature IGF-1 and full-length precursor; activity experiments do not supply systemic calibration.
- 5. IGF1Ec structure–function study in C2C12 cells
Original cell study: intact IGF1Ec, mature IGF1 and isolated MGF E peptide had distinct effects; E peptide did not reproduce the intact protein.
- 6. MGF E peptide in rabbit bone defects
Original cell and rabbit study of 24-amino-acid MGF-Ct24E; no human injury treatment or human PK.
Keep reading
Related compounds and examples
Related compounds
PEG-MGF (Pegylated MGF)
PEG-MGF versus MGF: muscle-growth claims, reported schedules and the limits of the longer-lasting promise.
IGF-1 DES
IGF-1 DES: workout and local-growth claims, reported amounts and how it differs from LR3.
IGF-1 LR3
IGF-1 LR3 for muscle growth: reported doses and cycles, DES comparison and glucose-related concerns.