Retatrutide and bodybuilding

RETATRUTIDE and bodybuiling

In the last couple of years the U.K bodybuilding scene has exploded with experimental peptides. Each peptide has different effects on the body and used for different reasons. One of these peptides has seen a significant increase in usage; Retatrutide (Reta), which is used to suppress your appetite. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to explain how Retatrutide works, it’s place within bodybuilding and what I’ve seen from clients using it.

What DOES RETATRUTIDE DO?

If you google it, you’ll see the phrase “triple hormone receptor agonist”, which will leave many scratching their heads. That being said, let’s explore what each of those hormone’s receptors do and put it into words you can understand. Before we get into it, the word ‘agonist’ simply means a substance that initiates a physiological response when combined with a receptor. Reta mimics the actions of three different hormone receptors: glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R), glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor (GIPR), and the glucagon receptor (GCGR). As a reminder, glucagon is hormone that when released from the pancreas encourages the liver to dump glucose into the blood, raising blood glucose (sugar) levels. Insulin is a hormone that promotes glucose uptake into muscle and fat cells, lowering blood glucose levels.

GLP-1R

When activated in the pancreas it helps regulate blood sugars by stimulating insulin release in a glucose dependant manner, meaning it’ll only stimulate insulin release when blood glucose is high and it will not if blood glucose is normal. These receptors are also found in the brain where it plays a crucial role in food intake. Once active it increases feeling of satiety (fullness) and delays how quickly the stomach empties food into the small intestine.

GIPR

When activated, like GLP-1R, it helps regulate blood sugars by stimulating insulin release in a glucose dependant manner and increasing that feeling of satiety. It also plays an important role in fat metabolism which can contribute to reduction in fat deposition. In low-insulin states (i.e. when your dieting), it can increase fat breakdown. It can also reduce circulating of LDLs otherwise known as ‘bad cholesterol’ and improve cardiovascular health.

GCGR

Receptor activation promotes the use of stored fat to be used as energy. It simultaneously increases overall energy expenditure and metabolism which indirectly contributes to overall fat loss.

Use within bodybuilding

Now that we have got all the technical jargon out of the way, some of you may still be wondering why on earth it would be used. The first and most obvious reason would be that it reduces appetite. When a bodybuilder is in competition prep hunger can get extremely high and must be endured for months. Not only that but food focus can become overwhelming whereby you can’t focus on anything else throughout the day. Athletes will use Reta to essentially reduce, or completely stop, hunger signalling. Food focus somewhat disappears and they feel ‘normal’.

Reta promotes fat break down and increases metabolism which is advantageous in a competition prep scenario where they are trying to get to extreme low levels of body fat.

Its use can also be extremely effective in the post show phase where typically appetite is extremely high and overeating is very common. That overeating can lead to excessive fat gain in a relatively short period of time and can ruin an athletes off season (bulk). That being said, Reta’s use in a post-show setting can help eliminate overeating and promote fat gain in a more sustained and slow manner. This would set athletes up for a prolonged off season.

There is also an argument to be made that Reta could be used in an off season setting due to its effect on fat metabolism and ‘bad’ cholesterol. Bodybuilders often use steroids which can lower ‘good’ cholesterol and increase ‘bad’ cholesterol. However, that argument might be counterintuitive due to the large amount of food needing to be consumed which would be a struggle if your appetite is low.

It's also worth noting that Reta’s half life is 6/7 days meaning that it can be injected once a week in subcutaneous (stomach fat). This does mean injection frequency is low and somewhat pain free.

My experience

It's worth reminding you all that Reta is an experimental drug and has not been approved by regulatory bodies. We have no long-term data on its potential side effects, especially if used long term. However, that has never stopped bodybuilders before from taking nonregulated drugs!

I have had many clients use it in the past year with tremendous success. It certainly killed their appetite and allowed them to diet on lower-than-normal calories for an extended period of time. Not only that, it also completely removed food focus, which allowed them to function ‘normally’ in their day-to-day life and jobs. Lower food intake meant fat loss increased, and they were able to get more conditioned for stage.

However, Reta usage did come with some negative effects. The first was that it impacted their ability to get food in on high days. (click here to learn more about high days) This in turn meant they couldn’t consume all the food on plan which impacted analysis and data collection needed to decide the carb load going into the show. Due to this I actually got clients to remove it completely, or we were strategic with it’s usage and pinned it after high days ensuring we had at least 7 days before running high days again.
I also had clients get very constipated with continued use. Reta does slow gastric emptying which in turn leads to slow digestion. On those occasions I got clients to remove it 2-3 weeks before the show to ensure they were not constipated in those final weeks.

In summary, Retatrutide is an experimental peptide, that suppresses appetite, which use has exploded in the U.K bodybuilding scene in the last two years. It works by acting on receptors in the body that regulates blood sugars, insulin release, decreasing appetite, slow stomach emptying, increasing fat metabolism, reducing bad cholesterol and increasing metabolism. It is extremely effective in a bodybuilding competition prep setting and can lead to more fat loss, alongside reduce food focus. However, it does have some negative side effects which may require strategic usage or for it to be dropped completely when the athlete is getting close to a show. Due to it being experimental drug I don’t advise my clients to use long term, and medically more data is needed to determine its safety.

Vaughan Wilson Bsc Hons

References:

https://synapse.patsnap.com/article/what-is-the-mechanism-of-action-of-retatrutide