“Sermorelin improves strength in healthy older adults.”
Sermorelin has not been shown to make healthy older adults stronger; the only study that measured strength had 11 men and no comparison group.
Sermorelin is not a proven way to get stronger as you age, so it is not worth the cost or the injections for that goal.
If you want to get stronger, spend that money and time on a regular strength-training plan instead of sermorelin.
Safety note: Sermorelin is banned in sport at all times. In one 16-week study, blood fat levels rose for a time before settling.
The small studies in older adults found at most a few scattered strength gains, and the one study that measured strength had only 11 men and no placebo group. Without a comparison group, those gains cannot be credited to sermorelin, so no real strength benefit has been shown, and the evidence is too thin for higher confidence.
Sermorelin has not been shown to make healthy older adults stronger; the only study that measured strength had 11 men and no comparison group. It does raise growth hormone, but that has not turned into a reliable strength benefit.
In a 1997 study, 11 healthy men aged 64 to 76 injected sermorelin nightly for six weeks with no placebo group; two of six strength tests improved, while muscle size and IGF-1, a growth factor, did not change. In another 1997 study, 19 adults aged 55 to 71 used a close version of sermorelin for 16 weeks after a month on placebo; men gained some lean mass and women did not, and strength was not measured. Sermorelin was once FDA-approved, as Geref, to test for and treat growth hormone deficiency in children. The maker stopped selling it in 2008, and FDA later said this was not for safety or effectiveness reasons. It was never approved for aging or strength.
- Vittone J, Blackman MR, Busby-Whitehead J, Tsiao C, Stewart KJ, Tobin J, Stevens T, Bellantoni MF, Rogers MA, Baumann G, Roth J, Harman SM, Spencer RG. Effects of single nightly injections of growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH 1-29) in healthy elderly men. Metabolism. 1997;46(1):89-96. DOI: 10.1016/s0026-0495(97)90174-8. PMID: 9005976
- Khorram O, Laughlin GA, Yen SS. Endocrine and metabolic effects of long-term administration of [Nle27]growth hormone-releasing hormone-(1-29)-NH2 in age-advanced men and women. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 1997;82(5):1472-1479. DOI: 10.1210/jcem.82.5.3943. PMID: 9141536
- US Food and Drug Administration. Determination That GEREF (Sermorelin Acetate) Injection, 0.5 Milligrams Base/Vial and 1.0 Milligrams Base/Vial, and GEREF (Sermorelin Acetate) Injection, 0.05 Milligrams Base/Amp, Were Not Withdrawn From Sale for Reasons of Safety or Effectiveness. Federal Register. 2013;78(42):14095-14096. FR Doc 2013-04827
- World Anti-Doping Agency. World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026. In effect January 1, 2026