When I started contemplating competing in body building, I was a 50-year-old slob. I weighed 232 pounds with a flabby 38-inch barrel for a waist.

But after I developed my successful dietary and nutrition regimen, I now step on stage at 167 pounds with a 28-inch waist. And I win. Well, most of the time.

In 2016, I placed first in the National Gym Association (NGA) Kentucky Natural Classic Light Heavy and second in the NGA Rocky’s NEO Bodybuilding Championships Light Heavy competition.

In developing a foundational program that allows me to perform harder and stronger with a greater pump and faster recovery, I experimented with dietary supplements until I found the ones that work for me.

I continue to try new supplements. But while I do like trying new approaches, some products have earned my undying loyalty. I stay with them, month after month, win after win, because of the results I get and science that backs their use.

IGF-I-TESTOSTERONE AXIS

One of the things I’ve learned is how to get the most out of the body’s anabolic hormones. The body’s own production of growth hormones and testosterone diminishes and becomes deranged with age, and higher levels of toxic forms are metabolized and circulated that, instead of building muscles, contribute to serious diseases. My regimen tames the bad testosterone and emphasizes producing the forms that have healthy effects on muscle repair and regeneration as well as provides insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and related muscle repair and regeneration peptides.

Declining levels of growth factors in bodybuilders—especially IGF-1—reduce their ability to add on new and larger muscle and thus impair achieving the ultimate in physical performance. Even if you’re 35 to 40, although you’re feeling fit as ever, you have probably begun losing skeletal muscle, the tissue that provides your strength and mobility.

“Slow, inexorable muscle wasting occurs even in healthy individuals who engage in regular aerobic exercise, but it usually goes unnoticed for decades,” notes science writer Janet Raloff in an August 10, 1996 report posted on the Science News online website. “In fact, the body hides its loss by subtly padding affected areas with extra fat.”

Here are some of the ingredients I rely on to achieve my muscle success.

First-milking bovine colostrum. Bovine colostrum (BC) is a foundational supplement for all body builders, endurance and strength athletes. The golden first milking from the mother caw that has given birth, BC provides immune and growth factors needed for the survival of newborn calves. BC contains super concentrates of IGF-1, a peptide that signals the body to repair and grow muscle cells as well as all 87 super members of the IGF family, growth hormone, testosterone and immune boosters. BC keeps muscles strong for training; aids repair; builds up immunity and endurance.