Michael Foster is a long time friend and training partner of mine. I met him while he owned a health food store in Los Angeles. A former fat kid. Mike transformed his body and left his life in Michigan as a school teacher to be an actor. From years in the health and bodybuilding industry Mike has extensive knowledge in health supplements and anabolic performance enhancing. You can see Mike in the 2018 David McKenna film “Embattled”.

Ponce de Leon. You might remember this great explorer from history class. According to popular culture he was supposedly searching for the Fountain of Youth. There isn’t any contemporary evidence to support the story, which modern historians call a myth, but to the bodybuilding and fitness world, his quest was real! If you have been paying attention to the news, trends and research in the last ten years (give-or-take) then you know our amigo Ponce was actually looking for the man-made fountain of youth-Human Growth Hormone (HGH).

So what is HGH and who would use this other than Spanish explorers, people suffering from dwarfism or lack of skeletal and muscular growth?

HGH is a sequence of 191 amino acids that encourages the pituitary gland to spurt out HGH at levels the body typically produces during our growth years. For athletes or fitness minded individuals athletes, this means increased recovery time, strengthened skin, muscles and connective tissue as well as lowering body fat. This is a recipe for older athletes and aesthetic driven individuals to hold back the hand of father time a little bit longer. Who wouldn’t want to ski down a double black diamond at 76 years old? Or, have flexibility and strength well into their 80’s? Or, look amazing for an arena concert in their 50’s, or throw a blazing fastball into their 40’s or knock a movie role out of the park with an amazingly chiseled physique into their 60’s and 70’s? I would.

Then there is the question of father time. How do those celebrities and athletes well into their 50’s look so much better than their contemporaries? I mean, not a lot of 70-year-old grandpa’s look like Sylvester Stallone. Why was Roger Clemens able to perform at peak performance for grueling MLB seasons past 40? Madonna was showing a ripped physique on stage well into her 50’s. Imagine Midwest soccer mom’s trying to keep up with her on stage night after night without a “little help.”

Hollywood transformations are a dime a dozen. To call out modern performers using HGH would be too easy, but that’s not a dig. In a profession based on physical appearance, one must use every resource available especially if a long career is the goal. Zac Effron brought one of the most shredded physiques we’ve seen on the silver screen to Baywatch. Do you think if Zac was called on to do a similar role in his late 30’s or 40’s he wouldn’t consider using HGH? How about Marvel’s age-defying Wolverine character? Hugh JACKEDman’s claws were not the star of X Men: Days of Future Past. The 46 year olds age defying shredded, muscular body physique stole the show and even overpowered the Adamantium. And it isn’t only action stars. Sean Penn looks pretty amazing and the picture of JK Simmons doing bicep curls leads me to wonder if he should have been in that cage with Spiderman, not the Macho Man. You don’t have to be Captain America to see their skin is great, their muscles are lean and they are defying the limitations that come with normal aging. Do they really just have a better diet and trainer than 99% of the American population their age? Asking for a friend…

Because HGH has the ability to do so many amazing things for our bodies, it’s no wonder these ageless wonders are following in the footsteps (or nautical navigation) of the famous explorer looking to hold back the hand of time.

The old rock n roll cliché is only the good die young. No one wants to be bent over with a wooden hip, aching in pain and living a poor quality of life only to look at the silver screen and see someone ten years older jumping out of exploding buildings or doing death-defying Tom Cruise stunts. Perhaps with more research and leniency from the FDA, the real fountain of youth we have at our fingertips will finally be affordable and available to the masses. Maybe the good do die young, but I’d rather die old and feel young. HGH might just be the answer to keep your old bones feeling young and your body looking good even if you’re not into being a 72-year-old action hero.