Lately, it feels like every health or fitness influencer is talking about peptides. Last week on my mentorship call, there was a special guest and Doctor who prescribes and advocates the use of peptide therapy to the professional fighters he works with on to breakdown the trend a little further. Peptides are small chains of amino acids that act as signaling molecules in the body, telling cells what to do, whether it’s healing tissue, producing hormones, or triggering metabolic processes. In a way, they’re kind of like text messages between cells, helping coordinate recovery, growth, and repair. Your body naturally produces many peptides, but the current trend comes from synthetic versions designed to enhance those same functions more efficiently.
Some peptides have potential to be game changers for health and performance. They can support recovery, boost energy production, and even help regulate blood sugar or inflammation. However, it’s important to understand that most of these compounds are not yet approved for therapeutic use in Canada. They’re still being studied for safety, long-term effects, and dosage regulation. The biggest concern isn’t just the lack of regulation, it’s also sourcing. Many of these peptides are sold through online “research chemical” suppliers with little oversight, which makes purity, dosage accuracy, and safety questionable.
Among the more popular peptides circulating in the fitness and rehab world are BPC157 and TB500, often stacked together. They’re touted for their ability to speed up recovery and tissue repair, something that sounds great if you’re dealing with muscle strain, tendon irritation or recovering from an injury like some of our active rehab, and hockey training members at AIM. Then there’s NAD+, which supports cellular energy production and mitochondrial health, and CJC1295 with Ipamorelin, which together aim to stimulate growth hormone release for improved muscle recovery and fat metabolism which might be more suited towards our members of small group and personal training who have body composition goals. Other than that, glutathione is an antioxidant peptide that has been linked to immune and liver support, while MOT C is being studied for its role in improving insulin sensitivity and energy metabolism. These compounds have potential, but we’re still in the early stages of understanding how they truly perform outside of a lab.
Then there’s the peptide class we've all been waiting for, the GLP1 class of drugs, like Ozempic, which were developed for diabetes management but have exploded in popularity for weight loss. They help control appetite and blood sugar, and for individuals who are severely overweight or have metabolic disease, they can be life-changing tools. But the story isn’t all positive, these drugs can also cause significant muscle loss if proper nutrition and resistance training aren’t prioritized. For the average person without metabolic disease, the risks often outweigh the benefits.
I want to be clear that I’m not recommending the use of these treatments. Peptides and GLP1 agonists are still largely unregulated, and the quality and safety of what’s being sold online can vary drastically. While the science behind them is exciting, the reality is that nearly every claimed benefit, from faster recovery and improved body composition to better energy and hormone balance, can also be achieved through consistent strength training, nutrition, and sleep. At AIM Athletic, our focus is on creating those long-term physiological adaptations safely and naturally.
The truth is, there’s no shortcut to resilience. Peptides might become legitimate tools down the road, but for now, the best performance enhancer remains hard work, consistency, and smart programming.
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