Yes, Joe Rogan is on steroids. It’s a fact, not an accusation. He’s open about it. But it’s not the steroids you probably think of, and not the ones you’d take for bulking. Here’s what Joe Rogan steroids cycle would look like and what he says about it.
The Background
Before we delve into the allegations, a few words about Joe himself.
Joe Rogan is a popular podcast host and mixed martial arts commentator with a background in MMA. He gained prominence through his work as the host of the Fear Factor reality show and later found success with “The Joe Rogan Experience“, his long-form podcast featuring conversations with a wide range of guests.
With quite an impressive physique for his age (Joe Rogan is 55 years old) and an open negative stance on the use of anabolic steroids in Hollywood, he obviously sparked a discussion or two (to say the least). People wonder, whether it’s hypocrisy or a genuine and honest standpoint.
The Natural Methods — Prioritized
First of all: no, we do not think that Joe Rogan’s physique is based on blasting and cruising some wild mix of Deca Durabolin or Dianabol. A few reasons for that:
- Joe’s physique is good, but not THAT good. Even for 55 YO;
- He’s never actually looked ripped enough. We’ve never seen vascularity or anything that would indicate the use of most popular oral steroids;
- And finally, he just doesn’t need it. He’s on all sorts of other stuff. Tren would just mess up with a more advanced regimen Joe is known to maintain.
Now that we’ve mentioned it, let’s hear what Joe Rogan himself says.
Joe Rogan on His Steroids Use
We know, from Joe himself, that he’s on TRT. TRT, aka Testosterone Replacement Therapy, involves exogenous Testosterone — the king of anabolic steroids and, at the same time, a natural male sex hormone.
“TRT makes a big difference. It’s really simple. If you’re fine with not feeling good — good! If you’re not fine with it, hormone replacement therapy exists for a reason, and that reason is it makes you feel way better.”
— Joe Rogan at Joe Rogan Experience #1190
So, is Joe Rogan on steroids? Yes. According to his own words, he’s been “on” since about his 40s. But it’s TRT, and TRT is different.
For example, we know that at some point he was using Testogel, a topical form of Testosterone, not the injectable one.
“I took a lot of different stuff. I go for hormone replacement therapy. It’s a very light dose. The testosterone is cream. It’s healthy. It does wonders for your body.”
— Joe Rogan in 2011
Why does it matter? Because when the general public thinks of steroids, they rarely think of TRT.
Testosterone Replacement Therapy is an FDA-approved, officially prescribed, legal kind of therapy. We have a huge guide about TRT if you want to learn more about it.
An important difference between Joe Rogan’s TRT and some other TRT is the fact that Joe is not JUST on TRT. In fact, pretty far from it.
Joe is on HGH
Or at least he was. In an episode with Derek from More Plates More Dates, Joe Rogan says that he’s not really on Growth Hormone anymore:
“When I was using HGH I was using 1 unit.”
— Joe Rogan with Derek from More Plates More Dates
Now, what is 1 unit? It is truly a small dose. In our HGH 101 Guide we put it at the lower end of the scale. Just like Joe says, “it’s a very small dose.”
There’s no doubt that Joe COULD use much more than that. After all, he’s a celebrity multimillionaire, he can afford to fill a new pool with top-notch HGH every weekend. Why would he, though? 1 IU is more than enough to “feel good”, which appears to be the primary reason for Joe’s PED use.
How We Know Joe Rogan is on IGF-1
Why do we say that Joe WAS on HGH, not IS on it? Because now, at least openly, he’s on IGF-1:
“I use IGF-1 now. And I use it rarely. I use it like every 4th day or something like that.”
— JOE ROGAN WITH DEREK FROM MORE PLATES MORE DATES
Insulin-like Growth Factor 1, or IGF-1, is another natural substance that exogenous HGH promotes. In fact, it’s one of the main actors in all the HGH positive effects.
Taking IGF-1 “every 4 days” clearly shows Joe’s goals: for bodybuilding purposes he would have to take it daily. A higher dose of 20-50 mcg ED for at least 6-8 weeks is what you need to see an actual increase in muscle mass.
Same dose every 4 days? It’s an anti-aging thing, basic muscle tone support, and a complete nothingburger in comparison with classic anabolic steroid cycle results.
And on a Whole Bunch of Peptides as Well
There are two ways for anyone’s body to get more growth hormone:
- Injectable form, HGH as a whole;
- GH secretagogues (peptides that promote the increase in natural GH production by your body’s own means).
Joe Rogan, at some point, switched from #1 to #2, dropped injectable GH and started taking GH-releasing peptides:
“There’s BPC-157, Ipamorelin, Thymosin… what these things do is they help your body produce the hormones that it should have when you’re younger, and your body works better”.
— Joe Rogan
It is quite weird that Joe mentions BPC-157 and Thymosin (aka TB-500) first, to be honest.
These peptides, though they definitely have growth hormone-releasing properties, are mostly used as healing compounds, something that helps your body to recover from all sorts of traumas and injuries faster.
The most popular natural Growth Hormone boosters peptides are different:
- GHRP-6 and GHRP-2 (Growth Hormone Releasing Peptides, hence the name);
- CJC-1295 aka DAC:GRF;
- Tesamorelin aka Egrifta;
- Sermorelin aka GRF 1-29;
- Ipamorelin, aka NNC 26-0161.
CJC-1295, Sermorelin, and Tesamorelin are not that different: those are simply different versions of the same Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone (GHRH).
There’s no crime here though. We have a plenty of nice stacks of IGF-1 and TB-500 or BPC-157 in our Complete Guide to Peptides.
There’s a ton of possible reasons for that:
- Maybe at this point faster recovery is more important for Joe Rogan, given that he’s known to work out like a maniac, with or without any PEDs involved;
- Maybe he’s a 55-year-old ex-MMA fighter who obviously has some old traumas to heal;
- And maybe his doc who’s in charge of all Joe’s peptide protocols and cycles knows much more than we do and gets our store’s annual revenue per 1-hour consultation, so we just won’t go in-depth here.
All we want to say here is simple: if you’re not Joe Rogan and can’t afford a whole list of peptides or a full-scale HGH therapy, there are more effective ways to boost your natural GH. The ones listed above work perfectly well: those are the oldest and best-researched peptides to date.
Joe Rogan “Steroid” Cycle
Now, let’s sum it up.
We know for a fact, from Joe’s own words, that he’s constantly on a cocktail of Testosterone, GH and peptides. All in small doses, all quite rarely, but he’s on it at least for 15 years now.
This is what Joe Rogan steroid cycle looks like (based on his own words, with doses, exact compounds and timing being our complete speculation):
- TRT, Testosterone (Test Cypionate if injectable, Testogel if topical): 30-50 mg E3D ( about 100mg EW);
- IGF-1: 50-100 mcg E4D;
- BPC-157 peptide: 150-200 mcg ED;
- Ipamorelin: 150-300 mcg ED.
There’s a pretty good chance it goes like “TRT + IGF-1 + one more GH-releasing peptide” and changes the parts of the formulae, but there’s no way to know for sure.
In terms of TRT, we doubt he’s on Sustanon and rare injections, he has good docs and enough money to pay for frequent administrations to maintain a steady level of Testosterone).
The miniscule dose of IGF-1 here is roughly equal to 1 IU of HGH, and other peptides are lowered in terms of dosing because we’re pretty sure Joe is on some stack of them: running peptides solo is a waste of peptides.
It’s a decent cocktail, but as Joe says himself — the peptides play a secondary role:
“The big results come from Testosterone Replacement”
— Joe Rogan
And we believe that regardless of all the things Joe takes, he looks good for his age. This is not something anyone can do with ust PEDs: some level of dedication plays the main role here.
