Goal
Joints and tendons
A short list, because the literature underneath it is short.
This is the chronic, load-related end of connective tissue: tendinopathy that has been grumbling for months, joint ache, cartilage wear. It differs from acute injury in two ways that matter. There is no clean healing endpoint to aim at, and pain often persists after the tissue itself has changed — which means feeling better is not proof that the tendon is ready for what you are about to ask of it.
Only five compounds declare any weight for this goal, and that thinness is a genuine signal rather than a gap in the dataset. TB-500 at 5 and BPC-157 at 4 carry the list, both on animal evidence. AOD-9604 appears at 2 on the strength of an osteoarthritis interest that its human trials never supported. GHK-Cu is here for connective tissue and collagen signaling, IGF-1 LR3 for local anabolic effect on tissue that is being loaded.
Of every goal on this site, this is the one where the non-pharmacological option most clearly outperforms the list. Heavy slow resistance and isometric loading protocols have a real, replicated evidence base in tendinopathy; nothing on this page does. Treat anything here as an adjunct to a loading program, give it the twelve weeks that tendon remodeling actually takes, and be careful with anything that removes pain without changing the tissue.
How to read this
Match — how squarely it aims here
The weight the dataset gives this compound for this goal, 1 to 5. It describes intent and mechanism, not benefit, and not direction: a 5 means the compound acts hard on the system in question.
5/5Match strength 5 of 5primary useEvidence — whether anyone has shown it
Read from the compound’s evidence note and handling grade, for the compound as a whole rather than for this goal alone. A 5/5 match on animal data is a hypothesis, not a result.
- Human trialsRandomized or controlled human trials exist, or the compound holds a regulatory approval somewhere. Trials existing is not the same as trials succeeding — some of these were negative.
- Some human dataPublished human work exists but is small, early-phase, acute, or from a single group that nobody has replicated.
- Animal data onlyThe case rests on rodent and cell work. Doses shown are extrapolated, not established in people.
- Anecdotal onlyNo published trial record of any kind. Every number comes from vendor packaging and community practice.
5 compounds, strongest match first
Ranked for joints and tendons
Match 5/5 · Primary use
1
Match 4/5 · Strong secondary
1
Named stacks
Protocols built around this goal
Not sure this is your goal
Most people arrive wanting two or three of these at once, and the honest answer is usually to pick one and run it properly. The quiz weighs your goals against your experience, the routes you will tolerate and your contraindications, then shows its reasoning rather than just a name.
Take the quizOther goals
Educational information only, not medical advice. Talk to a licensed clinician before starting, changing, or stopping anything.