Peptide Glossary — the customer's language, decoded

Plain-English glossary

The peptide world, decoded.

Half gym-forum shorthand, half harm-reduction instinct. Here's what people actually mean — and where the marketing quietly changes the meaning.

Grey / gray market: Non-prescription, non-standard channels — often direct-from-lab or reseller. Not the same as legal compounding.; How marketing distorts it: Sellers use 'research' or 'wellness' language to make grey-market access sound cleaner than it is.
Pinning: Injecting. Casual gym shorthand that hides how much the route of administration actually matters.; How marketing distorts it: Clinics replace it with 'administration' or 'therapy' to remove the emotional friction.
Reconstitution: Mixing a powdered peptide with bacteriostatic water to create an injectable solution. Getting the math wrong is a real overdose vector — see our calculator.
Blend: A vial that combines multiple compounds, usually sold for convenience.; How marketing distorts it: Framed as 'synergistic' before any human combination data exist — and you inherit the weakest evidence of everything in it.
Cycle: A bounded period of use followed by time off. Often folk harm-reduction rather than evidence-based scheduling.; How marketing distorts it: Rebranded as a 'programme' or 'protocol' to make it feel medical.
COA (Certificate of Analysis): A lab report on a tested sample's identity and purity. The minimum trust currency on the grey market — and easy to fake.; How marketing distorts it: '99% pure' is used as if it settled safety. It doesn't prove sterility, endotoxin control, or that the tested vial matches the shipped one.
Research chemical / not for human consumption: A label that lets a seller distance themselves from human use. It does not make a product legal, safe, tested, or approved. We break it down on the blog.
Secretagogue: A compound that makes your body release more of its own hormone — e.g. GH secretagogues that raise growth hormone. Note: some (like MK-677) aren't peptides.
Half-life: How long it takes for half a compound to clear. Drives how long effects (and risks) last — which is why 'DAC vs no-DAC' matters for CJC-1295.
Legit: Community shorthand bundling 'real product, fair price, safe enough, not a scam' into one word.; How marketing distorts it: Clinics borrow 'legit' by stressing compliance and oversight even when the compound's evidence is weak.
Looksmaxing: Appearance optimisation — in peptide culture, it pulls tanning, skin, fat-loss and 'glow' claims into one social-media package.
Rat data / bro science: Evidence from animal studies or gym anecdote rather than human trials. Much of the peptide space runs on it — which is exactly why we grade evidence.