SARMs 101: The Bodybuilder’s Guide

Selective androgen receptor modulators, or SARMs for short, have opened the doors to new people who have never used ANY performance-enhancing substances before. Sure, there are also steroid users who’ve become interested in SARMs¹. After all, with the supposed ability to produce similar results with “no side effects,” who wouldn’t pay attention?

I’ve found two main groups of people checking out SARMs and are serious about using them. These are:

• Guys who’ve been using anabolic steroids but would instead not be using them if they can get the same results some other way.
• Guys who’ve never used steroids and don’t want to but feel like they’re missing out if they don’t use something.

So, I’ve also been receiving emails, mainly from the second group. Bodybuilders (or those relatively new to it all) who want the quickest way to get big without using steroids. Many of these emails and messages are so similar that I’ve just copied one below (the sender will remain anonymous) so you can get an idea. And, if you’re also thinking similarly to these people, I hope my guide will help you, too!

Here’s the email:

“Hey, I’ve never done steroids or SARMs before, but I’m seriously thinking of giving SARMs a go. Are they really milder than steroids? I’ve seen some huge results out there. Are these guys really using just SARMs and getting the same results as steroids? What about the side effects? I read that SARMs don’t need PCT, and you can literally do a whole cycle without thinking about any other side effects. Is it true? Where should I start with SARMs, and what’s the best one for a newbie to use? Thanks!”

So rather than repeat me continually by replying to messages like the above, I’ve put together this extensive guide. Here, you’ll find everything from types of SARMs and how they work to side effects, cycle examples (yes, including for first-time SARM users), and tons more. Let’s jump in!

Medical disclaimer: The following guide is based on personal experience and does NOT promote the illegal use of steroids (PEDs). Consult a healthcare professional before using PEDs.

SARMs: What are they?

SARM stands for Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator². But what does that even mean? There are two SARM types: non-steroidal SARMs³ and steroidal SARMs⁴. Non-steroidal SARMs are most interesting today because they can selectively stimulate anabolism in targeted tissues with little to no androgenicity.

The key is that SARMs can target selective tissues. Muscle and bone are the main targets of SARMs, where stimulation of anabolic effects includes these primary benefits⁵:

• Muscle growth
• Bone strength
• Muscular strength
• Endurance

While SARMs have great potential as future medical treatments for various conditions, the characteristics listed above make SARMs attractive to bodybuilders, athletes, and fitness enthusiasts⁶.

SARMs have indeed become a popular alternative to steroids. You might see people claiming SARMs to be safer or causing fewer side effects. But as you’ll see in my detailed guide below, things aren’t always what they seem when it comes to SARMs, and you’ll want to make sure you’re aware of the risks if you’re considering jumping into the world of SARMs and research chemicals.

What is an Androgen?

Androgens are steroid hormones that bind to androgen receptors in cells around the body⁷. Androgens can occur naturally in the body or be created synthetically in a lab. The most well-known androgen is the primary male sex hormone, testosterone⁸.

The primary role of androgen is to: Direct, regulate and maintain male characteristic development through the process of androgen receptor binding⁹. In performance enhancement, androgens taken at higher doses promote the increased ability to build muscle, develop more strength, and perform physically at a higher level.

Androgens like testosterone are called anabolic steroids. Other steroids are usually modified versions of testosterone, as well as DHT. While anabolic steroids are potent androgens with a strong anabolic nature, their androgenic activity is generally very strong, resulting in a host of unwanted side effects.

What is a Selective Modulator?

A selective receptor modulator (or just SRM) is a drug or compound that can cause different effects in different tissue types in the body. An SRM can either stimulate or block a specific receptor. Where a receptor can be stimulated, it’s possible to bring about the beneficial effects for which the receptor is responsible.

Specifically, regarding SARMs, we would be most interested in the selective receptors in the muscle that stimulate muscle growth¹⁰. And because a selective modulator is “selective,” side effects are minimized because non-targeted receptors are not (in theory) going to be activated. However, this process is still yet to be perfected.

SARMs are far from perfect, and most will result in some activation of androgen receptors outside those desired targeted ones. BUT: SARMs, with their selectivity, will rarely be as androgenic as steroid androgens like testosterone.

How do SARMs work?

SARMs target androgen receptors in tissue that promote muscle growth by stimulating anabolic activity in the bone and muscle¹¹. They work by being selective in the androgen receptors that they bind to. At the same time, SARMs can avoid binding to receptors that trigger unwanted androgenic side effects. This leaves many irrelevant androgen receptors untouched, unlike the non-selective activity of anabolic steroids.

But this process is not perfect: As we all know, SARMs are still being researched, and there’s a lot of room for improvement. So far, no SARM is perfectly selective, and many will not be able to prevent the binding of at least some non-targeted androgen receptors.

So, what does this mean in practical terms? While their ratio of anabolic to androgenic effects is much more favorable than anabolic steroids, you can still see some androgenic effects with SARMs¹². The standard anabolic steroid measure of anabolic-to-androgenic ratio is Testosterone at 1:1. RAD-140, for example, has an anabolic-to-androgenic ratio of about 90:1.

This is good news: Many SARMs will increase lean body mass while boosting fat loss (lipolysis).

Effects of SARMs (Benefits)

If you’re familiar with the benefits of anabolic steroids, then you’ll see that SARMs are very similar in their positive effects. These benefits will often come with a significantly reduced adverse side effect profile compared to steroids and prohormones¹³. Some of the main benefits of SARMs include:

• Increase lean muscle mass
• Help reduce body fat
• Maintain existing muscle when cutting (anti-catabolic)
• Speed up recovery time
• Boost strength and endurance
• Promote healthier and stronger joints, bones, and ligaments
• Not toxic to the liver
• Do not convert to estrogen
• Reduce the risk of prostate issues
• Provide similar benefits to testosterone

Just like with anabolic steroids, some SARMs excel in certain areas more than others. That’s why you must be aware of the specific properties of each SARM before using it. This also allows you to create effective stacks with synergistic SARMs (see further in this guide for more details).

SARMs: Liquid vs. Capsules

You wouldn’t believe the controversy that can come up over the seemingly simple choice between using liquid or capsule forms of SARMs.¹⁴ Yes, this is a topic that some people are particularly passionate about! But is it worth worrying whether capsules or liquid SARMs are better? Or are they the same, and you should base your choice on whatever type is more accessible for you to buy?

First, you should know that much misinformation on this subject is being thrown in forums and social media. Most people will confidently state that liquid SARMs are better than capsules. Rarely will they have any concrete evidence as to WHY their theory is correct, though. In those cases, these people get their ideas from others with the same ideas! And so, down the line, the false theories continue to travel.

But this is all you need to know about SARM liquid vs. capsules: All SARMs start their life as a powder. That’s the raw materials that labs use to create their SARMs products. It’s the quality of that powder that will contribute considerably to the quality of the final product.

So manufacturing labs then have to decide how they’ll deliver that SARM powder to you, the consumer. They can put the powder into a capsule, but because SARMs are not legally allowed to be sold for human consumption, this method indirectly implies that the SARM is made for people to use.

After all, what sort of chemical researcher wants to buy their chemical in a swallowable capsule? Despite this, many SARMs are still sold in capsules and generally sell successfully in that legal gray area we’re familiar with. This leads to the main reason companies sell SARMs as a liquid: It looks better legally.

A liquid product looks more raw and looks like something that would or should be used strictly for scientific research. SARM sellers don’t sell liquid SARMs because they think they work better (they don’t) or because they’re more bioavailable (they aren’t). They want to cover their legal bases as well as possible and attract less attention from authorities.

Capsules have some benefits over liquid SARMs:

• They have a longer shelf life
• Capsules generally are easier to ship (no bottles to break)
• Easier to consume

But all SARMs are still made of that original raw powder. That’s what you need to know. So, to conclude and hopefully put the controversy of liquid vs. capsule SARMs to rest:

• Liquid SARMs – They are easier to adjust for very small changes in dosage compared to breaking open capsules; they appear more legitimate as a research product from a legal point of view.
• Capsule SARMs – Easier to take and store for a more extended period (you can stock up) and have greater appeal to a broader customer base due to convenience and familiarity.

But when it comes to the bioavailability and efficacy of liquid and capsule SARMs? Both are the same. Your choice will come down to what’s easier or cheaper for you to buy and how you prefer to administer a SARM.

Types of SARMs

Research chemicals come and go constantly; thousands of chemicals are researched yearly for pharmaceutical potential. Most never make it past the research stage. SARMs are no different. So, while a long list of SARMs¹⁵ has been created (so far), only a relatively small number get all the attention from us bodybuilders and athletes (as well as anti-doping authorities).

Remember this: Everyone will have a different response to different SARMs. This is a list of the most popular SARMs at the moment:

• Ostarine (Enobosarm, MK2866, S22) – The primary areas where Ostarine excels are muscle building, fat loss, and enhanced performance.
• LGD-4033 (Ligandrol) – LGD enhances muscle mass and strength.
• RAD-140 (Testolone) – RAD is one of the most potent SARMs. It binds to the androgen receptors and stimulates muscle and protein cells, increasing lean muscle mass.
• Andarine (S4) – Andarine is mainly known for accelerating muscle growth, fat loss, and increasing strength.
• S23 – S23 is a powerful SARM that has been shown to increase energy, improve athletic performance, and increase muscle growth.
• YK-11 – YK11 attaches to the androgen receptor to help inhibit myostatin production in the muscle, thus increasing muscle growth.

Author Note: Other compounds can produce similar effects to SARMs even though they are not SARMs. Some of these other performance-enhancing substances do often get lumped in with SARMs, but in some cases, they can work very differently. The popular examples of compounds that may be confused with SARMs but are NOT SARMs include:

• Ibutamoren (MK-677, Nutrobal) – MK-677 is an effective growth hormone secretagogue. It mimics the ghrelin receptor, which stimulates GH and IGF-1, leading to accelerated recovery and muscle growth.
• GW-501516 (GW1516, Cardarine, Endurobol) – Cardarine is a PPAR agonist that enhances endurance, stamina, metabolism, and fat loss.
• SR9009 (Stenabolic) – Stenabolic is a Rev-ErbA agonist that functions as a metabolic modulator, significantly boosting endurance, stamina, and exercise capacity.

The SARMs and other performance-enhancing compounds listed below are the primary ones you should know about. Now, let’s look into them in more detail so you can make the best-informed decision about which direction you want to go in. Please keep in mind that the descriptions of the pros and cons are based on general experiences and standard usage:

Ostarine (MK-2866)

Thanks to its anabolic benefits, Ostarine is one of the most widely used SARMs. Ostarine can be used for bulking or for maintaining muscle while cutting. You’ll find it helpful in enhancing recovery, positively affecting the joints, tendons, and ligaments. Bodybuilders, athletes, and fitness enthusiasts can all find valuable benefits in Ostarine.

You might see Ostarine being called several names: Enobosarm, Ostabolic, or just MK2866, which is simply the name of the research chemical. Like most SARMs, Ostarine is currently in development for its potential in treating conditions like osteoporosis and muscle wasting, among others.

The goals of Ostarine that interest athletes and those interested in physique enhancement are strength and muscle gains and promoting an anti-catabolic state in the body – where the muscle is not lost. Ostarine potentially has one of the greatest, if not the greatest, anabolic properties of all currently available SARMs.

Like all SARMs, Ostarine binds to androgen receptors and only selective receptor sites in muscle and bone tissue. It is a SARM that is useful for fat loss and gaining mass. While gains are unlikely to exceed those you can make with the more powerful anabolic steroids, Ostarine provides an alternative that reduces the amount and severity of side effects compared with steroids.

BENEFITS:

This SARM has been studied on humans more than many others, with some positive results at very low doses on older people suffering from muscle wastage, including increased body mass and muscle strength. Additionally:

• Subcutaneous and visceral fat loss
• Lean muscle preservation
• Muscle mass gains
• Strength increase
• Joint healing
• More endurance

Ostarine is available in both capsule form and liquid solution. The latter is commonly taken directly into the mouth, while capsules are typically 10mg each.

RISKS:

Ostarine might bring about a small suppression in testosterone levels in some users, especially those taking higher doses. Most of this information is anecdotal, though, with no clear-cut data about how much Ostarine might impact testosterone at different doses. Also:

• Possible cardiovascular and liver stress in some users
• Headaches
• Acne and hair thinning in some users

The most concerning possible Ostarine adverse effects is the way it has impacted liver health even at small doses, so this oral SARM may have a considerable liver toxicity risk that is yet to be fully established. Another serious risk is a reduction of good cholesterol levels that some users have seen, even at very low doses. Some hair loss can also occur because levels of DHT can be elevated.

Ostarine can be thought of as one of the more high-risk SARMs, given its notable list of potentially very serious side effects. At the same time, it’s also one of the more studied SARMs, and the results are often positive. However, the fact that users are seeing some or all of the above effects at low doses is cause for concern. This means considerable caution should be taken if you’re considering using Ostarine, as many people will find that the risk-to-benefit ratio is not as appealing as some other SARMs.

DOSAGE:

Ostarine will often be used at 10-25 mg/day for about 8-12 weeks. With the compound’s 24-hour half-life, you can take it once daily (usually in the morning) to ensure it’s always active in your body.

When used for cutting, 15mg daily can strike the right balance between promoting the preservation of lean muscle while in a calorie deficit and not getting you to a level where you’ll be bulking up, which can require a dose of double that amount. A dose of 15mg is unlikely to cause testosterone suppression, but any dose can still put you at unknown risks of other side effects. If you’re going to run an Ostarine cycle, check out my full Ostarine (MK-2866) cycle guide.

Ligandrol (LGD-4033)

Known as a very steroid-like SARM, Ligandrol has very similar effects as testosterone. The muscle-building effects of Ligandrol make this one of the most popular SARMs with bodybuilders who want significant gains without using steroids. However, some steroid-type side effects are possible.

Ligandrol has a history of human clinical trials that showed that it succeeded in increasing muscle mass without gaining fat. This makes it one of the few SARMs that has an evident human clinical history of doing what we expect it to do and having those effects work positively in the human body.

The primary medical research surrounding Ligandrol focuses on its potential use for aging-related muscle wasting, osteoporosis, and cancer, so we expect this SARM to have excellent anabolic and muscle-building effects.

BENEFITS:

Quick muscle gains are the primary benefit of using LGD-4033. If your diet and training are proper, gaining 15 pounds in a standard cycle of 8 to 12 weeks is possible. Expect excellent gains in strength, plus improvements in your recovery time. LGD-4033 will increase the strength of tendons and ligaments and bone density. Expect:

• Increased strength
• Lean muscle gains
• Fat loss
• Faster muscle healing
• Increases appetite in some users

LGD-4033 is one of few SARMs that have had some human studies done, and the results are impressive, with excellent muscle gains seen at very low doses. With its specifically targeted androgen receptor activity, we can see benefits in all related areas, but there are some downsides with this powerful SARM regarding side effects.

RISKS:

Ligandrol is a powerful bulking SARM – in fact, it is probably the best SARM for mass gaining – but it also comes with a list of possible side effects that are at the longer end and often the more serious end compared with most other SARMs:

• Estrogenic side effects can develop
• Can cause testosterone suppression
• Some users see minor hair loss
• Lethargy at higher doses

This isn’t a compound for beginner SARM users but should be used cautiously. LGD-4033 causes a reduction in the amount of testosterone your body naturally produces. Some early research indicates that this SARM might have some disruptive effects on hormone signaling as well. Hair loss is a possibility, but the exact cause of this effect is still not known.

More seriously, LGD-4033 poses a high risk to cholesterol health, with studies showing that HDL levels can reduce significantly, so those with existing cholesterol problems should reconsider using this SARM. Potential liver toxicity is believed to be dose-dependent. Still, detailed data isn’t yet available – therefore, keeping your dose as low as possible is the best way to minimize that risk.

DOSAGE:

Ligandrol will often be used at 5-10 mg/day for about eight weeks. With the compound having a half-life of about 24-36 hours, I find it better to take it once daily (usually in the morning) to ensure it’s always active in my body.

Because some studies have shown side effects at doses as low as 1mg, you can start an LGD-4033 cycle on as little as 2mg daily. Most males will aim for a 10mg daily dose, which you can gradually taper to as your cycle progresses, simply increasing your dose by 2mg weekly. If you’re going to run a Liganrol cycle, check out my full Ligandrol (LGD-4033) cycle guide.

Testolone (RAD-140)

Testolone has some very similar effects on the body as testosterone does, and this SARM is highly regarded for its ability to produce significant gains in both strength and lean muscle. This makes it one of the most popular bulking SARMs available. RAD-140 is such a powerful SARM that new users are strongly recommended to use it only at very low doses.

Testolone is still in development by the company Radius Health as a treatment for breast cancer muscle wasting and as a safer alternative to testosterone replacement therapy. Studies have shown that RAD-140 increases lean muscle mass exceptionally well by targeting skeletal tissue androgen receptors. RAD-140 is believed to be the most androgenic SARM, but despite this, its androgenic activity is only around 10% of that of testosterone.

BENEFITS:

Testolone is a powerful bulking SARM that makes it easier and faster for you to gain muscle. It boosts your strength beyond normal levels, substantially increases stamina, and speeds up your recovery:

• Increased muscle gains and lean mass
• Big strength boost
• More stamina and endurance
• Promotes fat burning through enhanced anabolic activity
• Speeds up recovery

RAD-140 covers everything you want in a bulking cycle. It can also help you burn fat, thanks to its promotion of increased anabolic activity.

RISKS:

Testolone can cause some of the androgenic side effects that you might be familiar with from steroids. These RAD-140 side effects are less likely at lower doses, though. These include hair loss, extra aggression or anxiety, acne, and even increased blood pressure. Some users report loss of appetite, dizziness, lethargy, and insomnia as other side effects. This SARM will also cause testosterone suppression.

• Androgenic side effects are possible as the dose increases (hair loss, acne)
• Blood pressure increases are possible at higher doses
• Minor temporary side effects like lethargy and insomnia were reported in some users
• It may suppress testosterone and increase estrogen levels

Testolone is one of the most powerful SARMs developed to date. With this comes some of the more serious side effects we will see with any SARM, but not everyone will have the same experience! The key is to work out how your body reacts to Testolone and adjust your dosage and cycles to get the best results from this compound. It certainly has great potential to be an even better choice than steroids for a serious bulking cycle.

DOSAGE:

RAD-140 will often be used at 10-20 mg/day for 6-8 weeks. The compound has a 24-hour half-life (up to 60 hours according to some users), so the dosing frequency is once a day (preferably in the morning) to ensure it’s always active in the body.

Because RAD-140 is so powerful, if this is your first cycle, you will want to start at a lower dosage, and it’s wise to increase the dose gradually throughout your cycle. Start at 5mg for the first week, then 10-15mg for the next three weeks. For the final two weeks, you can either continue at 15mg for maximum gains or taper back to 5mg, depending on how you manage any adverse effects. This 6-week cycle provides a good balance between benefits and side effects. If you’re going to run a Testolone cycle, check out my full Testolone (RAD-140) cycle guide.

Andarine (S-4)

Andarine is especially valued as a compound that helps preserve lean muscle while cutting. Andarine comes with the ability to improve bone density as well and is considered one of the milder SARMs overall.

S4 is a SARM that has seen a wide take-up by athletes in various disciplines. I could say that this is a SARM that is both loved and hated for several reasons, including that it is not as powerful in either anabolic or androgenic effects compared with many other SARMs. Still, the fact is that it is not under research anymore. Many trials were not published, making this SARM more of a mystery than others.

S4 is only a partial androgen receptor agonist rather than a full agonist, like many other SARMs are. Its research work has been focused on the prostate, with early animal results showing a reduction in prostate weight without the loss of muscle mass. Lab studies also focus on its potential use for osteoporosis and muscle wasting treatments.

BENEFITS:

Andarine is one of the better-known SARMs, and its main purpose for development is to treat people with diseases that cause muscle wasting. As you would expect, this then makes it a pretty desirable compound for bodybuilders who want to avoid losing muscle, especially when cutting:

• Promotes muscle growth and increased bone density
• Improves athletic performance and strength
• Decreased body fat
• Maintains and builds muscle mass
• Increased vascularity

Like all SARMs, Andarine works by selectively binding to androgen receptors – specifically the ones that influence muscle and bone growth in the body.

RISKS:

We don’t know the full extent of potential side effects with Andarine, but some users have reported:

• Vision problems: This is the most serious potential side effect involving changes to your vision, such as seeing a yellowish tinge and, with long-term use, a possible loss of low-light vision.
• Testosterone suppression: Because Andarine binds to androgen receptors, this can suppress your natural testosterone levels, meaning you’ll likely need to do PCT like we have to with steroids.

Andarine is one of the most widely used SARMs because it effectively targets the androgen receptors that lead to desirable muscle growth and bone density. The potential side effects relating to vision disturbances will understandably make a lot of people hesitant to try Andarine, and you’ll need to weigh up the pros and cons before deciding to use this SARM.

DOSAGE:

Andarine is often used at 25-75 mg/day for 8-12 weeks. With the compound having a relatively short half-life of 3-4 hours, I find it better to split the dose during the day (morning, noon, and night) instead of taking it all at once to ensure it’s always active in my body.

Like everything with Andarine, an ideal dose isn’t scientifically known, and dosing is mostly trial and error. Most males find that no more than 50mg daily is effective. Ideally, Andarine shouldn’t be used for any longer than 12 weeks, but a cycle as short as eight weeks can still deliver good results. If you’re going to run an Andarine cycle, check out my full Andarine (S-4) cycle guide.

S-23 SARM

Some people will call S-23 the strongest SARM there is. Some will compare it to the steroid Winstrol (similar benefits minus the side effects). At least, that’s what people assume. S23 and SARMs generally provide a real alternative to anabolic steroids, with beneficial effects that can often rival steroids but with a much-reduced chance of side effects. While S23 has more side effect risk than the average SARM, even beginner users can control them effectively with sensible use.

S23’s powerful benefits are only rivaled by a couple of other SARMs, including RAD 140 and Andarine, with LGD-4033 being another compound with the potential for similar fat loss and muscle-gaining benefits as S23. In most cases, S23 users will be stacking it with at least one of these other compounds. When it comes to steroids, the ones that we can most closely compare with S23 are the powerhouse-cutting steroids of Anavar and Winstrol. But these come with considerably more significant side effects than S23, and while their fat loss effects are also more powerful, users must weigh this up with the certain downsides of using those steroids.

BENEFITS:

This SARM has wide-ranging benefits. For many people, though, it’s cutting where S23 will provide the most outstanding value, especially when stacked with other SARMs or compounds promoting fat loss. There’s a lot more to S23 than just that, though; here are all the potential benefits and effects that you can expect when using S23 SARM:

• Increases muscle mass and strength
• Promotes fat loss
• Endurance and recovery times are boosted
• High binding affinity and high bioavailability

Building lean mass is a prime benefit of S23 and why many people wish to use it. Despite its steroid-like effects, S23 does not cause water retention for most people, so your gains will be clean and bloat-free. As long as you continue with sensible lifestyle choices after your S23 cycle, you should be able to hold on to all the gains you’ve made with none hidden behind water retention.

Some strength gains can also be expected, but the most significant benefit in this area is maintaining your strength when on a cutting cycle, where a calorie deficit can start to zap strength and stamina, resulting in weaker workouts and a reduction in muscle. S23 helps sustain your strength to continue training at a higher intensity.

Many S23 users have noted increased endurance, stamina, speed, and overall performance when using S23. While it is not fully understood how S23 works to boost stamina, this is a welcome benefit that provides an advantage to anyone doing any exercise, whether it’s wanting to do more sets and reps as a bodybuilder or increase your cardiovascular workout capacity.

RISKS:

Compared with anabolic steroids, SARMs are generally considered safer, and this is also the case with S23. But as far as SARMs go, this is one of the more side effect-prone compounds, which can potentially bring about some effects that are similar to those seen with steroid use:

• Steroid-type testosterone suppression
• Potentially causes infertility
• Increased aggression
• Night sweats
• Hair thinning

As always, the higher your dosage of S23, the higher your risk of these side effects, and the more severe they could be. If you start experiencing some concerning effects in your S23 cycle, lower the dosage, monitor performance from there, and adjust as necessary for the rest of the cycle.

Since there are no human studies on S23, all side effects are reported anecdotally by people who have used this SARM. This means that you may or may not experience some or all of the above effects, and you could experience some side effects that no one else has reported – this is the risk of using an investigational SARM like S23.

DOSAGE:

As with everything else concerning S23, we don’t have concrete data on the best dosage to get a balance of excellent results with minimal side effects. S-23 will often be used at 10-30 mg/day for 4-8 weeks. With the compound having a short half-life of 12 hours, I find it better to split the dose during the day (morning and evening) to ensure it’s always active in my body.

Early users of S23 used trial and error, and many shared their personal experiences with particular doses so the rest of us could make as informed a decision as possible. Starting as a new S23 user, starting low at 10mg daily is ideal. The highest dose currently recommended is 30mg daily. If you’re going to run a S23 cycle, check out my complete S23 SARM cycle guide.

YK-11 (Myostatin Inhibitor)

YK-11 is as close to an anabolic steroid as you can get. It works as a SARM and a myostatin inhibitor. By actively inhibiting myostatin, which inhibits muscle growth, the potential for building muscle is increased.

Myostatin prevents the muscle from growing, so by inhibiting it, you increase the potential for muscle growth when combined with resistance training. YK-11 decreases myostatin through the process of increasing the protein follistatin.

It’s common to see impressive muscle gains of up to 15 lbs after the first YK-11 cycle. It’s been found that some professional bodybuilders have a genetic inclination to be naturally myostatin deficient, indicating just how powerful YK-11 can be in promoting muscle growth.

BENEFITS:

Lean muscle gains and muscle preservation are the two significant benefits of YK-11, making it a versatile SARM. Regarding bulking, YK-11 can deliver some of the biggest possible gains from any SARM. This is primarily thanks to the unique myostatin inhibition properties you don’t get with other SARMs.

• Increases muscle growth
• Increases muscular strength
• Improves bone strength

Bonus benefits include increased bone strength, which you’ll need for that extra muscle, and enhanced strength, so you’ll see a remarkable ability to lift heavier and heavier weights as the cycle progresses.

RISKS:

YK-11 brings about much more androgenic effects than other SARMs because it is a steroidal SARM, so you will be dealing with the familiar steroid-like androgenic side effects like hair loss and acne if you’re prone to these things:

• Hair loss (usually temporary)
• Gyno at high doses
• Testosterone suppression
• Acne in some users
• More aggression

Other side effects can include headaches, aggression, joint pain, fatigue, and low to moderate testosterone suppression. YK-11 is potentially toxic to the liver. As always, the side effects you experience depend on your reaction and dosage.

YK-11 has massive benefits for bulking cycles, and when used at low to moderate doses, the side effects should be manageable for most users. It is not generally considered the best SARM to start with for those who are new to SARMs since it is steroidal. Still, if you already have some SARMs experience, this is a compound to consider for your next bulking cycle.

DOSAGE:

YK-11 will often be used at 5-15 mg/day for 4-8 weeks. With the compound having a relatively short half-life of 6-8 hours, I find it better to split the dose during the day (morning, noon, and night) to ensure it’s always active in my body.

If it’s your first time using YK-11 and side effects concern you, starting low at 5mg per day will still get results. If all goes well, the second week can be increased to 10mg daily. 15mg is still considered a moderate dose and is unlikely to cause severe side effects, but again, you will need to gauge your response to this SARM and adjust the dosage accordingly. The cycle length should be 8-12 weeks maximum, and PCT will be required. If you’re going to run a YK-11 cycle, check out my complete YK-11 SARM cycle guide.

Cardarine (GW-501516)

Cardarine is a PPAR (Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor) agonist. It’s trendy because of its excellent fat-burning activity, which makes it a popular cutting cycle compound.

Cardarine works effectively at promoting fat loss thanks to its ability to alter positively:

• Insulin sensitivity
• Glucose tolerance
• Lipid balance

Quite extreme fat loss has been reported from Cardarine cycles; sometimes, up to 40 lbs within three months. Often, Cardarine is used alongside SARMs like Ostarine. Cardarine is a desirable compound for its powerful effects on athletes of just about any type, without steroid-type side effects. However, there are important reasons why many people choose not to use Cardarine at all despite its incredible effects.

BENEFITS:

GW501516 focuses on receptors that are in muscles and fatty acids. These receptors can increase fatty acid oxidation capacity, which is the process of breaking down fatty acids. This makes Cardarine attractive, particularly for fat loss uses. Expect:

• Big boost to endurance, stamina, and performance
• Improves cholesterol profile
• Moderate fat loss
• It helps preserve muscle and can promote small muscle gains

Exceptionally improved physical performance is where Cardarine shines. Without the anabolic activity of true SARMs and steroids, Cardarine is not a muscle growth compound. Instead, it has found popularity among athletes who want incredible improvements in performance, with a 2018 study showing Cardarine could deliver in this area. Expect to see remarkable improvements in your cardio exercise performance with this compound.

Cardarine is also useful for fat burning as it was also developed to help treat obesity. Although this is to be expected when your endurance is boosted, and you’re ultimately training much harder and for longer, Cardarine can potentially act to burn fat for energy by changing the metabolism to increase the uptake of glucose in skeletal muscle tissue and to stimulate fatty acid oxidation.

If your diet supports losing fat, Cardarine can only make it easier and comes with the benefit of reducing catabolism or loss of muscle when losing fat. Cardarine is often referred to as primarily a fat-loss compound.

RISKS:

Very few studies have been done with humans using Cardarine, and most of those have been small doses and short studies, so much remains unknown. In these studies, no serious GW-501516 adverse effects were reported. There is often talk about the potential for Cardarine to cause cancer, but this has been far from proven scientifically:

• Some people experience mild side effects like fatigue, headache, digestive pain, or insomnia in the short term
• Caused development of many cancerous tumors in animal studies

Unlike a lot of fat-loss drugs, Cardarine is not a stimulant, which gives it an edge over some other substances that stimulate the nervous system, causing many adverse effects. However, it’s critical to be aware that the lack of extensive research and data means we have no idea what possible long-term complications using Cardarine can cause, especially at higher doses.

DOSAGE:

Cardarine is often used at 10-20 mg/day for about 8-10 weeks. With the compound having a half-life of 16-24 hours, you can take it once daily (usually in the morning) to ensure it’s always active in your body. Although trials on humans were run for 12 weeks, most athletes using Cardarine will normally stick to an 8-week cycle at a dose of between 10mg and 15mg daily. The optimal cycle length for you should be evaluated over time, and you might benefit by extending your cycle to 12 weeks, while the maximum dosage should not exceed 20mg for more advanced users.

The standard dosage range is from 10mg at the low end to 20mg daily. It is not recommended that anyone exceed 20mg of Cardarine daily, which is more than enough to provide significant benefits, particularly regarding endurance. New users will most likely want to start at the lower yet still effective dose of 10mg daily. Many users will not wish to exceed 15mg daily, and only the most advanced users will progress to 20mg per day.

For those using Cardarine mainly to support the negative effects of some steroids like Trenbolone, a 10mg daily dose of Cardarine is usually sufficient to assist significantly in managing cholesterol and cardiovascular function. If you’re going to run a Cardarine cycle, check out my full Cardarine (GW-501516) cycle guide.

Stenabolic (SR-9009)

Stenabolic is a a Rev-ErbA agonist. The muscles, fat cells, and liver all contain the Rev-Erb protein, which Stenabolic can bind to. This boosts protein synthesis and enhances your anabolic state despite being able to do so without being a hormonal compound. The result? There is no suppression of natural testosterone; a benefit is that you don’t need PCT after using Stenabolic.

SR9009 is valued for promoting fat loss, mainly through its positive effects on metabolism. This compound was researched for its potential as an obesity treatment, which gives us a good idea of what it’s been created to do. Stenabolic is also helpful for general fitness goals thanks to its ability to enhance endurance.

BENEFITS:

Endurance and stamina are the main effects that brought attention to Stenabolic, with lab results on mice showing a significant increase in endurance capacity. This makes it useful for endurance athletes like runners, swimmers, cyclists, and anyone doing cardio work. Expect:

• Efficient fat loss
• Increases the metabolism
• More muscular strength
• Increased stamina and endurance

With its ability to improve metabolism and make more efficient use of stored fat, SR9009 can contribute to weight loss, and this has also been shown in studies on mice. Through a complex set of processes in the body, mitochondrial cells may be enhanced by Stenabolic, particularly in fat cells, the liver, and skeletal muscle. This action can help with the process of fat being used as an energy source, which can only result in you burning up more fat faster without losing muscle tissue.

RISKS:

There have been hardly any human tests on Stenabolic, and there are no reported side effects yet. This, of course, doesn’t mean that you won’t experience any side effects. With such little information about adverse effects available, every individual must take their own risk in using Stenabolic and stop use if they notice any concerning signs.

• Digestive upset
• Stomach cramps
• Some studies suggest possible alteration of the circadian rhythm, which can impact sleep.

Stenabolic is still a little-known compound that shows many signs that it has excellent potential to be a relatively safe but highly effective product to use for cutting purposes in place of dangerous steroids. As always, the lack of research and data on Stenabolic’s short and long-term health impacts means this compound should be used cautiously.

When it comes to the issues that any steroid user would be familiar with: testosterone suppression, androgenic effects like balding or acne, or estrogenic effects like water retention – these are not a concern with Stenabolic. The compound has no hormonal activity and doesn’t impact testosterone or estrogen. This means you won’t need to take any estrogen-blocking drugs or any PCT drugs afterward unless you are stacking Stenabolic with a steroid or other compound that does affect these hormones.

DOSAGE:

Like most things about this compound, there is no consensus on dosage for performance enhancement either, and most users will experiment with their dosages and cycles.

Stenabolic will often be used at 20-25 mg/day for eight weeks. With a short half-life of 4 hours, I find it better to split the dose during the day (morning, noon, late afternoon, and night) instead of taking it all at once to ensure it’s always active in the body. If you’re going to run a Stenabolic cycle, check out my full Stenabolic (SR-9009) cycle guide.

Ibutamoren (MK-677)

Ibutamoren is a growth hormone secretagogue. It can mimic the functions of ghrelin, which boosts IGF-1 and growth hormone levels. This raises your ability to grow muscle and lose fat simultaneously.

MK-677 is one of the more unique compounds with the exciting benefit of potentially having some anti-aging effects. This comes alongside a wide range of desirable benefits to everyone, from bodybuilders to sporting athletes.

If you use Ibutamoren alone in a cycle, you can expect moderate muscle gains of up to 10 lbs. While the potential fat loss effects are useful, they are not as powerful as with some other compounds. MK-677 is a compound that some people can use with little issue, while others don’t enjoy it because they’re susceptible to the potential side effects.

BENEFITS:

Quick muscle gains and fast reduction in body fat are the core benefits of Ibutamoren. Increasing bone mineral density and bone strength are additional benefits:

• Muscle building
• Increases bone strength and mineral density
• Stimulates appetite
• Improves recovery and sleep quality

You can expect an increase in appetite; some people might not see this as a benefit, but you will likely welcome this effect for bulking up. A more unexpected benefit is a possible improvement in sleep quality, which can only help with your recovery process.

RISKS:

MK-677 may cause some serious side effects, especially at higher doses, which is to be expected when discussing a compound that raises growth hormone levels. Muscle and joint pain may occur and, in some cases, even swelling.

• Possible water retention
• Headaches, muscle cramps, swollen joints
• Tiredness and lethargy
• Vivid or unusual dreams

Some individuals might be at risk of high blood pressure and increased glucose levels. In the most serious cases, heart failure could occur. Needless to say, your dosage should be carefully planned to minimize these risks. Ibutamoren is mostly an unresearched compound, so many of its potential risks are still largely unknown. However, we do know it can cause severe issues in some people, especially when the dosage is too high.

DOSAGE:

Ibutamoren will often be used at 10-30 mg/day for about 8-16 weeks. With the compound having a convenient half-life of 24 hours, you can take it once daily (usually in the morning) to ensure it’s always active in your body.

Starting at 15mg daily for the first 4-6 weeks, then if you’re comfortable, double the dose to 30mg for the second half of your 8-12 week cycle, with some users taking this cycle to 16 weeks due to MK-677’s slower acting nature. Some users will take 50mg at the high end – but remember that Ibutamoren works very well at lower doses, so there is no need or benefit in jumping straight to a high dose with this compound. If you’re going to run an Ibutamoren cycle, check out my full Ibutamoren (MK-677) cycle guide.

SARM Cycles

SARMs are diverse enough to be effectively used in all types of cycles. The key? Choose the right SARM or SARMs to include in your cycle, at the correct dose, for the proper length of time, and optionally combine with compatible and complimentary SARMs or other compounds. You might not get it perfect every time, but with patience and practice, you’ll soon learn to use SARMs for your goals.

SARM Synergy

Do you know what synergy is? Here’s an official definition: “The interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.“

Steroid users have long stacked multiple steroids to benefit from their combined or different effects; in other words, compounds that have similar effects could result in multiplied results, while those with complementary effects can round out a cycle with a whole range of benefits that you could never achieve with one steroid.

The same can apply to SARMs. While we don’t have anywhere near the data and experience we do with steroid combinations, SARM users have found that combining SARMs with good synergy provides better results. However, it also increases side effects, depending on how potent the additional compound is.

Some of the SARMs that are known to have synergistic relationships include:

• LGD-4033 and MK-677
• RAD-140 and YK-11

These are just two examples. Another common strategy is to stack a dry SARM with one that promotes fat loss. This creates a cutting or contest prep stack involving dry SARMs like Ostarine, RAD-140, or S4 combined with SR-9009 or Cardarine.

Can I Stack Multiple SARMs?

Yes, you can stack two or more SARMs. But you must consider the possible extra positive benefits and side effects you’ll get (if any). Stacking means you’re also introducing a new set of side effects, plus amplifying any negatives that each compound shares¹⁶.

One of the big ones to watch out for is suppression¹⁷, which will worsen with each suppressive SARM you include in the stack. So, while stacking SARMs using lower doses than you might use if taking just a single SARM, you could still end up with the same side effect risks!

This is the key: Randomly stacking any SARMs you get your hands on with the view that “more is better” will almost certainly lead to disappointment. Stacking SARMs should be carefully thought out. The synergy between different SARMs, as I talked about above, is what will make or break your cycle.

There is zero point in taking two SARMs with the same or similar mechanism of action; you may as well take a higher dose of one SARM. Synergy involves combining SARMs that take a different path to bring results with reduced side effects.

The good news is that there are people out there stacking SARMs who are sharing their experiences. Learn from them, and consider their combinations rather than creating your own. YK-11 and MK-677 are particularly synergistic with many other SARMs, so consider using either of those as part of your stack, and you’ll be off to a good start.

Can I Stack Steroids with SARMs?

Do you have experience with steroids and are now considering whether adding one or more SARMs to the stack could give you a unique advantage? While it is tempting, it’s recommended NOT to stack SARMs with most steroids.

Oral steroids, in particular, shouldn’t be stacked with SARMs. There can be one exception here: YK-11 can potentially work well with some oral steroids. Using potent steroids doesn’t leave room for SARM benefits to have much noticeable effect.

Injectable testosterone is probably the only one that I’d ever consider worth stacking SARMs with. But even if you want to stack with testosterone, you wouldn’t want your testosterone dose to be much more than 250mg weekly, and that’s considered a low TRT level dose.

But why such a low testosterone dose? Because the SHBG binding affinity with SARMs is usually much higher, and this causes a significant increase in free testosterone¹⁸. The result? Increased androgenic and estrogenic side effects – precisely the things you hope to avoid by using SARMs.

Bulking Cycles

Bodybuilders will prioritize bulking (gaining size and muscle) on a SARM cycle. Effective cycles can be put together whether you’re running your very first cycle or if you’re the most advanced user looking for hardcore results. Here are a few examples of bulking SARM cycles to get you going:

Beginner

A basic but very effective beginner bulking cycle involves using just one SARM. Ligandrol is an excellent choice for two reasons:

• It will allow an exceptional transformation of your body
• Side effects will be minimal

Also, you might be able to get away with no PCT after this cycle. But have a SERM ready to use, just in case. I’ve included the SERM in this cycle because I’d rather be safe than sorry, and as a beginner, you won’t necessarily be aware of whether you should PCT. So why not just do it and avoid low testosterone complications?

So, on to the cycle… A simple 8-week cycle of Ligandrol at 5mg/day will have a beginner making some very nice gains (remembering it’s always easier to gain in your first cycles).

An alternative beginner cycle could use two compounds: Ostarine (20mg daily) and Ibutamoren (15mg daily) for eight weeks. Ibutamoren will increase your appetite and be less suppressive than Ligandrol. Don’t forget to add those essential support supplements – NAC and fish oil are strongly recommended at a minimum.

Intermediate

More powerful and stacked compounds are used here, and you should only consider this cycle once you’ve got one or more beginner’s bulking cycles under your belt because we’re stepping up a notch here by adding Ibutamoren. This is a somewhat more potent SARM for bulking; Ibutamoren combined with Testolone increases appetite and the ability to make more significant gains if your diet supports it.

Suppression is likely here, so a testosterone base should be considered. Or, at the very least, a SERM like Clomiphene (Clomid) for weeks 5-8. Of interest is how you can use Ibutamoren as a stand-in for PCT for weeks 9-12, which will help preserve gains.

Here’s a cycle suggestion for intermediate bulking:

• Testolone – Weeks 1-8: 10mg-15mg daily (ideally start at 10mg and increase to 15mg at week 5)
• Ibutamoren – Weeks 1-12: 10mg daily

You’ll also want to add standard support supplements like Fish/Krill Oil, NAC, Vitamin B6, and Berberine.

Advanced

Two SARMs and a SERM can make up a simple yet very potent advanced bulking cycle. LGD-3303 and YK-11 make for a powerful bulking stack. LGD-3303 is considered by many to be THE most potent SARM for bulking.

The dosage suggestions below can be modified as you go, depending on how you respond to LGD-3303. If you tolerate it well, consider increasing the dose halfway through the cycle; otherwise, maintain a 10mg dosage, which is more than sufficient in most cases.

LGD is the primary bulking agent here, and while YK-11 won’t contribute as much to mass gaining directly, its ability to reduce myostatin makes it possible to boost your gains beyond what you could get by using LGD on its own.

For this 8-week cycle, consider these dosing suggestions:

• LGD-3303 10-15mg daily for week 1-8
• YK-11 5mg daily weeks 5-8 only
• Clomiphene (or other SERM of your choice) weeks 3-10 includes PCT: 25mg daily, halved for the final week

The downside of this cycle is heavy suppression, and it’s strongly suggested that you consider testosterone injections as a TRT if you don’t want to include a SERM for most of the cycle, as I’ve listed above.

Hardcore

A hardcore bulking cycle is not for the faint-hearted! You will want a good amount of experience with different SARMs (and their side effects) before even thinking of attempting this type of extreme mass-gaining cycle. Your workout and diet must support the SARMs you’re using here. Otherwise, please stick to the other cycles I’ve outlined above. The backbone of this cycle is:

MK-677 + LGD-3303 + YK-11

Then, you also add injectable testosterone and PCT with Clomiphene (Clomid) and Tamoxifen (Nolvadex). The benefits? Huge volume and muscle mass gains. The addition of injectable testosterone is to have a quality testosterone base that also helps with your joints and overall well-being.

Here’s the cycle outline:

• LGD-3303: Week 1-8 (15mg/day for the first four weeks, 20mg/day for the next four weeks)
• YK-11: Weeks 5-8 only (10mg/day)
• MK-677: Weeks 1-8 (15mg/day)
• Testosterone Enanthate / Cypionate: Weeks 1-8 (300mg/week)
• Tamox + Clomid: Weeks 9-12 (20mg/day and 50mg/day, respectively. Halve the doses for the final week.)

Fish oil, vitamin B6, NAC, and MSM should be considered additional support supplements.

Using one SARM on its own can give you great results, but combining or stacking two or more SARMs together means you are not only compounding on the muscle-building benefits of all of them, but you’re also grabbing extra unique effects from each one to turn your bulking cycle into one that is all-encompassing across the spectrum of performance enhancement and recovery.

Most SARMs will stack well together, and below are five of my best SARMs stacks for bulking:

RAD-140 + YK-11

YK-11 is a potent SARM and is highly effective on its own. Beginners will probably not look at using this bulking stack, but advanced users with more specific needs will benefit by combining YK-11 with RAD-140, which I consider my best bulking stack ever!

BENEFITS:

The immense benefits of this stack are unbeatable: massive gains in mass and strength. Your gains will come on fast and be dry gains without bloating. Substantial increases in stamina, strength, and recovery are significant benefits of this stack, and you’ll even find you can burn fat more quickly, but you won’t lose muscle.

DOSING:

Starting low is a good idea because the effects of this stack come on hard and fast. 15mg daily of RAD140 and 10mg each day of YK11 is a good starting point. If things are going well, boost your dosing to 30mg daily of RAD-140 and 20mg daily of YK-11 for the rest of the cycle, which can go for 8 to 12 weeks.

Your dosage of YK11 will heavily determine your results, and we know it can cause a range of side effects, so you’ll need to find a balance between the results you want and the side effects you need to control.

RESULTS:

Expect noticeable gains in strength by day three of this cycle, and it will increase from there to pretty substantial levels. Your training ability will be beyond anything you could do naturally, including both endurance and length of time you can train and the sheer amount of power and extra weight you can work with. The sky’s the limit with how much mass you can gain with this stack, with 15-20lbs more than achievable. You might have to deal with some androgenic side effects here, but if you take care to control them, they should not hurt your results.

PCT:

YK-11 can suppress testosterone but is very dose-dependent and individual-dependent. RAD-140 is the more suppressive of these two compounds, so you must prepare your PCT plan for the end of this cycle. Start PCT at the end of your cycle using either Nolvadex or Clomid for four weeks at between 20-40mg per day depending on how suppressed you feel or how high your dosage was during the cycle (higher dose and longer cycle equals a much greater chance of more severe suppression).

LGD-4033 + MK-677

This is an excellent stack if you aim to lose a lot of fat while bulking up. This stack will give you impressive size gains while providing notable improvements in overall muscular definition thanks to the inclusion of MK-677.

BENEFITS:

LGD-4033 will allow you to put on impressive size and see a notable improvement in muscle strength, so you’ll be able to lift heavier and increase the intensity and length of your workouts. MK-677 increases muscle gains and speeds up the loss of subcutaneous fat, so if you’re after a better muscle definition, this stack provides that specific benefit.

A bonus benefit of combining these two compounds is that MK-677 has a longer-lasting effect, so once you stop MK-677 halfway through the cycle, LGD-4033 takes over and keeps the body in an anabolic state, essentially acting as a form of PCT, so you aren’t going to start losing muscle.

DOSING:

MK-677 is a slower-acting compound than true SARMs, so many people will run this stack for up to 16 weeks to get the best results. Take 15mg daily of MK-677 for the entire 12-16 week cycle and 6mg daily of LGD-4033 for the first eight weeks.

RESULTS:

Overall, muscle gains can be anywhere from 10 lbs and up, and we know from studies that even at very low doses of 1mg of LGD 4033, muscle gains can be made quickly. MK-677 can result in some water retention, which is a temporary effect but one to keep in mind as you evaluate your results during this cycle.

PCT:

LGD-4033 can negatively affect the HPTA, so PCT is advised. 20mg daily of Nolvadex for 3-4 weeks is an effective protocol. Clomid can be used instead at 25mg daily for 3 to 4 weeks. Some guys will not need PCT at all, depending on if signs of low libido, muscle loss, and low energy occur – you can also obtain a blood test to determine your actual testosterone levels as a result of this cycle.

RAD-140 + MK-677 + YK-11

It is a powerful combo with two of the best bulking compounds combined with MK-677. MK-677 has many additional benefits that will improve your recovery and healing needs.

BENEFITS:

The combination of RAD and YK11 will boost your muscle-gaining ability to massive levels, plus a substantial increase in strength. Possibly the most appealing benefits of this stack come from MK677, which adds some very welcome effects like increased bone density and better sleep while also contributing to lean mass gains.

DOSING:

An 8-week cycle can consist of 10-20mg of YK-11, 10-15mg of RAD-140, and 10-20mg of MK-677. Many users will start at the low end and evaluate positive and negative effects for the first 3-4 weeks, then adjust their dosage if needed.

RESULTS:

First and foremost, you will gain big and fast with this stack, anywhere in the order of 10-15lbs. Body composition will be improved, and you will undoubtedly notice positive changes in your recovery times. If fat loss is on your agenda, this stack can help you achieve that as well, and you won’t have to worry about losing muscle – all these compounds ensure you stay in a positive anabolic state.

PCT:

RAD-140 and YK-11 are suppressive compounds, so you must do PCT after this cycle. Clomid or Nolvadex will care for your PCT needs, though Clomid is considered the slightly better option. You should start at the end of the cycle and do PCT for four weeks, with the dosage at 20-40mg daily, depending on your level of suppression.

YK-11 + LGD-4033 + S-23

We’ll be using one of the most potent SARMs here with YK-11, and when it’s combined with two other excellent compounds, you have a recipe for success in this bulking stack.

BENEFITS:

YK-11, on its own, delivers huge gains quickly, and you’ll get that and more in this stack. An additional benefit is the lack of water retention, so your gains will be dry and hard. S-23 adds even more to the hardening and drying effects, and that’s the main benefit of its addition to this stack. Ligandrol provides an extra punch to your muscle gains, a strength boost, and support for tendons and ligaments.

DOSING:

This stack should be an 8-week cycle; ideally, you will increase your dose as you go. Start with daily doses of 10mg of YK-11, 10mg of Ligandrol, and 10mg of S23 for the first four weeks. Then, adjust your dosage as you’re comfortable, adding 5-10mg to each compound for the rest of the cycle.

RESULTS:

Gains of 10 to 15 pounds are more than achievable with this powerful stack, with some guys reaching 20 pounds with the proper training. You should also feel less general muscle and joint pain and have an overall improved recovery.

PCT:

You will need PCT due to YK-11’s suppressive nature. Nolvadex or Clomid for four weeks at between 20-40mg daily starting at the end of your cycle, with the dose-dependent on how suppressed you feel.

Ostarine + RAD-140 + LGD-4033

For an extra fat loss boost, try this stack with Ostarine, which is noted for its excellent ability to help you cut fat and preserve lean muscle.

BENEFITS:

Fast, significant, and dry gains with RAD-140 and LGD-4033, while your physique hardening and toning are taken care of by Ostarine with its fat-burning properties. Therefore, this stack benefits from being versatile; you can use it to gain massive size, for body recomp, or even for cutting. Your endurance and recovery times will vastly improve, taking your training to the next level.

DOSING:

2-8mg per day of Ligandrol, 20mg each day of Ostarine, and anywhere from 5-15mg daily of RAD-140. Monitor any side effects and adjust your dosage accordingly. The cycle should run for at least eight weeks and no longer than 12 weeks.

RESULTS:

LGD-4033 will ensure impressive lean muscle gains. Your training effort and diet will determine how much you gain, but you can easily aim for 10-15lbs and even more. If you want to shred fat while gaining muscle, Ostarine gets the body to burn fat efficiently, and you will notice that you’re maintaining excellent muscle strength even while dropping fat.

PCT:

With RAD-140’s highly suppressive effects, this is a stack that WILL require PCT for the vast majority of users. Clomid is the ideal choice due to RAD-140’s quite high suppression. 25mg daily starting from the end of the cycle and running for four weeks should have you back up and running.

Best for Bulking: Crazy Bulk Bulking Stack

The Crazy Bulk SARMS Bulking Stack is a performance and pure muscle-building stack perfect for bulking. I’ll get to the muscle gains in a moment. Still, I want to highlight how critical the performance aspect of this bulking stack is: increased endurance can double your workout time before fatigue sets in. More strength has allowed me to lift weights I’d never thought possible (personal records broken almost every workout day!). And faster recovery means less downtime between sessions. I can get back in the gym that same afternoon and feel fresh.

Why I Like It: This stack stimulates the processes that promote muscle growth, like protein synthesis, without shutting down my testosterone, so I’ve eliminated all my PCT drugs.

It’s Worth Noting: You need to work in the gym and have a proper diet to get the increased size in half the time as promised with this stack.

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As far as muscle gains go, the sky’s the limit. This stack is much safer to run for long periods than most SARMs or steroids, and that means consistent longer-term gains. Whether it’s 10lbs, 15lbs, or taking it to the extremes of 20lbs or more of pure muscle gains – it is possible with the Crazy Bulk SARMS Bulking Stack.

Skinny guys will find that this stack gives noticeable bulk relatively quickly. Eat enough calories (both quality and quantity), and you’ll see those shirts filling out within a couple of weeks, and people will start to notice. Best of all, there’s no testosterone suppression, no PCT required, no high cholesterol or blood pressure, water retention, acne, or hair loss. Just pure focus on your results as it should be. If you decide to try the bulking stack, buy it here.

Cutting Cycles

Below are my recommended SARM cycles for cutting and fat loss (based on your experience level). All of them are very effective at helping you burn fat, retain muscle, and boost your performance and endurance.

Beginner

A beginner cutting cycle is as simple as you can get. Being a first cycle, you can expect excellent results even with just one SARM at a low dose on a short cycle.

Ostarine for eight weeks at 20mg daily, followed by Tamoxifen for weeks 9-12 at 20mg daily (dropped to 10mg for the final week), makes it as simple as possible. The PCT portion will only be needed if you have testosterone suppression symptoms; otherwise, you can get away with no PCT on this cycle.

The two main goals of this cycle are:

• Fat loss
• Muscle preservation

Side effects will be minimal. Supplements to seriously consider taking are fish oil and NAC.

An alternative cutting cycle for beginners could be to use Andarine instead of Ostarine. If you respond well, eight weeks of Andarine at 30mg daily for the first four weeks, increased to 50mg daily for the last four weeks. This cycle will give you extra vascularity and other aesthetical benefits over Ostarine. Consider the same optional SERM PCT as listed above for Ostarine.

Intermediate

If you see good results on a beginner cutting cycle, you’ll probably feel like stepping up, furthering your gains, and moving towards a more serious fat loss and physique-enhancing result. Testolone is an ideal compound to use in this cycle. Yes, it’s known mainly as a bulking compound, but it’s also excellent for cutting!

The key here is to maintain a low dose of just 10mg daily of Testolone for the entire 8-week cycle since significant muscle gains aren’t your priority on a cutting cycle. But you’ll see some excellent strength gains at 10mg and even some lean muscle. With a calorie-deficit diet, fat will be easier to lose, and you can maintain existing muscle.

• Testolone: 10mg daily for eight weeks
• Tamoxifen: Week 5-7 (20mg), Week 8 (10mg)

Advanced

An advanced cutting cycle can include just one SARM, but you can expect a more potent effect here. S-23 is the SARM to use. It’s considered the best SARM for cutting. Why?

You’ll get a lean, vascular, and dry physique with proper diet and training. This is the ultimate result for any cutting cycle, but you have to put in the work. Dry joints can be an issue with S-23. Adding MSM to your supplement intake can help here. Also include NAC and fish oil for support. Shutdown is likely on this cycle, so you’ll want to add a SERM or a testosterone base early on.

An 8-week cycle of S-23:

• Week 1-4: 20mg daily
• Week 5-8: 30mg daily
• Week 3-10: Clomiphene 25mg daily (halve the dose in the final week)

To take things even further, another advanced cutting cycle includes the addition of YK-11 alongside S-23. In this cycle, S-23 can be run for eight weeks at 20mg, while YK-11 is added to weeks 5-8 at 10mg daily. The same SERM protocol as the S23-only cycle above should be sufficient for testosterone support. The addition of YK-11 promotes an even drier look and is a cycle for the more advanced user due to increased suppression.

Hardcore

Once you’ve reached the level of hardcore, you probably feel ready to try just about anything! But hold it right there. No matter how hardcore you are, there should still be limits on how and what you stack in a SARM cycle, like there would be in a hardcore steroid cycle.

So, a hardcore cutting cycle will almost always be about trimming those last bits of stubborn fat, and you’ll look at aesthetics as your primary goal. This cycle is all about getting as shredded as you can be. Whether for competitive purposes or just wanting to reach your peak potential as a personal goal – a hardcore SARMs cycle requires hardcore commitment and discipline with diet and training.

You’ll be using both S-23 and Proviron in this cycle. S-23 is the primary compound here, with Proviron included in the second half to boost your vascularity, general well-being, and sexual health. A testosterone base is recommended, keeping in mind that Proviron doesn’t always play well with a SERM. Also, a SERM PCT will be required for four weeks after the cycle ends.

• Week 1-4: S-23 20mg daily
• Week 5-8: S-23 30mg daily
• Week 5-8: Proviron 50mg daily
• Week 9-12: Clomid (25mg daily) and Tamoxifen (20mg daily). Halve both doses for the final week.

With such a fantastic selection of very effective SARMs and similar compounds, how do you choose which ones to use? More importantly, how do you know which ones stack well together? Some SARMs naturally fit perfectly into a stack, with their benefits allowing you to quickly cover everything you need for cutting by using as little as two compounds in a cycle. Below are 5 of my most recommended SARM stacks for cutting and fat loss!

Cardarine + Stenabolic

Cardarine is a prime compound for cutting; its direct action is how the body uses fat. Combined with Stenabolic, a proven endurance booster, this stack can give you excellent results with little change to your diet – but to get the BEST results, you should get on to your best diet and get those workouts ready. You can’t beat this stack for its simplicity and how the two compounds complement each other perfectly. The potential lack of side effects makes this stack my best cutting stack ever!

BENEFITS:

These compounds have individual benefits that make a powerhouse combo when combined. Cardarine will help reduce inflammation and stress, and nothing will hinder your progress. Most importantly for cutting, Cardarine will encourage fat burning directly, plus give you a significant performance boost. Stenabolic also boosts performance, and you will notice better muscle strength. All these things significantly boost your workouts, speeding up the fat-burning process. Cardarine will ensure you are only burning fat and not muscle!

DOSING:

Take Cardarine once daily at between 10mg and 20mg daily. Stenabolic, with its very short half-life, must be taken up to three times daily to maintain its effects. 20mg daily of Stenabolic is an effective dose. You can run this stack for up to 12 weeks, but don’t discount even short cycles of just four weeks being able to deliver outstanding results.

RESULTS:

There’s no reason why you can’t lose four or five pounds of fat (not muscle) within your first week on this stack. Even with little change to a decent diet, this is more than possible unless you’re incredibly lean.

With a much stricter cutting diet and intensive workouts, this number can increase rapidly throughout the cycle. And if you have an existing high cholesterol problem, you might notice your cholesterol improving on this stack due to Cardarine’s ability to raise good cholesterol levels.

PCT:

This stack won’t shut down your testosterone, so you won’t even need to do PCT afterward as you would with steroids. You can stop the cycle without further concerns.

Andarine + Cardarine

This solid cutting stack covers your fat-burning and lean-muscle needs with some added extras. This stack will ensure you aren’t losing muscle while you lose fat, and you might even gain some lean muscle.

BENEFITS:

You’ll get a boost to your metabolism thanks to Cardarine, which speeds up fat burning, and you’ll notice increased energy and endurance. This benefits your workouts substantially; you will quickly see how much harder you can push and how much longer you can work without tiring. Much of this is due to Cardarine’s ability to get more blood flow to your muscles. Andarine provides an extra boost to performance and increases bone mineral density, so you reduce injury risk.

DOSING:

A standard Cardarine dose of 10mg daily is usually more than enough, although increasing this to 20mg is possible. Andarine has some side effect risks at higher doses, so starting at 25mg daily is a safe bet. If you’re comfortable, you can increase to 50mg daily. The cycle length should be eight weeks to minimize the risk of adverse effects and testosterone suppression.

RESULTS:

It might sound extreme, but losing substantial fat on this stack is more than possible while gaining much muscle. We’re talking about 10 or even 15 pounds of fat loss by the end of the cycle and five or more pounds of gained muscle. The determining factor will be how strict and well-planned your cutting diet is and the type and intensity of workouts. You might not want to gain much muscle here, so gear your workouts to fat loss to shape your results accordingly.

PCT:

Cardarine won’t shut down your testosterone, but Andarine can be suppressive, so it’s essential to have a PCT plan ready for the end of this cycle. Ideally, a PCT cycle of at least two weeks is needed; in rarer cases, you might need up to 4 to 6 weeks. Nolvadex is the best SERM for a SARM PCT, and 20mg daily will be enough in most cases.

Cardarine + Ostarine

You might not find a more complimentary pair than these two: Ostarine is there to maintain your muscle while you’re on a cutting diet that should be calorie deficient, while Cardarine is going to do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to actually burning fat while increasing your endurance and stamina and getting you back to the next workout faster with better recovery.

BENEFITS:

Cardarine will make your body use fats as fuel, resulting in potentially very fast fat-burning soon after starting this cycle. You’ll notice that your ability to retain muscle is considerably easier, thanks to Ostarine. You can see an improvement in cholesterol levels plus the benefit from Cardarine’s anti-inflammatory properties that should improve recovery.

DOSING:

Cardarine at 20mg daily and Ostarine at 20mg daily is a common strategy. Still, many people will find that a lower dose provides substantial benefits while reducing unwanted side effect risks. This dose can be Ostarine at 15mg daily and Cardarine at 10mg daily. An 8-week cycle is ideal regardless of your dosage.

RESULTS:

You can see substantial fat loss by the end of this cycle if you put the work in. A 10% loss of body fat is not impossible with this stack. Expect noticeable vascularity improvements as you progress through the cycle and burn more fat. There’s no reason why you won’t keep near 100% of your existing muscle with this stack. Some users will find excellent vascularity and pump with Ostarine, while others will see minimal results.

PCT:

Cardarine won’t cause suppression, but Ostarine will, and it can be quite a lot for some guys. So, you’ll need PCT at the end of this cycle. Nolvadex is the standard SERM to use at 20mg daily. You might need it for as little as two weeks, but if you’re more suppressed, this can extend PCT to 4 or even six weeks.

Ostarine + Stenabolic

With two beneficial compounds stacked together into an almost unbeatable combo, you get one of the best cutting SARMs currently available in Ostarine with its superb muscle-retaining ability. Stenabolic’s direct effects on fat burning are hard to beat. Combine them, and what do you get? Everything you need for a successful cutting cycle – add diet and exercise, and you won’t struggle to get excellent results with this stack.

BENEFITS:

The most significant benefit of having Ostarine in this stack is that it will stop your existing muscle from being lost while you’re on a calorie-deficit diet and undergoing serious cardio workouts. Stenabolic will take care of the endurance and performance side, providing massive benefits for your workouts where – if you want to lose an impressive amount of fat – you’ll need all the help you can get to go well beyond your normal level of endurance and stamina. Because Stenabolic boosts your base metabolic rate, you will burn fat even when you’re not exercising.

DOSING:

There’s a little room to move either way with your dosage in this stack, but starting with 30mg of Stenabolic daily and 10mg of Ostarine will get you off on the right foot. Stenabolic must be taken at least twice daily, but three times is even better. Because of its short half-life, you need a regular dosage to maintain optimal levels. An 8-week cycle is going to be more than sufficient for the majority of people.

RESULTS:

You won’t be disappointed with your results, as you can quickly lose close to 10 pounds of body fat with the proper diet. Ostarine will ensure your existing muscle doesn’t disappear, as it won’t be used for energy. You might notice some lean mass gains, but it won’t be much. You will quickly notice an impressive increase in exercise capacity thanks to Stenabolic; your workouts will become more intense and longer if you want them to be. Ostarine reduces joint and muscle pain from those more intensive workouts.

PCT:

There should be no suppression in this cycle with the low dose of Ostarine, so you’re unlikely to need any PCT.

Ostarine + Cardarine + Stenabolic

You might call this the ultimate SARMs cutting stack for advanced users. Using three SARMs, this stack covers all the important areas and leaves no stone unturned in your cutting cycle. This is a cycle for those with experience using SARMs, so don’t try this one if you’re a beginner.

BENEFITS:

Supercharged fat burning is the primary benefit of this stack. Ostarine ensures that joint and muscle pain is reduced or eliminated, and Ostarine can help reduce inflammation. Endurance will be noticeably enhanced, so your workouts will go longer and more intensely. You might find you can push yourself hard and not want to stop working out after several hours – injuries can still occur, so it’s essential to set a limit.

DOSING:

Eight weeks is the ideal cycle length for this stack. Ostarine and Cardarine should be taken at 10mg daily and Stenabolic at 30mg daily. Split Stenabolic into 3x 10mg doses throughout the day for best results.

RESULTS:

You can expect to lose significant fat during this cycle. Your weight will ultimately depend on your diet and workouts, but losing 10% or more body fat is not impossible. This stack lets you cut without water retention, and Ostarine will promote a hard physique. Depending on your diet, some muscle gains are possible, but mainly, this stack will help you retain your existing muscle. At the same time, a calorie deficit is a critical outcome of any successful cutting cycle.

PCT:

Not everyone will need to do PCT after this cycle, thanks to the modest dosage, but it doesn’t hurt to have some Nolvadex ready just in case because your individual experience can be very different from the next guy. Ostarine is mainly known for suppression, but this depends on your reaction.

Best for Cutting: Crazy Bulk Cutting Stack

The Crazy Bulk SARMs Cutting Stack takes four of the best SARMs for cutting, fat loss, and performance and reformulates them into safe, side-effect-free products that deliver nearly identical results on your cutting cycle. A successful cutting cycle will always be one where your metabolism takes the lead in cutting out as much fat as possible to get your body fat percentage down to your personal goal. The key is not to lose any lean muscle during your diet and cut, and that’s where this SARM Cutting Stack shines: It signals your body to burn off even small stores of fat while not touching your lean muscle.

Why I Like It: Stacking four SARMs would be immensely risky to my health, but the Crazy Bulk alternatives in the Cutting Stack remove that risk by mimicking only the positive effects of the SARMs with zero health risks.

It’s Worth Noting: A small amount of caffeine is present in the formula, which might not be suitable for highly sensitive individuals.

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The result is far more than just a fat loss cycle. Definition, vascularity, and muscle hardness increase as the cycle progresses, and critically, while you’re on a hard diet – you won’t feel a loss of energy, strength, or stamina. This makes it easy to go at full pace in whatever training you’re undertaking while knowing that even when you’ve pushed to the limit, the SARM Cutting Stack promotes rapid recovery and reduces muscle soreness.

With four of the most potent SARM alternatives combined into one money-saving stack (Stena 9009, C-Dine 501516, Ibuta 677, Ligan 4033), I don’t have to worry about any of the side effects of the SARMs or what unknown effects they’re having on my long term health because the Crazy Bulk alternatives are not only guaranteed to be effective but are completely safe to use. If you decide to try cutting stack, buy it here.

Strength Cycles

As you age, your natural strength starts to decrease. A SARM strength cycle can help you restore some of that strength, essentially making it an anti-aging cycle in some ways.

How old should you be ideally to get the most out of this type of cycle? At least 40 years old. By this time, testosterone is reducing, and strength is decreasing. But this cycle is also excellent for men into their 60s. It will help you regain strength, mobility, and your ability to exercise at a higher level while improving the strength of your joints and bones. You can include a simple testosterone base of DHEA in this cycle.

Here’s the cycle for weeks 1-8:

• Ostarine 10mg/day
• Ibutamoren 10mg/day
• DHEA 50mg/day (weeks 5-8 only)

PCT using a SERM is recommended (Tamoxifen for weeks 9-12 at 10-20mg daily).

Proper Administration and Timing

You will buy your SARMs in either a liquid or capsule. Most companies sell liquid SARMs because it’s easier to avoid scrutiny; SARMs are not allowed for human consumption, yet capsules make it quite evident that they’re designed for humans to take.

In either case, proper administration and timing of your SARM doses will make a difference regarding their effectiveness and the results you can get! Here’s what you need to know:

When to take SARMs?

SARMs are best taken in the morning. Does it matter if you’ve eaten breakfast before taking your first dose for the day? No, it’s not thought to make a difference whether or not your stomach is empty.

• For SARMs with a short half-life where you need to split the dose twice or thrice daily, you’d take your first dose early in the morning.
• Ideally, your second dose would be in the early afternoon or just before bed if a third is required.
• If it’s a twice-daily dose, take one in the morning, and for the second one – late afternoon or evening works well.
• If the SARM has a longer half-life that only requires a once-daily dose, take the entire dose first thing in the morning.

What about taking SARMs pre-workout? Some say they feel a boost when taking their dose about 30 minutes before working out. Whether it’s a placebo effect or not, you won’t know. But if you think you get a boost by taking your dose before a workout, it certainly can’t hurt.

How to take SARMs?

• If you’re taking capsules, it’s the same as any other capsule or tablet type: Swallow your required dose with water.
• Liquid SARMs are also simple: Shake the bottle, drop the liquid into your mouth, and swallow it.

Many SARMs have an unpleasant taste, so follow it up with water or a nice-tasting drink to get rid of the taste. There are two exceptions to this liquid administration – if you’re taking SR-9009 or SR-9011, you should hold the liquid under your tongue for a couple of minutes to absorb it. If there’s still any formula left after that time, you can spit it out and rinse it with water.

What’s the Shelf Life of SARMs?

This is one aspect of SARMs for which there’s no black-and-white answer. Without the rigorous testing and compliance process that comes with approved pharmaceuticals, no official shelf life for any SARM exists. This means we must use common sense regarding storage and estimated shelf life, much like you do with food. While you’re not likely to fall ill if you use SARMs outside their shelf life, they can potentially be less effective over time as they lose their potency.

Then there’s this to consider: The manufacturing process of different SARM suppliers is virtually unknown. We don’t even really know exactly what’s in each SARM product. Other ingredients and solvents will affect the shelf life to a degree.

As a general rule, liquid research chemical bottles that are sealed (this is important because once the bottle is opened, it will start to degrade) will have a shelf life of between one and two years as long as you store it in a cool environment. Once opened, liquid SARMs will have a shelf life of just two or three months (enough for one SARM cycle). I’ve used some SARMs after the bottle has been opened for six months and noticed a definite loss of potency – resulting in wasted time and effort.

What does mg/ml stand for?

Liquid SARMs are measured in mg/ml; you will see this value on every bottle. It means that every milliliter (ml) of the formula contains x amount of the SARM’s active ingredients in milligrams (mg). The bottle will also state the capacity: how much of the formula is in the bottle in ml (milliliters). You must understand these fundamental values to dose your SARMs correctly.

If your SARM bottle says 20mg/ml, this means for every ml that you extract from the bottle, you’ll get 20mg of the SARM. You then create your dose accordingly. Do you need 40mg for your dosage? You’ll take 2ml of that SARM. On the other hand, most SARMs have a low dosage requirement, so you need only to take out minimal amounts of liquid. In the above example, if you need just 10mg, you’d only require 0.5ml from that bottle. The benefit of liquid SARMs is that they make measuring these smaller quantities easier, so your dosage should be very accurate.

How Long Should I Wait Between Cycles?

Calculating how long to wait between SARM cycles couldn’t be more straightforward. Here’s the formula: Time On = Time Off. But what does this mean? The length of your SARM cycle is the same (at a minimum) as the time off before your next cycle. You can go much longer in between, but it’s strongly recommended not to reduce your off time shorter than the cycle length because you need to recover to your health baseline. Some of the main areas that you need to recover are:

• Testosterone¹⁹
• HDL and LDL cholesterol²⁰
• Liver²¹

Without a full recovery, your next cycle would start with at least some of the damage caused by the previous cycle, potentially putting you at risk of unnecessary complications. How can you know if you’ve fully recovered after a cycle? Bloodwork is the surefire way. Indeed, most SARM users don’t go and get bloodwork done to determine if all levels have returned to normal. If you choose not to do bloodwork, the safest strategy is the one outlined above: “Wait at least the length of time of the cycle before starting your next cycle.”

SARMs for Women

So you’re female and thinking about jumping into the world of SARMs? A few years ago, you would have been in a tiny minority of hardcore professionals. Nowadays, SARM use among women has increased exponentially! But that doesn’t mean you jump on the bandwagon without research, knowledge, or plan. Nope. You MUST know what you’re getting into before you start taking anything.

SARMs are regularly proclaimed to be much more female-friendly than steroids, potentially opening up a whole new world of substances that women can use without those dreaded side effects caused by anabolic steroids.

Most importantly, SARMs have a reputation for being a lot less harsh on the body than anabolic steroids while still giving fantastic benefits. But how true is all this? Are SARMs suitable for women who want to build muscle, improve strength, and achieve a toned and defined physique? What are the downsides of SARMs for females? Find out all this and much more as I cover everything you need to know about the best SARMs for women and how to use them with minimal risk.

SARM Benefits for Women

To understand the potential benefits that SARMs can have for women, it’s crucial to have a basic understanding of what an SARM is and why it’s different from an anabolic steroid. It’s essential to keep in mind that all SARMs are classed as investigational drugs only, with none yet being approved for any use.

While there are some similarities to steroids when it comes to the anabolic properties of SARMs, their androgenic activity is much weaker. Anabolic steroids bind to many androgen receptors throughout the body. SARMs, as the name implies, bind only to selected receptors. This is how we get such a significant reduction in androgenic-type side effects while still getting benefits like muscle growth. Each SARM is different, but most are designed to bind to skeletal muscle tissue receptors.

The most significant benefits for females using SARMs include:

• Muscle growth: Most SARMs will promote lean muscle tissue growth. This is one of the primary goals of the research on SARMs for medical use for muscle-wasting diseases. Therefore, a cycle focused on gaining lean muscle can include just about any SARM, and the results will be impressive – provided your diet is designed for gaining mass rather than losing weight.
• Strength: SARM users will notice a boost in strength, enhancing their workouts. If you aim to build muscle, you can lift heavier weights and increase your sets and reps, bringing on faster results.
• Fat loss: Some SARMs are commonly used in cutting cycles because they can promote fast and efficient fat loss. The anabolic properties of SARMs support fat burning while also helping you retain existing muscle. The best-cutting SARMs will encourage the body to burn up fat for energy instead of burning up muscle or glucose. SARMs can increase your metabolic rate, boosting your body’s ability to lose fat faster than you naturally could. To get maximum fat loss benefits with SARMs, you must consume a calorie deficit diet combined with regular cardio training.
• Nutritional efficiency: Many SARMs will improve how the body uses nutrients from your food, meaning your body takes up nutrients better, allowing you to get the most out of every calorie you eat.
• Bone density: Another potential future medical use for SARMs is to treat osteoporosis, and increased bone density is also highly desirable for athletes and bodybuilders to support muscular growth and, in turn, help protect against osteoporosis.
• Endurance and performance: Some SARMs are favored explicitly by athletes for this reason. Increased muscular endurance varies between different SARMs, but just about any SARM will improve stamina and endurance to some extent. This is particularly useful in a cutting cycle where your cardio workouts can be longer and more intense than usual.

We can’t look at the benefits of SARMs for women without also considering how they are superior to steroids when it comes to side effects. The lack of many side effects in itself can be regarded as one of the significant benefits of SARMs, particularly when it comes to female users who have great difficulty in using the majority of steroids due to the severe virilizing side effects they cause.

The lack of virilization effects is a huge plus for women. This is because, unlike steroids, SARMs are selective with the androgen receptors they target. This means with most SARMs, women can expect no deepening of the voice or body hair growth and, in general, no development of masculine traits.

Female SARM Cycles

Selective androgen receptor modulators (or SARMs for short) have become increasingly popular with female bodybuilders and athletes. To understand their appeal, we can look at it in comparison to Anavar – arguably the most widely used anabolic steroid among women, which provides exceptional gains at low doses and the most negligible side effects of all steroids.

SARMs (at least some of them) can provide women benefits like Anavar. And even Anavar’s relatively low side effect profile still poses some risk of virilization. However, suitable SARMs for women reduce this risk to near zero when you use them correctly. In my opinion (and from the experiences of those women who use them), the ideal SARMs for women are the ones I’ve detailed below. They are:

• Ostarine (MK-2866) – Also called MK-2866, Ostarine is an ideal starting point for a female taking any PED for the first time. Take once daily, starting at 5mg for 6-8 weeks. If you respond well to Ostarine at 5mg, increasing the dosage to 10mg can provide significantly better results, provided you don’t become sensitive to side effects. Most women will not want to go beyond 10mg as side effects will begin to outweigh the benefits.
• Andarine (S4) – If you want even more muscle hardness and vascularity than Ostarine can provide at tolerable doses, then Andarine is the next SARM to look at. Ideally, it is taken twice daily – half in the morning and half at night. New users should start at 12.5mg and evaluate your response for at least two weeks. The maximum dosage of Andarine for women who want to minimize side effect risk is 25mg daily. A cycle length of 8 weeks is ideal, with 12 weeks possible, but it also heightens the risks of side effects.
• Testolone (RAD-140) – Testolone, or RAD-140, is quite a powerful SARM. Yet, females can use it without virilization (at low doses). The vast majority of female Testolone users will limit the dosage to 5mg per day and no more. In rare cases, 10mg might be taken, and indeed, some women will find they tolerate this amount well – but make sure you’re comfortable with 5mg first. An 8-week cycle length is the maximum recommendation, but even 4-6 weeks will yield good results with this fast-acting SARM.
• Ligandrol (LGD-4033) – We could call Ligandrol the most powerful weight-gaining SARM for women to use safely. One crucial thing to remember is that this is a potent compound, and for women to use it effectively, it must be kept at a very low dosage. 2.5mg daily is the maximum recommended dosage for women. Even men will see exceptional results at such a dose, given how powerful Ligandrol is. Ligandrol can be taken once per day. A cycle length of 8 weeks is the maximum recommendation due to the potency of this SARM.
• Cardarine (GW-501516) – Cardarine appeals to bodybuilders and performance athletes, but the effects on fat loss and endurance are most valued with this PPAR receptor agonist. Despite its alarming potential health impacts (which we still know very little about), the majority of Cardarine users inevitably tolerate it remarkably well and enjoy its results. Ideally, you limit a cycle to 8 weeks, if for no other reason than the uncertainty around potential risks of longer-term use. First-time users can start at just 10mg per day. With a half-life of 24 hours, a once-daily morning administration is all you need. If you find 10mg is well tolerated and want more extreme results, Cardarine users commonly take a maximum of 20mg daily.
• Stenabolic (SR-9009) – Stenabolic is often called a SARM, but it’s a Rev-ErbA agonist. Its actions are similar to Cardarine, but it comes without the concerning cancer risk of that compound. Stenabolic should be taken either sublingually or, even better, as an injection. It has very low bioavailability orally. Take Stenabolic twice daily for best results, as it has a short half-life. An 8-week cycle is recommended at 20mg daily for eight weeks. For the best effects on endurance, take your dosage 30 minutes before working out, but avoid administration close to bedtime to reduce the risk of insomnia.

Yes, there are certainly SOME SARMs that women will want to avoid, just as there are with steroids. Females should avoid more potent SARMs like YK-11 or S-23.

SARM cycles for females usually focus on one of three main goals: Cutting (fat loss), gaining muscle, or athletic performance. In most cases, you will be able to achieve at least two, and sometimes three, of these goals within one cycle. Your diet and training will help you move your results in the direction you want to go. In any case, the SARMs you select will make or break your results, so it’s critical to plan your cycle correctly because, as you’ve just seen, not all SARMs are created equal.

Most women will use SARMs for an 8 to 12-week cycle. It is not recommended to run a cycle longer than 12 weeks maximum. You should take a break from all SARMs for at least three months following the end of a cycle.

SARM Stacks for Women

A single SARM used on its own can deliver powerful results for women, but combining two in a stack lets you benefit even more from the complimentary effects. Because each SARM can bring something different, you can stack compounds chosen to target your personal goals.

Once you finish a cycle, you should leave a gap of no SARMs use of at least 12 weeks to allow your body to recover fully and help prevent any long-term health effects. As a female SARM user, you could have a range of reasons for wanting to use these PEDs:

• To gain lean muscle
• To lose fat and get a toned, defined physique
• To enhance performance for athletic purposes

You might often want to get results in all the above areas. The great thing about many SARMs is that they CAN support versatile goals, and you’re not locked into just focusing on one thing.

Here’s the thing: What you get out of any SARM will depend just as much on what you eat and how you work out than on the compound itself. Eat to support weight gain, and you’ll see muscle growth. Go on a calorie deficit or do a lot of cardio workouts. You’ll find it easier to burn fat and increase muscle definition.

Below are some excellent examples of simple two-compound stacks that are suitable for females wanting bulking and cutting cycles:

LGD-4033 + Ibutamoren

This is a serious stack for women who want the maximum lean mass gains. Strength will be enhanced significantly as well, allowing you to lift heavier. However, the downside is water retention, meaning some weight will be lost after the cycle. Fish oil, NAC, vitamin B6 (P5P), and Berberine are all recommended ancillaries to support the potential side effects of cholesterol, liver, blood sugar, and prolactin.

This is an 8-week cycle that you can optionally taper off on the last week. No PCT is required.

LGD-4033:

• Week 1-7: 2.5mg/day
• Week 8: 1.25mg/day

Ibutamoren:

• Week 1-4: 5mg/day
• Week 5-8: 10mg/day

Cardarine + SR9009

Combining two of the best fat loss or cutting SARMs in a stack will supercharge your fat-burning results. Cardarine, technically a PPAR receptor agonist, is often stacked with SR9009, a PPAR alpha modifier, for supercharged results.

An 8-week cycle is sufficient for achieving excellent fat loss results, with a toned, defined, and muscular physique achievable over these two months. Ideally, you will begin the cycle at a low dose, gauge your response, and slowly increase the dose throughout the cycle. You can decrease the dosage gradually back down at the end of the cycle to encourage your body to adjust without the SARMs once the cycle ends.

• Cardarine: Take 10mg daily, then increase it gradually to 20mg daily.
• Stenabolic: Take 10mg daily, then increase it gradually to 20mg daily.

Ostarine + Cardarine

Two of the best cutting compounds provide a straightforward but effective cutting stack with minimal side effects. Cholesterol changes and mild liver stress are the main concerns, so including fish oil and NAC is recommended. Strength and muscle will be retained while you’re on a calorie deficit with the primary goal of fat loss and toning up. Here is a simple 8-week cycle with a tapering of Ostarine in the final week:

Ostarine:

• Week 1-4: 5mg/day
• Week 5-7: 10mg/day
• Week 8: 5mg/day

Cardarine:

• Week 1-8: 10mg/day

This is a simple stack to implement, which should have minimal side effects for females. Cardarine is a brilliant fat-loss compound, and Ostarine is superb at helping you retain muscle. This killer combo is ideal for burning fat and gaining a ripped physique because the last thing you want happening is falling into a catabolic state where you start losing muscle.

Ostarine + Andarine

Once again, we combine an excellent fat burner in Andarine with a muscle preservation compound in Ostarine. This ensures no muscle loss while you’re in a calorie deficit as you burn off fat. With the proper diet and workout plan, you can expect a lean, dry, and hard physique by the end of this cycle.

• Andarine: Start at 12.5mg daily, increase to 25mg maximum daily over an 8 to 12-week cycle.
• Ostarine: Start at 5mg to 10mg per day. Increase the dosage by 2mg weekly, with a maximum dose of 20mg daily, depending on your response.

Female Post-Cycle Recovery

The purpose of post-cycle therapy (PCT) for men who use anabolic steroids is to support and promote the restoration of regular testosterone production that has been curtailed or shut down by the use of steroids. This does not apply to females.

Women who use anabolic steroids don’t need to undertake a post-cycle therapy protocol afterward. When it comes to SARMs, abruptly stopping your cycle can potentially cause some issues like lethargy, depression, acne, and hair loss in some women. This is due to hormones needing to be rebalanced.

For this reason, tapering off your dose rather than a sudden stop can help mitigate these effects. While this isn’t a form of PCT, it is a strategy to reduce post-cycle side effects – mainly if you have used SARMs at higher doses.

Maintaining your gains after a SARM cycle can be another challenge if your goal has been to gain muscle. The best strategy is to keep training well and consume enough calories and protein, be consistent with your diet and training, get enough sleep, and make sure your recovery is on track.

Bloodwork

Getting regular bloodwork done becomes a part of life for some steroid users, and increasingly, SARM users are going the same way. So, do you HAVE to do bloodwork if you’re using SARMs? No, it’s not essential. But if you care about your health, you’ll do it. The main idea is to compare your vitals after a SARM cycle to your natural health baseline.

Suppose aspects related to hormones, cholesterol, cardiovascular, liver, kidneys, blood count, and other values change significantly. In that case, you’ll want to adjust your SARM cycles accordingly (or even stop using them altogether, in extreme cases). In short, without bloodwork, you’re walking in the dark. You might think you feel fine, but you will have no way of knowing what effects SARMs have over the longer term.

First things first:

It’s essential to get bloodwork done BEFORE your very first SARM cycle. That’s how you get your perfect natural baseline of health, which will be your guide going forward. After the cycle ends, get bloodwork done again and compare. If you don’t understand the values, your healthcare provider can pinpoint any essential changes that have shown up.

Self-testing kits are also available if you prefer not to have your bloodwork done with a health service. These require taking your blood sample and sending it to a lab for evaluation. Costs will differ and may or may not be more expensive than having tests done in person at a medical facility.

These are the primary values of interest when it comes to your bloodwork:

Hormonal

All the essential hormones will be checked here. Testosterone, estrogen, SHBG, and more will be critical to your health. Here are the ideal ranges to be aware of:

• Testosterone: 650-1100 ng/dl
• Free Testosterone: 10-20 ng/dl
• SHBG: 15-30 nmol/L
• Luteinizing Hormone and Follicle-Stimulating Hormone: 5-10 mIU/ml (both)
• Estradiol: 20-30 pg/ml

Lipid

This is where your cholesterol and cardiovascular health will be checked. While SARMs rarely cause cholesterol spikes like steroids do, you’ll still want to closely monitor levels (especially if cholesterol health issues run in your family). The main lipid-related bloodwork you’ll get is below, along with ideal range values:

• Total Cholesterol: 125-200 mg/dl
• HDL Cholesterol (good cholesterol): Over 40 mg/dl
• LDL Cholesterol (bad cholesterol): Below 100 mg/dl
• Triglycerides: Below 150 mg/dl

Comprehensive Metabolic Panel

Comprehensive metabolic panels (CMP) measure 14 blood substances so you can get a comprehensive view of the effect of SARMs on your chemical balance and metabolism. These are the four main tests and their ideal health ranges:

• Creatinine: 0.9-1.3 mg/dl
• Glucose (blood sugar): 80-90 mg/dl
• Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN): 5-20 mg/dl
• AST + ALT: AST: below 40 u/l. ALT: below 56 u/l

Complete Blood Count

A complete blood count (CBC) can reveal various conditions and help monitor existing ones. Abnormalities in the blood, such as levels of specific blood cells that are too high or too low, can indicate conditions ranging from infections, anemia, deficiencies, and more. Here’s what will be tested for in a complete blood count and what the ideal ranges are:

• Red Blood Cell Count: 4.35M-5.65M per µ
• White Blood Cell Count: 4000-10000 per µl
• Platelet Count: 150000-450000 per µ
• Hemoglobin: 13-18 g/dl
• Hematocrit: 40-50%

Other Values

These values directly relate to the specific effects of SARMs, for example, on IGF levels or those that can cause changes to insulin sensitivity. Here are the main other types of tests you could optionally do and their ideal values, depending on which SARMs you’ve used:

• Insulin: 25 mIU/L – 250 mIU/L depending on current diet
• Prolactin: 5-10 ng/ml
• IGF-1: 300-400 ng/ml (MK-677 will spike these values)
• Growth Hormone (HGH): 8-10 ng/ml (MK-677 will spike these values)

SARMs Side Effects

The full range and severity of possible side effects from SARMs are not understood. Some SARMs are less researched and less used than others. Most known side effects come from personal experiences that SARM users report. This means you could potentially have adverse effects²² that haven’t been reported by anyone else, or you could use SARMs and not experience the side effects that others have.

Male-Related Side Effects

There’s no getting around to the fact that SARMs will bring side effects in some people. Just like steroids, it can be an individual response. However, specific SARMs are more potent and surprisingly harsh in their side effects²³. Let’s look at how you can mitigate and even, in some cases, avoid particular types of side effects when using SARMs and other performance compounds:

Cholesterol

Similarly to anabolic steroids, one of the most severe problems you can face with SARMs is an adverse change in your cholesterol. This often means a lowering of HDL and a raising of LDL levels. And what does this mean for you? Increased risk of cardiovascular disease if left unchecked. That’s why you must maintain healthy cholesterol levels when using SARMs.

Things you can do include:

• Eat omega-3-rich foods like oily fish, seeds, nuts, and flaxseed oil
• Consider taking a quality omega-3 supplement
• Avoid processed foods and other cholesterol-raising food
• Include regular cardio workouts in your exercise program (even if you’re on a bulking cycle)
• CoQ10 (100-200mg daily) and citrus bergamot (500mg twice daily) are other essential supplements

You can also add another compound to your cycle: Cardarine. Cardarine has known cholesterol benefits and positive effects on both LDL and HDL.

Testosterone Suppression

Although you can get away without even needing PCT with some of the milder SARMs like Andarine and Ostarine, a whole bunch of SARMs will suppress your testosterone similarly to steroids! Many guys don’t even realize this and come into using SARMs unprepared.

Well, I’m telling you now: Be prepared, especially when using the more potent SARMs known to suppress. You can use a testosterone base to combat suppressive SARMs. This means using steroids, so if you want to stick with SARMs-only cycles, consider only using the milder compounds. As for a testosterone base, you can go with reliable testosterone injections in a similar way to using TRT – around 150mg weekly.

Whatever you choose to do, you will need to do PCT with any suppressive SARMs, and if you decide to inject testosterone to maintain levels during the cycle. There are a few other options for managing testosterone suppression:

HCG

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin is a useful PCT compound for steroid users. Still, it’s also possible to use it as a replacement for testosterone on a SARMs cycle at a dose of about 500iu every three days. And it should be used with an anti-estrogen like Arimistane to mitigate estrogen conversion. Note: You’ll still need PCT after including HCG in the cycle.

Oral Estrogen

The lack of estrogen (which men need at very low levels) is the main reason you need a testosterone base on SARMs because SARMs don’t convert to estrogen as testosterone steroids can. Estradiol or birth control meds are often considered. HOWEVER, I DO NOT recommend oral estrogen at all. I’ve included it here because it’s something that SARM users will usually come across as a suggestion, but men put themself at risk of feminization.

DHEA

DHEA can support your estrogen levels without directly taking estrogen. You can get oral and topical DHEA, but the downside is that dosing can be tricky. Everyone will be different, so experiment with dosing starting at 25mg/day and increasing as needed.

SERMs

Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators are regularly used to kickstart testosterone function after a steroid cycle. Still, a SARM + SERM cycle involves using the SERM during your SARM cycle so your testosterone remains optimal. This can often remove suppression symptoms while helping you avoid the need to do PCT.

Usually, you’ll only start the SERM if suppression signs start showing up and only when you use the more suppressive SARMs. This will be anywhere from week 2 to week 6 or 7, depending on the SARMS used. However, SERMs come with their harmful effects, and you should aim to limit use to no more than 6-8 weeks.

Importantly:

• You usually do not need to continue using the SERM after stopping SARMs; stop them both simultaneously.
• Unless symptoms (suppression) are horrible, you must continue the SERM for another week or two.

The primary SERM considered the best option for this type of strategy is Enclomiphene. If you use the more well-known SERMS like Clomid or Nolvadex, you will almost certainly still need to do PCT.

Is it a good idea to do a SERM + SARM cycle? This more advanced and experimental approach is generally not recommended for newbies. You’ll want to know what you’re doing and, ideally, have prior experience taking SERMs. It’s not without risks, but many people successfully run SERM + SARM with good results.

Hair Shedding (Hair Loss)

Hair loss is not a common SARM side effect, but it is possible with some SARMs and some individuals. However, SARMs are not perfect in their selective targeting of androgen receptors. The most likely culprits that cause hair loss are RAD-140, YK-11, and S23.

You can use products that steroid users often use to combat hair loss (just how effective they will be will depend a lot on your genetics). Remember that SARMs-induced hair loss will usually be temporary, unlike steroid-induced male pattern baldness, which can be permanent.

Here are some anti-hair loss options²⁴ for when you’re using SARMs:

• Finasteride: A well-known hair loss product that’s only useful if DHT causes hair loss. So, this often won’t work with SARMs, but it’s worth a try at low doses.
• RU58841: This compound I’ve profiled in this guide is used specifically to combat hair loss when using SARMs.

RU-58841 is a topical product that acts as an anti-androgen, and for a lot of guys, this will be the best method of preventing hair loss on a SARM cycle.

Liver Toxicity

You shouldn’t be complacent about the liver toxicity risks with SARMs. The liver is a fantastic organ with self-regeneration abilities, but you should still do everything possible to support it when using a SARM.

Easy actions to minimize liver damage are to avoid all alcohol and any medications that affect the liver (unless they’re essential). Standard N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) or Milk Thistle supplements can essentially provide liver support. But avoid milk thistle if you’re using the SERM Tamoxifen (Nolvadex) due to negative interactions between the two.

What about food?

Foods won’t magically protect your liver from damage, but eating a fiber-rich diet is known to help the liver work optimally. Foods like these are worth including in your diet for liver support:

• Broccoli
• Kale
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower

Gynecomastia (Gyno) and High Prolactin

Gyno isn’t a common SARM side effect, but guys who are sensitive can and do develop signs of gyno with some SARMs²⁵. More so, you’re at risk of gyno with SARMs if:

• You have too much body fat
• Your estrogen levels are too high for whatever reason

These are just risk factors for gyno; otherwise, most guys won’t run into issues, making SARMs particularly desirable over steroids.

So why would SARMs cause gyno to develop at all? Because they cause a lowering of SHBG levels, which frees up more testosterone into circulation, more testosterone means more conversion to estrogen. Once estrogen gets too high, gyno can be a result. So what can you do?

Just like with steroids, using an AI can help you avoid gyno. However, the downside of AI is that it reduces estrogen to near or at zero. Guys need low levels of estrogen, so you don’t want to crash it completely. Tamoxifen can be a better option specifically for gyno prevention. It will stop the breast tissue from growing, or if you’ve already started getting symptoms, it will shrink any tissue growth. 10mg/day is sufficient and should be taken until your cycle ends.

This is important, though:

Don’t start the SARMs cycle if you have an existing gyno. Get rid of it before starting any SARM cycle, or you’ll find it considerably harder to control or reverse.

Insomnia

Insomnia is a side effect that some individuals will find themselves dealing with when using SARMs²⁶. This difficulty in falling and staying asleep affects your health and results, so you must address it.

Standard methods include taking Melatonin before bed (2mg dose), or you can try CBD Oil, which has gained popularity. Up to 50mg of CBD can be used. That’s mostly for falling asleep.

If staying asleep all night is a problem, then magnesium, glycine, and vitamin B6 have long been used to solve this problem. Some supplements contain all three; the label will provide the recommended dosage.

A note about melatonin: It can decrease your testosterone levels, so only take melatonin if your SARMs cycle includes a testosterone base.

Water Retention

Not many SARMs can cause water retention, with few exceptions. These include Ligandrol and Ibutamoren. A small amount of water retention is not necessarily bad, but letting it get away from you can lead to many issues. Not the least being increased blood pressure.

You can easily take steps to reduce water retention risks: Drinking more water is a simple action that you should be doing anyway. Secondly, minimize your intake of carbohydrates (especially simple or refined carbs) and sodium/salt-heavy foods. You can also take potassium at 200mg (total daily dose) several times daily.

Dandelion Root (500mg daily) or Hawthorn Berry (500mg daily) are natural supplements that some will find effective at combating water retention in combination with the dietary suggestions above.

Other Androgenic Side Effects

There are other androgenic-type side effects that some SARMs can cause, apart from hair loss. Acne and increased aggression are two of the more notable ones. But they will primarily only affect you if you’re susceptible already, and a massive amount of SARM users don’t experience noticeable androgenic effects at all.

Acne is rarely easy to eliminate and usually disappears after the first few weeks. Traditional acne mitigation, like plenty of water intake, clean foods, and a good skin cleaning regime, will significantly reduce outbreaks. Adding a testosterone base to your cycle can worsen acne, so if you plan to do that, increase it gradually during the first 2-3 weeks.

Increased aggression or moodiness can respond positively to supplementing with L-Theanine (200-600mg daily) and Ashwagandha or CBD if you want to go down the traditional medicine path.

Insulin Sensitivity

Ibutamoren is known for potentially causing a rise in blood sugar levels and increased insulin resistance. A simple way of reducing this risk is to give your body a break from Ibutamoren at regular intervals:

• This could involve taking Ibutamoren for 4-5 days, then having a break of 2 days before continuing
• Another strategy is to use it for four weeks usually, then take an entire week off to recover
• Alternatively, a supplement like Berberine at up to 500mg can be helpful

Other supplements to consider are Chromium Picolinate, Cinnamon Bark, or Ashwagandha. Whichever supplement you choose, you must take it before a carbohydrate-rich meal to get the most incredible benefits.

Kidney Damage

Some SARMs can cause some level of kidney damage, but you might not even know it unless you get testing done. Some users experience kidney pain, and those who get tested after a cycle can find that levels of creatinine and BUN are elevated²⁷.

When SARMs are excreted through your urine, they strain the kidneys somewhat. Another issue is dehydration, which you should avoid through the simple act of drinking plenty of water!

• Supplements like N-acetyl cysteine (Nac) are often taken for liver support anyway, and Nac will also help your kidneys.
• Niacin is another useful kidney support supplement, following the dosage on the label. Niacin has the added benefit of supporting cholesterol health.

High Blood Pressure

While high blood pressure when using steroids is a high risk, it’s not so common with most SARMs. Water retention will primarily cause increased blood pressure on a SARM cycle. More specifically: Uncontrolled water retention. Keeping water retention to a minimum will drastically reduce your risk of high blood pressure.

Lethargy, headaches, dizziness, and nosebleeds can be signs of high blood pressure²⁸. Compounds like Ibutamoren and Ligandrol are more likely to cause water retention, so follow the steps to reduce fluid retention. If symptoms persist, lower your dose right down, or stop using the SARM and/or seek medical advice. High blood pressure is something that should not be ignored!

Heart Palpitations

Heart palpitations (increased or irregular heartbeat) are a rare SARM effect that you might see mentioned by users. There’s no way of knowing whether those people have an underlying condition, such as anxiety or high blood pressure, which could cause changes to their heartbeat.

Treating these conditions should be a priority. Seek medical advice and stop using SARMs if you’re concerned about your heart health or notice any concerning changes to your heartbeat.

Dehydration

Ongoing dehydration can damage your kidneys. Some of the main signs of dehydration are:

• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Excessive thirst
• Dry mouth
• Brown urine

These symptoms should NOT be ignored. Dehydration is a serious health risk. Avoid dehydration by drinking ample water throughout the day. Drinking a quality electrolyte formula will also help (avoid excess added sugar). While any SARM can cause some individuals to experience dehydration, RAD-140 is particularly noted as a more common culprit.

Headaches

Headaches are a common minor side effect for many people using SARMs, especially in the early stage of a cycle as your body adjusts. It can also happen due to increased blood pressure. Regular painkillers can help but generally aren’t recommended to be taken while using SARMs.

Take measures to keep your blood pressure regular, and lower your SARM dose if needed to reduce headaches. If headaches persist, you might consider stopping using a particular SARM.

Dry Joints

Some SARMs are notorious for causing dry joints, especially RAD-140, S23, and YK-11, increasing your risk of injury. Fish oil or krill oil supplements are ideal to combat this issue. Glucosamine, Chondroitin, or MSM are other over-the-counter options. Ibutamoren can also be effective if you don’t mind adding another compound to your cycle. However, it can bring about water retention, which comes with its issues.

Blood Thickness

If a SARM increases your red blood cell count, it causes a thickening of your blood, which can cause high blood pressure, headaches, and other symptoms. If you leave it to worsen, it can cause serious cardiovascular issues or organ damage.

Your doctor can advise on the best action to take if you suffer from blood thickness while using SARMs. This could include aspirin or other antiplatelet therapy or anticoagulation therapy with drugs like warfarin.

Female-Specific Side Effects

The relatively unknown nature of SARMs makes each person’s experience an experiment – and it’s up to you if you choose to take that risk. What is generally accepted is that SARMs have milder side effects than anabolic steroids and that some side effects caused by steroids don’t occur at all with SARMs or are otherwise mild.

Most of the regularly talked-about SARM side effects concern their use by men, and this revolves around the reduction in testosterone levels that some of the more powerful SARMs cause. This isn’t an issue for female users, but there are other possible side effects you should be ready to deal with as a female SARMs user.

These side effects can be avoided somewhat by keeping your SARM dose at the lowest level. As you might expect, the higher your dosage, the more likely you will experience some or all of the side effects of the particular SARMs you use. These include:

• Acne
• Menstrual cycle changes
• Fatigue
• Increased appetite
• Virilization
• Liver toxicity

It’s the effects on cholesterol that are one of the significant concerns:

• Reduced HDL
• Increased LDL

Only at higher doses of RAD-140 will you need to seriously become concerned about liver toxicity and even things like hair loss and acne. Virilization is not likely when you maintain the dosage ranges outlined above. Avoiding high doses and long cycles is females’ most proactive step to minimize (and even completely avoid) side effects.

One of the more likely side effects, even at lower doses, is those changes to menstrual cycles I detailed earlier. This is a minor (although annoying) side effect. But thankfully, it is temporary, and you will have to accept it as a consequence of using SARMs. You will have the peace of mind of knowing your menstrual cycles will return to normal once you stop using SARMs; therefore, this becomes more inconvenient.

Some individual SARMs can come with some unique side effects. For example, Andarine, when used at higher doses, can bring about a yellow tinge to the vision in some people. You can minimize this risk by keeping your Andarine dose below 50mg daily. Light sensitivity is another potential side effect of Andarine, but it is not known what causes this, and it will usually disappear once you stop using the SARM.

More serious possible side effects that can come about from longer-term use or by using high doses of SARMs can include damage to the liver and some cardiovascular-related problems ranging from blood clots to heart attacks in the most serious circumstances.

SARMs vs. Steroids

When it comes to comparing anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) to SARMs, there are some essential points of difference²⁹:

Mechanism of Action

The most vital difference between SARMs and steroids is what we can call their mechanism of action. In other words, how they work in the body to promote muscle growth, performance enhancement, fat loss, and other effects.

The difference comes down to this: SARMs’ mechanism of action is tissue-selective. Anabolic steroids’ mechanism of action is non-selective and, therefore, can affect additional areas of the body, like the prostate. Another mechanism of action involving the aromatization of testosterone into estrogen is exclusive to anabolic steroids. So, aromatization and non-selective targeting of androgen receptors result in a naturally wider range of side effects for steroids when you compare them to SARMs.

Let’s now look at other important aspects when comparing SARMs to anabolic steroids. These involve comparing the safety, administration, legality, and side effects.

Safety

SARMs have a reputation as being “safer” than anabolic steroids. But consider this: Many anabolic steroids have been in use for decades – some for more than 50 years. SARMs, by comparison, are quite new; in some cases, we have just a few years of user experience to go by.

Although you would be well aware that anabolic steroids can come with significant safety risks, both the short- and long-term side effects are well known. In other words, most steroid users know that if they stick to reasonable dosing and cycle plans as well as other best practices, there’s an element of peace of mind because you mostly know what you’re getting with steroids.

Some steroids even have medical approval, albeit usually at much lower doses than bodybuilders use. But the fact is this: Steroids are tried and tested. We can’t yet really say the same about SARMs and other research chemicals. New ones come and go, and old ones have new things discovered about them. Some are cut off from research altogether after alarming findings during studies. Yet some athletes continue to use those compounds.

So, are SARMs a safer option than anabolic steroids? After all, that’s one of their main selling points in the bodybuilding community! In reality, SARMs can not be considered safer than steroids. You should consider SARMs more dangerous than steroids until we know much more about their longer-term effects.

Legality

Anabolic steroids are firmly classed as controlled substances in the US and most Western countries. This means there are penalties for supplying and transporting steroids and, in some cases, for being caught with small amounts for personal use.

In contrast:

SARMs operate in legal gray areas throughout much of the world. While they are NOT legal to use in the professional sporting world, they are considered a research substance and that allows “researchers” to easily buy them online.

This is the catch:

There is little to no scrutiny about who is buying SARMs and how they’re being used. So, for now, you don’t have to worry about being caught with SARMs unless you’re a professional athlete or competitor who undergoes regular drug testing.

Side Effects

Perhaps the most significant appeal of SARMs is the belief that they provide most of the benefits of anabolic steroids, with little to no of the same side effects. But if you’ve used or researched SARMs at all, you will know that’s not always going to be true!

Overall though:

Most SARMs are “generally” milder than most anabolic steroids. The key word there is “most“. Some steroids are mild, while some SARMs are potent.

Theoretically, SARMS shouldn’t display much of the adverse effects of steroids because of their strict tissue selectivity. But because SARMs are not yet perfected, we can and do experience some of the unwanted side effects that you would otherwise try to avoid by not using anabolic steroids.

Here’s the catch:

Most SARMs’ side effects that we know of today are temporary and reversible. As long as you take a sufficient break in between cycles to recover fully, there’s no reason why your health shouldn’t return to a normal baseline (bloodwork will help confirm this).

RESEARCH each SARM you want to use, and take measures to mitigate each side effect as required. Remember that each SARM is unique; some will cause none of the listed sides below, while others can be severe in some areas. Here are the most commonly reported side effects of SARMs and research chemicals.

Testosterone Suppression

SARMs like YK11 and S23 are noted for their suppressive qualities. Some SARMs won’t even require PCT, while the more suppressive ones require a testosterone base on the cycle and four weeks of PCT afterward. Lack of action towards testosterone suppression will lead to serious low testosterone symptoms like muscle loss, fat gain, and loss of libido (to name just a few).

Cholesterol

Some SARMs can negatively impact cholesterol levels. Suppression of HDL (good) cholesterol and an increase in LDL are always a concern. The result is a heightened risk of heart disease and stroke.

Keeping your cholesterol levels within a healthy range (or as close as possible to it) is vital on SARMs, just as it is with steroids. Eating a heart-healthy diet goes a long way, and that means including plenty of omega-3-rich foods. Also, do regular cardio workouts, even on a bulking cycle. Getting your heart pumping fast for at least 15-20 minutes will greatly benefit your cardiovascular health.

Liver Toxicity

SARMs will never have the same level of toxicity to the liver as the most potent oral steroids do. On a SARM cycle, you can support your liver by including N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), a semi-essential amino acid. I recommend including NAC in all SARM cycles outlined in this guide.

Androgenic Effects

Hair shedding and gynecomastia are rare side effects of SARMs, potentially caused by imbalanced hormone levels (estrogen and testosterone). Rarely will these sides be at the level experienced with steroid use. Poor quality SARMs are considered a significant risk factor for these side effects.

Insomnia

Some SARMs can cause sleeping issues, including insomnia in some users. This is rare, unpredictable, and seemingly very individual-dependent.

Administration

One of the significant differences between SARMs and steroids is how you take them. Steroids come in either injectables or orals. Many of the most potent steroids are injectable only. What this means for you is that if you want to use the most potent steroids, you need to get comfortable injecting. Oral steroids are popular but have significant health risks. On the other hand, SARMs require no injections, no matter which form you take them in.

SARMs cannot legally be sold for human use, which means they are primarily available in a simple liquid form. Many are now also sold as capsules, despite the fact this does put the supplier at a higher risk of seeming to be selling SARMs for human use (after all, when was the last time you knew of a scientific researcher using capsules in a lab to test chemicals?).

You might find people saying something like: “Liquid SARMs are more bioavailable than capsules.” But there’s no known evidence of this. And if there is any difference between the two, it will be so small not to be noticeable. Your diet and training program will be significantly more critical to your results than whether you take capsule or liquid SARMs.

Liquid SARMs are usually taken by drinking the required dose or, in some cases, sublingually. This means placing the SARM dose under your tongue and leaving it there for at least 15 seconds before swallowing. This allows direct absorption into the bloodstream. It’s thought sublingual administration somewhat increases bioavailability and absorption because of the large number of arteries and blood vessels under the tongue.

With most liquid SARMs, you can choose either oral or sublingual administration. Some, such as Stenabolic, require sublingual administration because of their naturally low bioavailability.

Anavar vs. RAD-140

Anavar is one of the more mild steroids. It’s so mild that it’s the most commonly used steroid by females. It’s easy to take (oral) and produces significantly fewer side effects than more potent steroids.

But how does it compare to RAD-140? When it comes to benefits, they are pretty similar. Anavar will give you an edge for muscle growth and overall body composition, but if strength is a primary goal, you’ll find RAD-140 is equal or better.

And side effects? Both can be moderately suppressive, but the Anavar will generally suppress testosterone more than RAD-140. Negative cholesterol changes will be about equal on both.

If you’re a beginner to using any compounds, RAD-140 is an ideal choice. Its side-effect profile is easier to manage than any steroid, including the relatively mild Anavar.

Turinabol vs. RAD-140

RAD-140 and Turinabol are more similar than you might expect. Both will provide similar strength, muscle mass, and aesthetic gains.

Turinabol naturally comes with a higher overall side effect risk. It is noticeably more suppressive than RAD-140. Turinabol is ideal if you want a nice full-body look, while RAD-140 will give you a drier and more vascular appearance.

Turinabol is the more favorable of the two if you’re susceptible to hair loss. However, it has a higher liver toxicity effect than RAD-140. For most beginner to intermediate users who want to balance results and side effects, RAD-140 will be the more tolerable option between these two.

Winstrol vs. S-23

If you want a SARM that can provide results as close to Winstrol-type as possible, S-23 is always the one that will be recommended.

Just like Winstrol, S-23 will deliver a very dry, vascular physique. And both can provide similar muscle gains, depending on your diet and workout plan. If you want to get every ounce out of your results and achieve the absolute best outcome, you won’t look past Winstrol. But if avoiding steroids is your priority, then you won’t be compromising as much as you might think by going with S-23.

Both compounds will strain the joints, but when it comes to suppression, it’s S-23 that is more suppressive. Personal preference between steroids and non-steroids is likely to determine your choice between the similar Winstrol or S-23.

Dianabol vs. LGD-4033

Two potent bulking compounds are Dianabol and LGD-4033. Dianabol has long-time legendary status in the anabolic steroid world, but how does LGD-4033 compare?

Dianabol is famed for its ability to provide super size, super fast. But much of it is water weight, which Dianabol users learn to deal with. LGD-4033 can blow you up similarly but still provide a puffy look with water – but not to the extent of Dianabol. With LGD-4033, you will mostly gain muscle, giving LGD-4033 an advantage for many of us.

With Dianabol, you also get some of the more severe side effects. Along with fluid retention and associated high blood pressure, gyno, acne, and liver toxicity come with such a potent oral steroid. For all but the most experienced and hardcore steroid users, LGD-4033 will provide a more pleasant and manageable experience and often more satisfying results compared to Dianabol.

Proviron vs. S-4

You could call both Proviron and S-4 relatively weak compounds. Their main benefits are promoting a nice, dry, lean, and vascular physique.

Cutting and contest prep cycles can benefit from either Proviron or S-4, but if you want to increase strength and muscle gains, the S-4 is the better option. Proviron is a poor muscle builder, but on the flip side, it’s the stronger of the two in the aesthetics department.

What about the side effects between Proviron and S-4? Again, both are relatively mild in this regard as well. Few side effects can be expected here. Proviron can cause some hair loss in men who are genetically inclined. S-4 has a unique potential side effect involving a temporary change to vision, which should subside on stopping use.

Suppression can happen with both S-4 and Proviron, but it should be mild. Some users find Proviron’s reduced short-term suppression makes it the more favorable compound to use over S-4.

Health, Legal, and Financial Issues

Are SARMs safe?

Most SARMs and similar research chemicals have little scientific data on their safety. Only a tiny number of SARMs have been tested and studied. These chemicals come and go all the time. Some are followed through with trials and studies, but others are halted early in research. This could be because they are not showing promise for medical use, or something was discovered to indicate that a chemical will pose a risk to human health.

BUT!

Even the most studied SARMs have no approval for human use (yet, or maybe ever). So, there’s zero long-term data on possible harmful effects and consequences. So this is what I’d say: If someone tells you, “SARMs are totally safe,” – run away. The fact is that you’re almost guaranteed to have some form of side effects using SARMs.

This is a critical factor to keep in mind: Even those SARMs that have been trialed in humans, doses are usually significantly lower than you’d ever take for performance. So without more evidence of the safety of short and long-term SARM use for performance purposes, it would be irresponsible to label them as “safe.”

Are SARMs legal?

SARMs exist (currently) in what we would call a legal gray zone. Technically, they are only legally permitted to supply and purchase to researchers for legitimate scientific research into their potential use. But laws will differ between countries, so you know what applies to your home country. In the US and most Western countries, SARMs are classified as research chemicals only.

When it comes to the World Anti-Doping Agency and other professional sporting authorities around the world, SARMs are banned in the same way that anabolic steroids and all other performance-enhancing drugs are.

So why is it so easy to buy SARMs if only researchers can buy them? The main reason is that it’s virtually unregulated, and no one is tracking who’s buying and using SARMs and other research chemicals. The fact is this: Most SARMs you see for sale online will never be used for any scientific research in a lab! You know this, and the SARMs sellers know this, too. However, the sellers still need to sell their SARMs, assuming they are only used for research. Therefore, each product has a disclaimer stating that the SARM must only be used for research.

Needless to say, it’s dead simple to buy SARMs online for personal performance use. Will it be like that forever? We don’t know. But right now, and at least in the foreseeable future, there’s nothing on the horizon to indicate that SARMs will become more challenging to find and purchase soon.

False Claims

SARMs are not regulated products, so as a result, you run the gauntlet of risks when buying. SARMs and similar compounds outlined above can only be sold legally when labeled as a research chemical.

In a perfect world, the only people buying SARMs would be real research scientists wanting to investigate what these chemicals can do in a lab. But in the real world, we know that most SARMs being purchased end up with athletes and bodybuilders who have no intention of doing scientific research. The SARMs sellers know this, and as a result, we get a whole lot of shady practices that come with what is essentially an underground market:

• Low or no quality control of the manufacturing process raises the risk of contamination.
• They are intentionally including or substituting with other ingredients to save money and boost profits (because they know bodybuilders are unlikely to test the purity of the SARM).
• They are purposely mislabelling products to sell at a higher cost.

This isn’t just speculation. A study by five respected health, doping, and sports medicine experts involving the purchase of SARMs online and testing found some damning results³⁰.

The researchers went to buy 44 SARMs from many online suppliers, the same types of suppliers that bodybuilders purchase from. They then took steps to identify the exact chemicals and the amounts of ingredients in each SARM product. This analysis led to some alarming information being discovered:

• 48% of the products contained NO traces of SARMs at all
• 25% significantly under-dosed compared to what was listed on the label
• 25% contained minimal or no SARMs from the label; instead, it consisted of other SARMs and compounds like estrogen blockers

This tells us that the SARM manufacturing and retail industry is a wild west environment where you never really know what you’ll get.

With no FDA approvals and no real regulation for SARMs and similar compounds, manufacturers are happily going along with the freedom to sell whatever they want, labeled as SARMs. In summary, it’s buyer beware when buying SARMs from anywhere, no matter how positive a reputation any seller might appear to have.

SARMs FAQs

Is SARM a steroid?

There are two types of SARMs; the first developed SARMs were steroidal, but the ones developed only in the past two to three decades are known as non-steroidal SARMs. Even though most modern SARMs are not steroidal, they still bring about anabolic activity in the muscle and bone, and this is why they are so highly valued by fitness enthusiasts, bodybuilders, and even professional athletes who want an alternative to anabolic steroids with lower risk of testosterone suppression, no estrogenic side effects and less risk of other side effects that come with steroid use.

Can SARMs come in capsules?

Some SARMs are made in capsule form, although this is not legal because SARMs are not approved for human use by authorities in the USA and other countries.

While capsule SARMs provide an easy way to take your dose, there is a risk of low quality, under-dosing, overdosing, or contamination if the SARMs capsules have been manufactured in an unprofessional environment. This is why most people will buy SARMs in liquid form from research labs, so you know you’re getting the real deal.

Sometimes, SARMs are included in supplements, but these should be taken with caution as, once again, you can rarely tell the origin of the SARM in these cases.

Will SARMs cause hair loss?

We know that one of the most dreaded side effects of anabolic and androgenic steroids is hair loss or male pattern baldness in men who are genetically predisposed to it. One of the most appealing things about SARMs for many guys is that if we listen to the marketers who sell them, SARMs do not pose a risk for hair loss.

But the fact is that SARMs can indeed cause hair loss in some people, just like steroids can. This side effect is mostly a concern when taking SARMs at high doses – just as most performance athletes will. It’s not considered much of a risk at lower doses. If you experience hair loss when taking SARMs, the bad news is that it will be permanent unless you have some effective hair restoration plan.

Can SARMs cause heart attacks?

The long-term effects of SARMs are still unknown regarding their use by humans. We know that cancer had an effect when SARMs were given to mice over a relatively long term. Another very serious concern many people have about people using SARMs is whether they affect cardiovascular health and if they can potentially even lead to heart attacks. In 2017, the US FDA issued a warning about SARMs and stated that they could increase the risk of heart attack and stroke³¹.

Does WADA ban SARMs?

The World Anti-Doping Agency has prohibited all SARMs since 2008. It is listed in the category of banned substances under Anabolic Agents, which is the same category that steroids are listed in. This means that SARMs are never permitted, and any drug tests that come back positive for any SARM will be dealt with according to the rules of your particular sport. Since becoming a banned substance, dozens of professional athletes have tested positive for SARMs over the years and have been banned or penalized.

Can SARMs be found in dietary supplements?

Even though it’s not legal to include SARMs in bodybuilding supplements, this is a widespread practice, with some supplement makers blatantly advertising their use of SARMs and others not even listing a SARM as an ingredient.

The latter can put athletes at risk who undergo regular doping tests if they have consumed a supplement that unknowingly contained SARMs. This is why only taking supplements from reputable companies where 100% of the ingredients are certain is a must for anyone exposed to drug testing, as well as if you want to avoid SARMs altogether.

How long does it take for SARMs to kick in?

New SARM users can make the error of believing that results will be noticed as quickly as they are when using anabolic steroids, but this is not the case with SARMs. They don’t work as fast as steroids do.

Steroids are synthetic hormones, mostly testosterone, so they potently affect the body and do so quickly after administration. Non-steroidal SARMs, on the other hand, do not give you the effects of a powerful hormone as anabolic steroids do, and you will need to use SARMs for longer before you start seeing results, and this takes patience.

Some SARM compounds can deliver noticeable changes within about four weeks, while others can take as long as eight weeks to kick in and have you noticing the benefits. SARMs, therefore, require a longer-term approach to their use, but on the upside, they don’t come with the same drastic negative effect on your hormonal system and overall health that steroids do.

How long should you cycle SARMs?

Considering the slower effects of SARMS on the body, the minimum cycle length for most SARMs should be eight weeks. However, most people will choose to go longer, with 12 weeks being the standard for experienced users. A simple beginner cycle should consist of just one or two SARMs for 8 to 12 weeks.

It’s important not to worry about not seeing immediate results and to focus on the longer-term benefits where consistency is going to be key to getting those quality muscle gains, whether you are comfortable doing 8-week cycles, 12-week cycles, or anything in between being consistent over the long term is what will get you the results.

Which SARMs should women use?

Women can use most SARMs, and most females will want to use the compounds that enhance endurance and fat loss rather than muscle gain. Women commonly use Ligandrol and Andarine to help with muscle toning and cutting fat, and this can be achieved at low doses as small as 5mg daily.

What is the best SARM that would pair well with Clenbuterol?

I don’t recommend pairing Clenbuterol with SARMs. If you want a working cutting stack, then go with this one:

• Week 1-12: 30mg/day SR9009 (Stenabolic)
• Week 1-12: 50mg/day S4 (Andarine) 25mg in the morning and 25mg 4-6 hours later
• Week 1-12: 20mg/day GW-501516 (Cardarine) 30 minutes before workout
• Week 1-12: 25mg/day MK-2866 (Ostarine)
• Week 13-15: Mini Clomid PCT with 50mg/day and 20mg/day GW-501516

What’s the best female cycle for endurance, building muscle, and losing fat?

If you are looking for a particular SARM, I’d say 10-20mg/day Cardarine for eight weeks. Another option is to do an Anavar cycle at 10mg/day (split Anavar into two doses daily at 5mg/each, once with breakfast and again before bedtime) for 8 weeks. With both options, get off as much fat as you can naturally, hit the cardio hard, and then use one of them.

Final Notes

I want to finish off this guide by stating very clearly: Nothing written here should be taken as medical advice or as a recommendation to use SARMs, anabolic steroids, or any other performance substances.

I recommend you think twice (no, make that three or four times) before you decide to use SARMs or any other compounds I’ve covered here. And have you already used one or more of them? I hope you’ll be better informed and in a more favorable position to at least use them as safely as possible. As I’ve said, no SARM or research chemical can ever be considered safe for performance, bodybuilding, weight loss, or any other purpose.

Remember this: Even a SARM that might be considered mild or side-effect-free to most people will still have the chance of causing issues for you. The chance is always there, no matter how small, that something unexpected could go wrong on a SARM cycle.

I’ve covered all the currently known side effects that different SARMs can cause, but you should know this: SARMs and other research chemicals are constantly being tested in various ways. New side effects and risks we had never considered can be discovered anytime.

Things are constantly evolving in the world of SARMs. So you are advised not to get complacent, and you’re certainly advised to stay up to date with any new developments for the SARMs you’re using or are considering using in the future.

— Furious Joe