What Are SARMs? A Quick Guide For Beginners

SARM stands for “Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator”. According to the United States Anti Doping Agency, they:

…are a class of therapeutic compounds that have similar properties to anabolic agents, but with reduced androgenic properties. This property allows SARMs the advantage of androgen-receptor specificity, tissue selectivity, and the lack of steroid-related side effects.

United States Anti Doping Agency

In a nutshell, SARMs are similar to steroids but lack some of the side effects.

For athletes, these drugs can enhance your performance in ways never thought possible without injecting anabolics. These compounds will force your body to build muscle, burn fat, and increase endurance.

Let’s take a look at some of reasons that these products are becoming so popular.

There are countless benefits that could entice and athletes. A lot of the same benefits that are achieved with steroids can be experienced without the same side effects. Here are some of them:

1. Increase Muscle Mass

Undoubtedly the biggest reason people take these compounds is because they have shown to increase muscle mass in humans. This study for example shows that they decrease muscle wasting in resting humans.

On top of the mountains of studies that have been done, there are thousands of user experiences on forums such as AnabolicMinds and the Bodybuilding.com forums that have replicated these results.

2. Supports Fat Loss

Another reason people take SARMs is to aid in dieting. Many users experienced increased fat oxidation, especially in stubborn areas. Using these compounds while cutting can help you retain the most muscle mass possible so you don’t end up looking like a skeleton at the end of your diet.

3. Increases Endurance

Some of these compounds, specifically cardarine, have been shown to increase endurance of athletes. This means that if you’re trying to get better at cardio or a specific sport, they might be able to help you achieve your goals.

It’s no secret that bodybuilders will take every advantage they can when it comes to improving their physiques. With that being said, there have been quite a few athletes come forward and admit to SARMs usage.

Ricky Garard, a crossfit athlete and amateur bodybuilder, tested positive for ostarine, and was disqualified from the crossfit games.

Jimmy Wallhead also tested positive for ostarine, however his supplements were spiked. He was not intentionally taking the product.

Performance enhancers are popular in bodybuilding because they can help polish the users body in the coming weeks before a show. Some bodybuilders use them months in advanced to build mass as well.

If you are looking for SARMs for sale, you need to educate yourself. There have been an extremely high level of counterfeit products floating around in 2019.

We have exposed quite a few bad apples that are selling fake products that are either 100% worthless or cut with dangerous prohormones.

For this reason, I suggest you check out this list of verified companies that have sarms for sale.

Many people who want to take it to the next level will be curious about different SARMs stacks. I always recommend going with a single compound first to see how your body reacts. Once you get an idea of what gains to expect, you can move forward with one of these different stacks.

Bulking Stack

A classic SARMs bulking stack is going to help you pack on muscle as quickly as possible. It is important to eat a large caloric surplus (500+ on resting days and 700+ on workout days) while on a bulking cycle.

Some good options for a bulking stack will be MK 677, RAD 140, and LGD 4033. We’ve put together a full bulking stack that you can check out here: SARMs bulking stack

Cutting Stack

If you’d rather shred up instead of adding mass, then you’ll want to do a cutting stack. These stacks are more geared to help you lose weight while maintaining muscle mass.

Some people can also gain a little muscle while on a cut, though usually not much. Examples of cutting SARMs are cardarine, ostarine, and s4.

Recomp Stack

A “recomp” is when you aim to stay a similar weight as your starting weight, but change the composition of that weight. Basically, the goal is to gain muscle while losing fat at the same time. A good recomp stack relies on a lot of cardio and a high protein diet.

Some good SARMs to include in a recomp stack are cardarine, LGD 4033, and YK 11.

Strength Stack

Some people just want to get stronger. We get it – we have a powerlifter on our team who has the same mentality. If you only care about gaining strength and throwing around heavy weights, then maybe you should try a strength stack.

This stack will be very similar to a bulking stack, but will focus on muscle density instead of size. A strength stack will almost always include MK 677, YK 11, and RAD 140.

The results you achieve will vary highly depending on a few things:

• What SARM you choose to run
• Your diet
• Training routine
• Commitment and dedication

If you plan on being lazy, hanging out on the couch, and eating like crap, you will most likely be disappointed with your results. However, if you eat clean, work out, and follow a proven protocol, you will get the results you want.

SARMs can give you 10x the results you would achieve naturally, but you still need to work hard in order to get there. Getting the physique you always dreamed of takes time and effort. Never forget that.

As of right now, SARMs are legal in all 50 states. There is no federal ban that prohibits the sale of SARMs in the united states. Now, with that being said, HOW they are sold is different.

You see, SARMs can not legally be sold for human consumption. They are not approved by the FDA and some of them are still intellectual property of the pharmaceutical company that created them.

Therefore, SARMs are always sold “for research purposes only” and some labels will even say not for human consumption. This is all a legal loophole that will hopefully be around for a long time.

Many people read up on SARMs and think they look very familiar to the prohormones that were popular in the early 2000s. While it is true that both SARMs and prohormones can help build a lot of muscle for you, the similarities end there.

Prohormones convert into active steroids once passed through the liver. These steroids do build muscle, but they also have side effects that affect the hair line, prostate, liver, and can cause gyno.

SARMs on the other hand are already active and need no conversion to be effective. The S stands for Selective, meaning that they target the muscles and no other place. Virtually all other side effects are eliminated.

A huge debate is whether or not you need to do a post cycle therapy (PCT) after using SARMs.

While there is no proven science that says one thing or another, there are a few things to take into consideration when deciding on whether to PCT or not:

• Which SARMs were used
• How long have you been on
• What doses were you taking
• Do you have symptoms of suppression

Someone doing a 8 week cycle of ostarine will most likely be somewhat suppressed, but not shut down. Even doing a larger stack will not shut you down completely.

Your body will always recover naturally, and with SARMs it only takes around a month to regain natural testosterone levels after a cycle or stack.

If you plan on using a PCT, I suggest Tamoxifen, 10 to 20mg a day, for 4 weeks. Stay away from Clomid – the side effects are often worse than temporarily having low testosterone for a few weeks.

Thanks to Dylan Gemelli, many people tend to think it is okay to go directly on a SARMs cycle after coming off of anabolics. The idea is that because SARMs are not nearly as suppressive as steroids, you can take them while you are recovering in order to prevent muscle decay.

This is true, to an extent.

A small dose of ostarine (less than 10mg a day) can help recovery during PCT. However, taking something more suppressive (RAD 140, LGD 4033, etc) can make things worse.

The best SARMs for PCT are ostarine, cardarine, and MK 677. Do not use anything else during PCT or you will prolong your shutdown.

Sarms.io is dedicated to being your #1 resource for SARMs related information. We plan on adding a lot of content over the next coming months and reviewing a lot more stores. Here is a collection of some frequently asked questions we’ve gotten.