Over the past several years, a new workout supplement known as “SARMs” has been sweeping the market… but just what are these SARMS? How do they work? Are they safe?
In this article, we will cover some important topics relating to SARMs:
- What They Are
- How They Work
- What The Science Says
- The Results You Can Expect
- Where to Get Them Safely
Everything presented here has been based off of extensive research. My name is Jon Anthony, and I have been a professional fitness model for the past 10 years. Here are my thoughts.
What Are SARMs?
SARMs, short for “Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators,” are a new class of workout supplements which are often marketed as “legal steroids.”
…and to be honest, this isn’t that far from the truth. Due to the nature of SARMs, they’re not only extremely effective, but have very few side effects.
Let me explain. You have something called “androgen receptors” in your body. They’re everywhere – all over your muscles in particular.
This is why when you take a steroid, you get such incredible results. If someone were to take a common steroid such as Testosterone Enanthate, it would bind to all of your androgen receptors, and signal your body to build muscle.
Unfortunately however, because it binds to all of your androgen receptors, not only would you gain muscle in your skeletal muscles (biceps, triceps, etc.), but you would also gain muscle in your heart and organs. This is not good.
In addition to this, consuming hormones can interfere with your body’s natural production of critical hormones. Take, for example, this study conducted at the Copenhagen University Department of Internal Medicine, which found that steroid users exhibit lower testosterone levels, even after years of ceased usage:
“Former AAS abusers exhibited significantly lower median (25th –75th percentiles) total and free testosterone levels than control participants (total testosterone: 14.4 (11.9–17.7) nmol/l vs. 18.8 (16.6–22.0) nmol/l) (P < 0.01).”
“Overall, 27.2% (13.3; 45.5) of former AAS abusers exhibited plasma total testosterone levels below the lower reference limit (12.1 nmol/l) whereas no control participants exhibited testosterone below this limit (P < 0.01).”
This is the great thing about SARMs – because they selectively target the skeletal androgen receptors in your body and avoid the smooth muscle receptors, you can successfully have many of the benefits of steroids, without the horrendous side effects.
How Do SARMs Work?
SARMs are typically taken orally, in either powder or liquid form. Once taken, they are rapidly absorbed into the body, and start acting immediately.
From here, they bind to androgen receptors in your skeletal muscle, and start promoting growth. They’re quite phenomenal actually if you think about it.
Because SARMs are selective in which androgen receptors they bind to, they have a high affinity for skeletal muscle androgen receptors, which means you will build muscle and lose fat very rapidly, with almost no side effects.
This isn’t all opinion, either. In fact, let’s take a look at what some of the research says, so that you can make an educated and well-informed decision.
What Does The Research Say?
Thankfully, there’s been quite a few studies done on SARMs in the past decade. In fact, researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine recently stated that SARMs present an “unprecedented opportunity” for users to build muscle with very few side effects:
“The last decade has witnessed unprecedented discovery effort to develop selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) that improve physical function and bone health without adversely affecting the prostate and cardiovascular outcomes. SARMs hold promise as a new class of function promoting anabolic therapies for a number of clinical indications, including functional limitations associated with aging and chronic disease, frailty, cancer cachexia, and osteoporosis”
Another study conducted by a GTx Incorporated, a privately owned pharmaceutical company, found that SARMs have shown to be effective at helping cancer patients fight muscle-wasting:
““Muscle wasting, including a loss of skeletal muscle, is a cancer-related symptom that begins early in the progression of cancer and affects a patient’s quality of life, ability to tolerate chemotherapy, and survival. SARMs increase muscle mass and improve physical function in healthy and diseased individuals, and potentially may provide a new therapy for muscle wasting and cancer cachexia. SARMs modulate the same anabolic pathways targeted with classical steroidal androgens, but within the dose range in which expected effects on muscle mass and function are seen androgenic side-effects on prostate, skin, and hair have not been observed. Unlike testosterone, SARMs are orally active, nonaromatizable, nonvirilizing, and tissue-selective anabolic agents.”
These are just two of the many studies which have been conducted on SARMs recently, and to say the least, most researchers agree that they show incredible promise.
But just how much muscle can you expect to gain on SARMs? Well, let’s take a look at the results I got recently from a popular SARM known as RAD 140.
RAD 140 Results & Review
As you can see in the picture above, I got some pretty incredible results during my SARMs cycle – in fact, I put on a whole 21 pounds of muscle, and lost 12 pounds of fat, in just 60 days.
Most users can only get results like this on steroids, but with SARMs, you can get very similar results with almost no side effects.
For this particular picture, I was on a SARM known as RAD 140 (Testolone), taking about 30mg per day, for 60 days straight. As you can see, the results are incredible.
I attribute this to the fact that Testolone (RAD 140) has an anabolic ratio of 90:1, which means that it’s 90% as powerful as pure testosterone, and only aromatizes at a rate of 1%.
This means that you get 90% of the muscle-building benefits that testosterone would give you, but only 1% of the nasty side effects that it would give you. Pretty incredible, no?
Where to Buy SARMs Safely
Unfortunately, most of the SARMs being sold online currently are junk. Many companies will dilute their SARMs with dangerous prohormones, which are highly hepatoxic.
In fact, a recent study conducted at the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, found that out of 44 different companies selling SARMs online, only 52% of these companies actually sold SARMs. The rest were selling junk:
“Chemical analyses of 44 products sold via the internet as selective androgen receptor modulators revealed that only 52% contained selective androgen receptor modulators and another 39% contained another unapproved drug. In addition, 25% of products contained substances not listed on the label, 9% did not contain an active substance, and 59% contained substance amounts that differed from the label.”
I don’t need a study to confirm what I’ve learned in the past decade, however – most companies selling supplements are downright frauds.
That’s why the only place I get my SARMs from is Proven Peptides. Every single batch of SARMs they create is 3rd party tested by an independent laboratory, so you know they’re pure.
They have fast shipping, great customer support, and highly competitive prices… and when it comes to SARMs, trust me, you don’t want to skimp out on quality.
SARMs: The Bottom Line
As stated above, most of the research shows that SARMs present an incredible opportunity for users to build muscle and lose fat, with minimal side effects.
…and while more research still needs to be done, most of the existing researchers agree that SARMs are not only highly safe, but highly effective.
If you do decide to use SARMs, always be sure to consult with your doctor. Personally, I got the results I did from using 30mg of RAD 140 per day, and the results were incredible.
Many users find Ostarine to be highly effective as well, and it has a large body of research to support its efficacy in helping users build strength and gain muscle.
All in all, SARMs are a very promising new class of compounds… and while they do require more research, all of the existing research agrees: they work, plain and simple.