SARMs are popular supplements among fitness enthusiasts and bodybuilders.
A Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator (SARM) is a supplement with similarities to anabolic steroids.
As such, they’re met with controversy even while getting embraced by so many fitness enthusiasts.
Should you consider taking SARMs? What are the pros and cons of this supplement?
What are SARMs used for? Let’s take a deeper look.
Can You Legally Buy SARMs?
Let’s address the elephant in the room right away! As of this publication, it’s legal to buy SARMs in the United States.
As of now, there is no major regulation regarding the sale of SARMs. In fact, many fitness supplements are unregulated and don’t have FDA approval.
However, it’s expected to sell SARMs for research purposes rather than consumption. Nevertheless, many consumers purchase SARMs as a fitness supplement.
SARMs are considered to be an “S1 Anabolic Agent” by many sporting authorities.
They are banned in sports competitions including the Olympics. As they serve a similar purpose as doping, one can expect that they’ll remain a prohibited substance for professional athletes.
How Did SARMs Come About?
It’s important to know that SARMs aren’t a natural nutrient or mineral. They were created in the 1990s by Professor James Dalton.
He was working on finding treatments for prostate cancer. During his research, he can across a molecule called Andarine. This molecule didn’t help with prostate treatment but could improve muscle growth.
He then began creating on SARMs products to learn more about how they can help with muscle growth. He’s also spoken out against the black market that has sold mediocre products disguised as SARMs.
Breaking Down SARMs
Fitness enthusiasts consider using SARMs for building muscles. They focus on targeting your bone tissues and muscle tissues. They don’t focus on improving strength in other body tissues.
What makes SARMs stand out from anabolic steroids is that SARMs don’t cause side effects as much as steroids would.
If you take steroids, they might convert to 5-a reductase. This is an enzyme that creates DHT — usually by altering your natural testosterone. These can lead to many different side effects.
Steroids are also known to reduce testosterone and increase estrogen. As of this publication, there’s no conclusive evidence to suggest that SARMs do the same. As such, SARMs are often preferred because of reduced side effects. However, there are disadvantages to SARMs in comparison to anabolic steroids. If you are seeking steroids UK, you can take help from Google.
They don’t have the same strength as anabolic steroids. This means that your muscle growth will be slower when you take SARMs rather than steroids.
However, the advantage of this is that SARMs won’t suppress your natural testosterone growth whereas anabolic steroids can do this. However, there is testosterone reduction when consuming SARMs which we’ll cover later in this guide.
Popularity of SARMs
How did SARMs become popular among the fitness community?
They’ve become especially popular among amateur bodybuilders. This is because these bodybuilders want to experiment with SARMs before trying anabolic steroids.
They want to see how SARMs works with their diet and fitness regime. They want to see if they can build muscle faster by using SARMs. If the progress is too slow, they’ll often start using anabolic steroids. Some bodybuilders might even use SARMs and anabolic steroids together.
SARMs are also seen as an alternative to creatine. Creatine is a natural nutrient that can also get taken as a supplement.
Creatine can help with muscle growth and is currently more popular than SARMs. However, with the effectiveness of SARMs, we might expect to see this trend reverse.
SARMs Products You Should Know About
There are many types of SARMs products available to consumers. As this is an unregulated product, one has to be careful when choosing SARMs products.
As such, it’s best to only consider buying the following SARMs products. These are the most popular ones on the market.
Andarine (S-4)
This was the original SARM discovered by Professor Dalton. It’s popular among fitness enthusiasts who wish to reduce fat and build strength.
It’s also used for building lean muscle mass. If you partake in weight training, you might want to consider using this SARM product.
Ostarine (MK-2866)
This is considered to be the safest SARMs product for consumption. The trade-off is that it’s also the least potent of all SARMs products.
It’s also one of the most studied SARMs products. It’s been shown to help treat wasting muscles. This refers to a significant loss of muscle mass.
LGD 4033
This is considered to be a stronger version of Ostarine. It also regulates and develops your body’s immune and reproductive systems.
It’s also used for bulking. This makes it a great option for bodybuilders, fitness models, and strength athletes.
Nutrobal (MK677)
This type of SARM gets used to boost the secretion of your body’s growth hormones.
It can also increase your appetite and improve your quality of sleep. Fitness enthusiasts like using Nutrobal to reduce body fat and improve their recovery.
Stenabolic (SR9009)
This SARM gets used for improving your endurance and decreasing body fat. It’s also considered to be one of the safer SARMs to use as it’s not hormonal.
Testolone (RAD140)
This is the SARM with the strongest potency. As such, one should take it with caution.
This SARM was created to be the safest alternative to anabolic hormones when you undergo replacement therapy. It helps to boost strength, muscle mass, and bone health.
While all these SARMs products are available for purchase, one should always seek professional consultation before consuming them. SARMs that can have benefits for one user might cause harm to another user.
Assessing SARMs Products
Before you purchase any SARMs products, make sure you assess their quality.
As mentioned before, there is a black market for SARMs and many products are fraudulent. Always buy from authorized online retailers that specialize in fitness supplements.
You want to make sure that the packages detail all the ingredients in the SARMs product. Make sure you also read online reviews and testimonials for any SARMs product you wish to buy.
You can also ask your fellow fitness enthusiasts which SARMs products they recommend. Make sure you inquire about any side effects or illnesses that might have occurred.
What Are SARMs Used For Apart from Building Muscles?
What are the additional advantages of SARMs apart from building muscle and strength?
SARMs are being studied to see if they can treat diseases or reduce symptoms resulting from diseases. Among the diseases studied are Alzheimer’s Disease, Muscular Dystrophy, Osteopenia, and Osteoporosis.
However, as these studies aren’t conclusive, one shouldn’t use SARMs just for treating such ailments.
The main reason to consume SARMs is to improve strength and build muscle to complement your fitness regime. If you do have any such ailments, you should ask your physician if they suggest using SARMs as a treatment.
SARMs for Becoming Leaner
SARMs aren’t just for building muscle and strength, however. Some fitness enthusiasts will use SARMs to cut their weight to give a leaner look.
If you follow a low-carb diet, you can consider using SARMs to help you expedite your weight loss.
It’s imperative to know that SARMs are always a supplement and never a replacement for whole foods. You should also cut out unhealthy snacks, alcohol, sweets, and sodas from your diet.
It’s also suggested that you should focus on eating fresh meats, fruits, and vegetables. It’s best to avoid ready-made foods and even restaurant food.
Consuming SARMs for dietary reasons should be in low doses. It’s also imperative to eat smaller portions throughout the day. It’s best to consult a dietician about how you can incorporate SARMs into your diet.
What Are the Downsides of SARMs vs Steroids?
Once again, as of this publication, there isn’t conclusive evidence on the possible dangers of consuming SARMs. This is what has made it more popular than anabolic steroids.
Currently, SARMs aren’t as regulated as other fitness supplements. One should research the SARMs product before buying it. You have to make sure that the product doesn’t contain any superfluous ingredients.
Among the various side effects of taking anabolic steroids are hair growth or hair loss, acne breakout, fluid retention, mental issues, and stomach problems. Excessive use of steroids can even be fatal.
These reasons alone should serve as a deterrent for taking steroids. Yet, anabolic steroids remain popular because many fitness enthusiasts don’t know about SARMs.
So far, we also know that SARMs aren’t as addictive as anabolic steroids. It’s also likely that if you feel any side effects, you can recover from them much faster than with steroids.
In fact, with steroids, one might need post-cycle therapy or serious medical intervention to recover.
Nevertheless, there’s always the possibility that SARMs might cause severe or permanent side effects. Your doctor can assess the likelihood of these side effects for your situation.
What Are the Side Effects?
One might wonder if there are any side effects that could make SARMs harmful.
It’s imperative to know that no supplements are harmless. Reactions to any supplement depend on your body’s composition and your overall health.
You want to make sure that you assess your health before consuming SARMs. For some users, SARMs will cause no harm. For others, there might be issues.
As we alluded to earlier, SARMs can lead to a decrease in testosterone. There are suggestions that regular consumption of SARMs can lead to testosterone decreases.
It might also lead to a decrease in testosterone production. It might also decrease sperm count and sperm production. However, there’s no conclusive evidence at the moment. Nevertheless, this is a concern to watch out for.
This has led to some men using SARMs as a contraceptive — almost like birth control for men. But as the evidence is currently not conclusive, one shouldn’t use SARMs as an alternative to contraceptives. You should also remember that SARMs provide no protection against sexually transmitted infections.
It’s also important to know that any side effects can get reduced if your dosage is low and sporadic. If you take high doses on a consistent basis, you are at more risk of side effects.
SARMs and Illness
A major concern of consuming SARMs is if they can lead to severe illnesses. As of this publication, there’s no conclusive evidence that this is the case.
SARMs got tested on mice to see if they developed any illnesses after consuming them. Mice are often used in clinical trials as a substitute for human trials.
The mice were given large doses of SARMs and developed cancers within their systems. However, this doesn’t mean that SARMs can lead to cancer in humans.
In such studies, the dosage that the mice received is low for humans (around 10 mg per day). For a mouse, however, this dosage is excessive and dangerous.
There are also scientists who are researching if SARMs can prevent cancerous growth or treat cancer in humans. As there’s no consensus or conclusive evidence, it’s best to avoid SARMs for medical treatment at present.
There have also been studies that have analyzed the correlation between SARMs usage and liver damage. It’s suggested that regular doses of SARMs over a five-week period might lead to liver damage.
As such, one should stick to low doses and should consume SARMs on a sporadic basis. If you already have liver problems, speak to your doctor about whether it’s advisable to consume SARMs.
Should You Take SARMs?
What are SARMs used for? They’re a great alternative to anabolic steroids and they might have various health benefits as well. Now you can decide if they work for your fitness goals.
It’s always best to first consult your physician first. They’ll advise you on whether you should take SARMs and how often. Make sure your doses get supplemented with a balanced diet.
One must also remember that SARMs work as a supplement to your fitness regimen. You might have to tailor your workout regime to complement your SARMs dosage.
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