Category · SARMs
SARMs: what the evidence actually shows.
Selective androgen receptor modulators are sold as a way to build muscle like steroids without the downsides. What the research shows is more complicated — and worth reading before the marketing.
Most SARMs have only animal or early-phase human data; none are approved drugs or legal dietary-supplement ingredients in the US, and the FDA has warned about them directly. They suppress your own testosterone, several carry liver and cardiovascular signals, and independent testing routinely finds products that are underdosed, mislabeled, or not the compound on the label at all. Each one below is graded on what's actually been demonstrated in humans — not on how popular it is.
Often grouped with SARMs but mechanistically different: Cardarine (a PPARδ agonist) and Stenabolic (a REV-ERB agonist).
- Preliminary human Ligandrol Muscle wasting/cachexia, age-related sarcopenia, and post-hip-fracture recovery; used illicitly for muscle gain and recomposition.
- Preliminary human Ostarine Muscle wasting / cancer cachexia and, more recently, AR-positive advanced breast cancer (investigational)
- Animal only Andarine Muscle wasting/cachexia, osteoporosis, and benign prostatic hyperplasia (preclinical and early-stage only).
- Animal only LGD-3303 Investigated conceptually for osteoporosis/frailty in rodents; marketed (unproven) for muscle gain and recomposition.
- Animal only S23 Originally a male hormonal contraceptive candidate; marketed (unproven) for lean mass and recomposition
- Animal only Testolone Originally developed for AR-positive/ER-positive breast cancer; marketed online for muscle building.
- Animal only YK-11 Marketed for muscle growth, strength, and recomposition; studied only in cell and animal models.
Before you trust any of these
A label tells you nothing about what's in the vial. See how to read a COA, the independent testing labs people use, and where SARMs sit under WADA (banned at all times, S1.2). Browse everything in the full ledger.