
SARMs are useful supplements for people who are looking to improve their workouts. Body-builders consider them the holy grail of workout supplements, and this idea is not unfounded. SARMs are versatile and they can improve many aspects of your workout routine. In this article we’ll cover the best SARMs for bulking, dosage, benefits and potential side effects.
WHAT ARE SARMS?
SARM stands for selective androgen receptor modulator. If you’re not up on the scientific side of bodybuilding, then let us explain what that means. SARMs are similar in function to anabolic steroids, but not the same thing.
SARMs help to modulate the androgen receptors, which are responsible for reacting to the presence of testosterone. You already know that steroids provide the body with compounds that mimic testosterone.
SARMs are great because they don’t introduce any foreign imitation hormones into your body. Instead, they work to modulate the receptors that react to testosterone. This means that SARMs can make your body more receptive to the testosterone that it already produces, without causing any hormonal imbalances or throwing off your natural hormone production.
There are different kinds of SARMs that you can buy, and some of them are better suited for people with different intentions.
Furthermore, some of them have a higher risk of side effects than others, though they may provide more significant benefits in the short-term.
ARE SARMS SAFE?
Since SARMs haven’t been approved by the FDA, people are unsure as to whether or not they are safe.
Pharmaceutical companies don’t choose to market them because they haven’t yet been studied by an authority like the FDA. That certainly doesn’t mean they’re not safe, though. That means the FDA hasn’t decided to spend money on studying them. Many people report using them for many years responsibly with very few, if any, side effects.
To understand the safety profile of SARMs, it’s important that you understand how our hormonal systems work. Hormones are chemicals that trigger specific responses and are used for cellular communication in the body.
To properly receive a message, the body makes use of something known as a hormonal receptor. There are different hormonal receptors for different hormones, and it’s important that these receptors are kept in good shape – otherwise, miscommunication can occur.
Androgens are hormones that help to develop masculine qualities, like those that you see in people who use a lot of steroids: deep voices, bulging muscles, etc.
Androgens are also useful for helping the body minimize fat build-up. The most well-known androgen is testosterone, which is naturally produced by their body. Androgens like testosterone bind to the body’s androgen receptors, which stimulates the promotion of masculine qualities.
Some androgens can be metabolised into dihydrotestosterone, which then binds to androgen receptors.The third type of androgen is converted into estrogen, which binds to an entirely different receptor.
Usually, your body is in control of the amount of androgens present in the body.
However, when you bring anabolic steroids into the picture, your cells become overloaded with androgens. This saturates all the receptors and causes a cascade response that leads to the extremely masculine traits that you commonly see in someone using steroids.
WHAT ARE THE BEST SARMS FOR BULKING?
Now that you know a bit about what SARMs are and how they work in the body, it’s time for you to decide which one is best for your particular bulking routine. As we’ve mentioned, different SARMs have different effects, and it’s a good idea to have a good understanding of various SARMs before you decide which one to purchase.
SARM |
TYPE |
DOSAGE |
info |
---|---|---|---|
OSTARINE (MK-2866)
|
Liquid | 25 mg daily in a 4-6 week cycle | CHECK PRICE |
Ligandrol (LGD-4033)
|
Liquid | 10 mg in an 8-week cycle | CHECK PRICE |
Andarine (S4)
|
Liquid | 50 mg in a 6-8 week cycle | CHECK PRICE |
YK-11
|
Liquid | 2 to 5 mg twice a day in an 8-week cycle | CHECK PRICE |
MK-677
|
Liquid | 5 to 25 mg daily in a 10-week cycle | CHECK PRICE |
OSTARINE (MK-2866)
Ostarine often makes it into the highest ranks of lists depicting the best SARMs. It’s also one of the first SARMs that became widely available, and it can still be found quite easily at health food stores and online vendors.
Ostarine is highly anabolic, which means it helps to influence testosterone powerfully. This is ideal for anyone hoping to increase the amount of muscle that they can stack on.
Ostarine can also raise estrogen levels a bit. Many bodybuilders read this and decide that Ostarine is not for them, but it’s important to raise your estrogen a bit when you’re taking supplements like these.
The body has a balance of estrogen and testosterone for a reason, and if this balance falls out, then all sorts of side effects can occur. Estrogen is important for maintaining bone strength, keeping your ligaments and tendons health, all of which are very important for someone who’s working out to improve their muscle mass.
In fact, Ostarine has proven so useful that some medical professions have begun using oil to help people who suffer from muscle deterioration, as well as people who suffer from degenerative bone diseases like osteoporosis.
DOSING OSTARINE
It’s generally recommended that you do a cycle with Ostarine of about 4-6 weeks. It has a relatively long half-life, 24 hours, so you shouldn’t be taking it more than once a day, lest the effects build up and you start experiencing negative side effects.
That said, Ostarine typically doesn’t cause a lot of side effects if you use it at a reasonable dose of around 25-36 mg. Using much more than that, or using it more than once a day, can cause blurred vision or counter-productive effects on your muscle growth.
LIGANDROL (LGD-4033)
Ligandrol is one of the newer and more popular SARMs available today, and it’s one of the most effective for bulking.
It’s a lot stronger than Ostarine, which can be observed immediately by looking at the contrast between the daily doses. Compared to Ostarin, which only requires between 25-36 mg a day, Ligandrol requires even less: 3-5 mg a day is the recommended amount.
It’s also recommended to cycle this SARM for longer than Ostarine, with an average cycle being about 8-12 weeks long. Ligandrol doesn’t require any PCT unless you’re constantly feeling symptoms of low testosterone. Otherwise, this stuff isn’t known for causing serious side effects when taken at a regular dosage; however, like many other SARMs, it can cause a bit of water retention.
People tend to start noticing an enhanced muscle gain starting at around 2 pounds per week. However, sometimes people lose some of the weight that they gained on Ligandrol when they stop taking it after their cycle. Part of this will be because of the water that your body might be retaining during the cycle.
ANDARINE (S4)
S4 is another very popular SARM for people hoping to bulk up. It has a pretty impressive anabolic ratio of 10:1, and it promotes muscle gain while simultaneously helping the body eliminate fat by making it easier for the body to oxidise fatty tissue.
S4 is not as potent as the other ones listed as of yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less useful. Doses are between 50-75 mg, split into several doses throughout a day, for 5 days out of the week. A cycle at this rate usually lasts between 12 and 16 weeks.
YK-11
YK-11 is a favorite SARM among people who prefer not to mess with their hormones as much. It works a bit differently, by acting as a myostatin inhibitor, without directly messing with your hormonal system. This means that YK-11 can be very useful for stacking with other SARMs, particularly Ligandrol, because there won’t be an increase to the hormonal changes that are caused by the other compounds.
Myostatin inhibitors, in essence, force your body to stack on muscle mass quite quickly. Keeping that in mind, it’s important to remember that YK-11 is extremely strong stuff. You should only use it if you’re certain that you want to make some quick changes to your body.
MK-677
MK-677 is a good alternative for people who don’t want to use human growth hormone (HGH) for their bodybuilding routine. It’s well known that HGH can help a person stack on the pounds, but unfortunately it’s very expensive and has to be injected, which isn’t ideal for a lot of people.
MK-677, on the other hand, is a great way to (somewhat) naturally increase your body’s production of HGH without having to inject the stuff directly into your bloodstream, which isn’t healthy.
MK-677 usually comes in a drinkable solution, and it’s been shown to create almost the same spike of HGH as you would experience from injecting the stuff into your body. It’s also available at a much lower price.
MK-677 can cause some of the same side effects as HGH overloads, because, well, you’re still overloading your body with HGH. That said, though, it has some positive side effects, such as improving the quality of your sleep and enhancing the health and look of your hair, skin, and nails.