Over the past couple of years, there’s been a lot of hype in weightlifting communities about steroid alternatives.
Before going into the details, SARM’s can be very dangerous. You never know exactly what you’re getting, and they can have serious side effects.
SARM’s stand for selective androgen receptor modulators and they’re marketed as a safe alternative for steroids, but this is often not the case. SARM’s work very similar to steroids, in that they give more testosterone to your body.
While they do often increase strength and muscle mass, there are many faults to them. Manufacturers claim they don’t have side effects, but many users experience the same side effects as steroids.
Along with this, SARM’s aren’t approved by the FDA, making it illegal for anybody to sell you them for human use. There’s one more very dangerous aspect to this drug.
In the past, other steroid alternatives have been banned as well. Companies stocked up on these drugs before they were banned, leaving them with thousands of dollars worth of a product they can’t legally sell. When SARM’s started gaining popularity, they labeled these drugs as SARM’s and sold them as such.
Because of the lack of regulation on these products, aside from the ban, you have no idea what you are actually buying. It can be very difficult to find a trusted manufacturer for these performance-enhancing drugs. Because of the ban on SARM’s, manufacturers have to sell them for “studies only”.
This means that when you buy them, you’re not supposed to consume them, and only use them for research. Of course, most people are buying them to take themselves.
This decreases their reliability, as well as your risk of getting sick or injured. In the end, many of these products are banned for a reason, and you shouldn’t take them unless you find a trusted source and know what you’re doing.
What are SARM’s?
As I mentioned before, SARM’s stand for selective androgen receptor modulator. They’re very similar to steroids chemically and functionally, although not exactly the same.
SARM’s are known for having slightly less extreme effects than steroids. They’re sold by many as having “the benefits of steroids without the side effects”. As with most things, if they sound too good to be true, they probably are.
The chemicals in SARM’s help your body to produce dihydrotestosterone or DHT. This is one of the male sex hormones, meaning more of it will give you more male characteristics. These include facial hair, deeper voices, and yes, increased muscle mass.
DHT also speeds up the process of growing bald, which is why many PED users lack hair on their heads. You can take SARM’s in pill or liquid/drink form, each having their own benefits. Because SARM’s are so new, there hasn’t been very much research, especially in the long term.
One study that has been done found that they cause cancer in rats, which isn’t a very good sign.
As tempting as the results sound, I can’t recommend that anyone takes these. The dangers and risks of taking them are too high to be a smart idea. I’m not for everyone being natural, and more power to you if you want to use steroids, but SARM’s are just not a good option.
Lack of Research
SARM’s have only really been around for a few years, meaning there’s no way to have long term research. This means that even though there might not be any short term effects, they could be dangerous to take over long periods of time.
Along with this, even if you take them for a short period of time, there could be effects that don’t show up for years. With anything that you put into your body, you should want to know that they’re safe.
Especially with things like hormones, because they can change the way your body works. If there’s something wrong with them, they can mess up your whole body.
When you’re buying any other type of drug, you’d always make sure that they’re safe, and that there’s a lot of research behind them. With SARM’s and PED’s, you should do the same. Especially when the research that is there links them with cancer.
Taking any substance that lacks research is very dangerous to your health. Never take something that isn’t trusted by professionals or shows sketchy results in its’ studies.
In the future, there may be more research done on the safety of taking SARM’s. For now, stick to substances that are well researched with understood effects and keep yourself safe.
SARM’s are Often Not What They’re Labeled
As I mentioned earlier, products that claim to be SARM’s may often not be. Supplementation companies that bought other PED’s, which were later banned, were left with potentially millions of dollars worth of unsellable products.
When SARM’s came around, they started marketing these other drugs as SARM’s, in hopes to get back lost revenue. Not only is this very illegal, but it’s also unethical and very dangerous to anyone that takes them. Many of these drugs were banned for having horrible side effects, causing injury, sickness, and even death in extreme cases.
It can be difficult to find trusted manufacturers of SARM’s, meaning that it’s possible you’ll get drugs that are different from what you think you’re getting. This is just one more reason why you shouldn’t take SARM’s. There are far too many risks and dangers, compared with too few benefits, to make it worthwhile to take them.
If you feel like you must take PED’s, which I can’t recommend either, it’s safer to go with other products that are better researched and more reliable. No PED is safe, especially not anabolic steroids, but some carry less risk than others. Play it safe, know what you’re getting, and avoid unnecessary side effects.
Foreign Chemicals are Bad for Your Body
This goes for SARM’s, and almost every other chemical, but things that aren’t naturally in your body aren’t good for it. Your body is evolved like a well-oiled machine, meant to run on certain foods, nutrients, and chemicals.
Most of the chemicals and hormones it needs are created in your body, by different systems. These hormones are closely managed by your body and regulated to the correct levels. Adding in foreign chemicals and hormones, like SARM’s, can throw off your body’s entire chemical balance.
Your body can experience chemical imbalances even without external chemicals messing with it. Things like mental and emotional problems, as well as problems with physical development, are surprisingly common to struggle with.
Adding in other chemicals, like SARM’s or other anabolic steroids, make it infinitely easier for your body’s balances to become misaligned. Again, you should stay away from SARM’s and other steroids.
The damages that they cause to your body can be irreversible, and the short term gains are not worth it. Lifting naturally may take longer to achieve your goals, but in the long term, you’ll be healthier, stronger, and live longer. The benefits of being natural far outweigh the benefits of drugs like SARM’s and steroids.
SARM’s Aren’t Legal for Human Use
As I mentioned before, manufacturers can’t sell SARM’s for people to use themselves. This being said, they can sell them for “research”, which people buy and them use themselves.
While SARM’s are banned in sports and weightlifting organizations, it’s not actually illegal to take them. The only illegality is for companies to sell them to you. Because they aren’t approved by the FDA for human use, this not only means that they’re unsafe to use, they also have no regulation.
The absence of regulation means that manufacturers don’t need to make sure that they’re safe, and can put whatever chemicals they want into them. There are no rules for their side effects, they don’t need to put accurate ingredient labels on them, and no legal repercussions for manufacturers for harm caused, because legally, they aren’t sold for human use.
Because of all this, it’s incredibly risky to take SARM’s. The lack of regulation means that when you buy SARM’s, you can never actually know what’s in them.
This is very dangerous to your health, and you should never take them unless you can find a manufacturer where you know that you’re getting a good product. Otherwise, the side effects of a bad product could stay with you for the rest of your life.
How to Get Safe Products
Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to find reliable SARM’s. Many websites are sketchy, and even the ones that seem legit may be trying to scam you or sell a bad product. This being said, there are some rare websites that will sell you a product that is what they say it is.
This doesn’t mean that they’re safe, but it just means that you aren’t getting a sketchy drug that isn’t what it’s advertised as. I personally have never taken SARM’s which means that I can’t tell you for sure where you can get a safe supply from.
This being said, there have been people online that bought these products and had them tested by a professional lab. They can provide better information on getting safe SARM’s than I can, and one person made a youtube video about testing the different drugs.
Keep in mind that just because you’re getting a real product doesn’t mean that you’re safe from side effects. Drugs like SARM’s still carry dangerous side effects and possible damages to your body, potentially even more if you’re getting a real product.
Fake or sketchy products may end up being safer than the real thing, especially if they’re diluted down to be less potent. Even if you can find a trusted manufacturer, I can’t recommend taking SARM’s.
What to Do if You Get Scammed
As I mentioned, there’s a lack of regulation on products like SARM’s. Because of this, there’s not much you can do if you get sold a fake product.
This is because they’re sold for “research purposes only”, and legally, it’s your fault you took them and not the fault of the manufacturer.
It’s unethical for these companies to incorrectly label products and sell them, and the problem is only increased by the way that they’re regulated. The most that you can do is throw away your products and go to a doctor to make sure that you’ll continue to be healthy.
Additionally, you can make a video or leave bad reviews of the website, in hopes that other people will avoid falling into the same trap.
If you’re really pissed off and want to take a step further, you can start a petition or organize with other people to get the FDA to change the way that they regulate these quote-unquote research drugs.
Truthfully, the root of the problem with fake SARM’s is the legal system. They meant well by banning unsafe products but allowing them to be sold as research drugs created huge loopholes for companies to make dangerous problems and cause customers harm.
Are SARM’s Better Than Steroids?
Lots of weightlifters use steroids, but that doesn’t make them safe. SARM’s are marketed as being better than steroids, with slightly fewer benefits, and far fewer side effects. They’re supposed to be like a “muted” version of steroids. But is this actually true?
The small amount of research that has been done makes it seem like it’s not. Because of the lack of research, I can’t give you a definitive answer. This being said, the studies don’t look good. One study found that they caused cancer in rats. While humans aren’t the same as rats, this isn’t a good sign.
This one is more unreliable but just as scary. Someone on youtube posted a video explaining his experience with SARM’s, and he actually lost his vision for a period of time because of them.
I don’t want to say that SARM’s are better or worse than steroids, but they’re certainly not safe. Steroids are bad and can have horrible side effects, but they’re widely used in the medical field and have vast amounts of research behind them.
Neither SARM’s nor steroids are completely safe. Their effects are different on every person, and there are so many variables that it’s impossible to know how they a
How to Use PED’s Safely
Although any chemical you’re putting into your body has the potential to be dangerous, there are a few steps you can take to make your experience safer. The same goes for SARM’s and steroids. Here are a few tips:
Don’t Take Them When You’re Young
Just like weightlifting, taking androgens when you’re young can have an impact on your growth. The testosterone resulting from these drugs sends signals to your brain to stop growing, mostly in height. The recommended age to take them is 25, but if you’re really interested in them, don’t take them before you’re 21 just to be safe. It’s worth putting off the muscle gains for a few more years of growth and development.
Consult a doctor before you take them
Before taking any type of drug, it’s important that you talk to a doctor before taking them. A doctor can help you discover any medical problems that might be inflated by taking SARM’s or steroids and save you from the potential health problems in the future. Ask your doctor if you’re healthy enough to take PED’s.
Get Regular Checkups
Once you’ve started taking steroids, it’s important to keep in touch with your doctor and get regular checkups. This can help monitor your body and make sure that you’re reacting to them in a good way, and not developing any issues. Seriously, do this one if you’re going to take any performance-enhancing drugs. It can save your life.
Understand the Risks
Make sure that before you take any of these drugs, you understand the potential risks that come with them. You wouldn’t want to take them just to figure out what the side effects are by getting them. Do some research on their side effects and make a good decision.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that SARM’s are dangerous. As I’ve mentioned, there are many variables that go into how they affect you, but overall, they’re not worth it.
There’s too little research done on them to determine truly whether they’re clinically safe or not. The research that has been done, as well as stories from people that have taken them, all seem to show that they’re not much more than a health risk.
Just like with any drug, it’s bad to put foreign things into your body. Your body is meant to make its own chemicals, besides some key nutrients that we eat. Introducing new chemicals and steroids can throw off your brains chemical balance and cause problems for years if not the rest of your life.
Don’t take SARM’s. But if you choose to, go to a doctor and make sure you’re healthy. Try to find reliable products, and monitor your health while you’re taking them. You wouldn’t want to sacrifice the rest of your life for some short term gains.
