Years ago, steroids were the undisputed performance enhancers. Every successful bodybuilder was touted to be using steroids. Like, how many times did you hear people saying Arnold Schwarzenegger is using Steroids? Of course, some of the claims were true, while others were false. Successful sportsmen and women were also reported to be using steroids. Some of them even ended up losing their medals when drug screens proved that indeed they were juicing. Steroids really were the best performance enhancers, and nothing else came close. Sadly, the downside of using these drugs was just as insane. Health facilities reported cases of liver damage, kidney damage, heart failure, stroke, and other issues all attributed to the use of steroids. It became clear that the dangers of steroids were extremely severe, which led to the complete ban on these drugs.
Years later, a new class of drugs came up. These were known as Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators or SARMs in short. Experts reported that the drugs were producing similar results as steroids, but they were much safer. That was a bold claim, but it didn’t take long before bodybuilders started trying out the drugs. After months and years of using them, SARMs became all the buzz in the fitness industry even though they were still not approved for human consumption.
In this review, we will compare SARMs to Steroids to help you understand how the two drugs are different and what you can expect from each one of them.
Table of Contents
What are SARMs?
SARMS or Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators are drugs that bind to the androgen receptors in the body. These drugs have a high affinity to androgen receptors, but they are also highly selective when deciding which androgen receptors to bind to. This is one of the major differences between SARMs and steroids. The highly selective nature of SARMs allows them to interact with the androgen receptors found in the muscle and bone tissues only. Some of these drugs can also interact with adipose. This selectivity makes it possible for the SARMs to work on just the right tissues without affecting the functions or performance of other organs in the body.
The funny thing is that SARMs were never intended to be bodybuilding drugs. Selective androgen receptor modulators were first synthesized back in the 1940s. However, their recreational use only became popular in the 1990s. The original idea behind developing SARMs was to treat degenerative disorders such as osteoporosis and muscle wasting. They were also intended to help with treating bone fractures and other such issues. As the animal studies into these drugs continued, it became apparent that the drugs did more than prevent osteoporosis and muscle wasting. Scientists recorded an increase in muscle mass, fat loss, increased strength, improved bone density, enhanced recovery, better sex drive, and other benefits. This raised eyebrows from the fitness industry, and that’s how they ended up being a favorite among bodybuilders.
What Are Steroids?
In simple words, steroids are synthetic versions of testosterone. Testosterone is the male sex hormone that’s responsible for most of the masculine functions. They help with sex drive, stamina, strength, energy, and muscle growth. A drop in testosterone levels has also been linked to fat gain, especially in the belly fat, which means maintaining high testosterone levels helps with fat loss.
Studies have shown that an increase in testosterone boosts muscle growth and overall physical performance. Years ago, there wasn’t enough technology and research showing how we can naturally increase testosterone levels for muscle building purposes. Sure several methods could boost libido and stamina, but none of them had a huge impact on muscle growth. As a solution, scientists decided to make testosterone derivatives, which came to be known as steroids.
The truth is, steroids are still the most potent muscle growing drugs around. These compounds are insanely powerful. People used small doses and reaped huge gains from them. They helped with muscle growth, stamina, endurance, fat loss, strength, and energy. They also improved vascularity, which is why many steroid users hard that ripped look characterized by hard, dry muscles.
Just like SARMs, steroids were also used in the medical field. Actually, some countries are still using steroids to treat muscle wastage caused by certain conditions like HIV/AIDs and cancer. However, this is only done under doctor’s prescriptions and at very low doses.
Benefits of SARMs vs. Steroids
Both SARMs and Steroids produce the same bodybuilding benefits. These include:
- Rapid muscle growth
- Fat loss
- Increase in strength and energy
- High stamina and endurance
- Enhanced recovery
- Improved bone mineral density
The most significant difference between the two is impact. SARMs such as Ligandrol LGD4033, Testolone RAD140, and S23 are powerful, very powerful, but they still don’t come close to the most potent steroids out there like Dianabol. This is one reason why some people are still opting for steroids even though there are safer alternatives out there.
Side Effects of SARMs vs. Steroids
This is where things go completely wrong for steroids. As we pointed out earlier own, SARMs are very selective on the androgen receptors they interact with, i.e., they deal with the ARs on your muscle and bone tissues only. Steroids, on the other hand, do not discriminate. These drugs will go on a rampage interacting with different androgen receptors, even those that have nothing to do with muscle growth. In the process, steroids end up producing severe side effects, some of which are life-threatening.
Do not interpret this to mean that SARMs are not without their own shortcomings, though. All the SARMs in the market today pose a risk for certain adverse reactions; the difference is that the risk is lower, and the side effects tend to be mild and reversible in most situations. Also, most of these side effects can be avoided by simply using the drugs as recommended.
Some of the side effects linked to SARMs are:
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Aggression
- Acne breakout
- Some liver damage
- Testosterone suppression
- Stomach upset
- Vision problems (common with Andarine S4)
Steroids, on the other hand, are linked to an extensive list of severe side effects. Some of these are:
- Shrunken balls
- Prostate enlargement
- Gynecomastia, gyno, or man boobs
- Tumors
- Hypertension
- Increased bad LDL cholesterol
- High risk of tendonitis
- Severe acne
- Severe aggression
- Depression
- Paranoia
- Violent outbursts
- Injection-related infections
- Heart problems
- Infertility
- Enlarged clitoris and irregular hair growth in women
- Sudden death
Perhaps the most disappointing thing about steroids is that some serious side effects are almost guaranteed regardless of how careful you are with the dosage and cycles. Also, some of the issues are known to be permanent. It really doesn’t take a genius to see why using a steroid today is ill-advised.
SARMS Vs. Steroids Legality
Another major difference between SARMs and steroids is their legal status. SARMs are currently legal to buy as research chemicals in most countries. This includes the US and other parts of the world. In some countries, you can only get SARMs through a doctor’s prescription.
Meanwhile, steroids are illegal to buy almost everywhere in the world. This also means that most people selling steroids to bodybuilders are doing so in the black market, which is extremely dangerous. The black market cannot be regulated, which means you don’t know the quality of the drug you are using. It leaves you exposed to serious medical complications because you can easily end up with a contaminated steroid. At least SARMs are subject to lab tests, which helps maintain purity and overall quality of the drugs.
Both SARMs and Steroids are illegal to use in competitive professional sports.
Final Thoughts
Rapid muscle growth is exciting and attractive, but it is not worth your life. SARMs may not produce results as fast as steroids, but they are much safer, and that should mean something, right? Also, you can always stack several SARMs and get faster results without exposing yourself to severe side effects. We cannot forget to mention that SARMs are generally friendlier to use as you can take them orally, unlike steroids, which normally require injections.
With that said, we would also like to remind you that SARMs should be used carefully because they are also capable of producing side effects if abused.
