In this section, I will lay out the differences between using anabolic steroids vs. SARMs. It is always tempting to want to use the strongest weapon during a battle. However, it may not always be in your best interest over the long term.
It is important to remember that SARMs are selective and will come as close to anabolic steroids as you will get, with way fewer side effects. The reason is that SARMs, unlike steroids, will bind to specific androgen receptors. Anabolic steroids are not selective in their action, and so they completely blow up your reproductive system entirely. It is much easier to abuse anabolic steroids to the point where you end up having major side effects, while SARMs, even when abused, will cause much fewer problems.
Being a much newer class of drugs, SARMs are much more precise in targeting specific receptors to give you the benefits of lean muscle mass, strength, and fat loss. Anabolic steroids can provide you with muscle gains and a strength boost. Still, they will also cause prostate problems, heart strain, liver problems, kidney strain, and more.
By design, Anabolic Steroids are derived from different male hormone derivatives that have been modified to enhance some qualities. For example, scientists can tweak the testosterone molecule to aromatize much less, make it less androgenic, make it more anabolic or less, and change how it performs in the body. This is how you get something like Anavar, which doesn’t aromatize and is less androgenic and more anabolic.
SARMs are derived from a combination of chemical compounds that activate receptors, similar to anabolic steroids, but are selective where they don’t affect things like the prostate or head hair. SARMs target specific receptors to create the good effects we want and don’t create bad symptoms when appropriately used.
Based on what I have already said above, how steroids and SARMs work differently is pretty simple to explain. Anabolic steroids are very good at activating receptors in muscle cells, boosting protein synthesis and making it easier to build muscle. SARMs work by copying testosterone effects within the androgen receptors directly. SARMs bind to the same receptors as steroids and flood the body with androgens that encourage muscle growth and faster recovery.
Side effects from steroids vs. SARMs
Testosterone suppression: Our reproductive system (HPTA) produces testosterone naturally, usually peaking sometime in our early to mid-20s and then slowly dropping off as we age. These male hormones allow us to build strength and muscle much more easily. Many people suffer from low testosterone, which can also affect recovery, libido, and mood.
When you use anabolic steroids, it will cause your own body’s production of testosterone to come to a screeching halt in men. This is due to the pituitary glands realizing that there is too much of an excess of hormones, so they no longer need to be produced. This is called suppression, and anabolic steroids will cause a complete shutdown of your pituitary glands, which can be confirmed by running LH and FSH bloodwork. When you stop using the steroids, your body then crashes and must rebound to produce hormones again. In some instances, the damage done is permanent, and a person must now go on TRT for life.
SARMs only cause minimal suppression, and some SARMs cause none at all. This makes it much easier to recover from even a long 12-week cycle of SARMs. You will maintain some testosterone production even while on cycle, which further aids you.
Infertility: Much like the above situation, anabolic steroids will obliterate fertility in men. It does this by causing stress and shutting down the HPTA. The Leydig cells will no longer be fed hormones to help them produce both testosterone and sperm. Steroids also attack the motility of the sperm, which makes them much less likely to be capable of reaching an egg. Ironically, in today’s modern world, it works for some people who do not want children; it is a natural way to crash fertility. In some situations, fertility will not rebound from a steroid cycle.