As the title suggests, Im extremely new to all of this. I’ve been working out hard for 2 years 3-5 times a week. In that time, my bodyweight went from 330# to 212# - Im currently at 225# and have been steady with Stronglifts for the past 1.5 years.
While I’ve put on muscle and dramatically altered my body composition through strength training, eating right and again, eating right, I still retain a lot of bodyfat. I am beyond sensitive to a lot of the available fat burners, so they’re really not a good option for me.
I talked to a friend when I was suggested the prohomone route, he advised against it, advising that I instead consider a SARM. Im planning a new cut in the coming weeks, which will involve a caloric deficit and potentially Ostarine.
My questions are is this a good route to travel? Should I stack Ostarine with anything else? and of course, your experiences with this route, if any.
who do you mean, your insurance tests for anabolics? like when you have a yearly physical, or what?
if you’re concerned about a drug test, then don’t take SARMs. also, they can negatively affect the HPTA and cholesterol levels like AAS, so don’t assume that they’re without side effects…
I have a lot of experience with ostarine, and while it is very good for cutting, as other users have pointed out, it doesn’t come without consequences. While some of the side effects are relatively mild compared to traditional AAS (most notably lessened effect on FSH and LH) and they are WAY lower on sides than PHs, they will still shut down your natural test production to a significant degree. They will also raise your liver values more than injectable test alone (at least based on my blood work). Traditional AAS had a worse impact on my lipid profile than SARMs, but they both affected it negatively.
Ultimately if you are just cutting hard a SARM like ostarine isn’t the worst idea, just stick to 20mg a day and be prepared to do a proper pct when you are finished. Conversely, just using test with proper diet is also definitely and option and might be preferable, you will certainly feel better on test but I don’t know if you want to pin. Only down side with test is worrying about estrogen and maybe needing a slightly tighter diet to reach your goals, test makes it significantly easier to gain weight/water retention than osta.
What country are you in? Obviously not the US, insurance companies here can’t legally hold that against you.
And agreed with cyco. If you want us to help, and your statement about testing is accurate, we would need a complete list of tested substances to guide you properly. I’m surprised you thought you could get away with prohormones as far as testing is concerned, but not other steroids. At the end of the day, they’re really the same thing.
I’m mostly against SARMS as rule, not because I think they’re overly harsh on your system, but I don’t think they’re effective enough, particularly if you’re not stacking them with other things (steroids or peptides), to justify the downsides.
Since you mentioned fat burners specifically, is that your overall goal? To continue to lose fat as your #1 priority, and gain/retain muscle secondarily? If so, I think I’d probably just continue to diet well, maybe fine tune your diet a little more than you already have done to continue to progress. Drugs may not be the answer yet.
fat loss is my overall goal right now and my experiences with a lot of the over the counter fat burners have been less than positive - very uncomfortable when taking them, overall the heart rate spikes were a tad alarming.
To answer, Im in the US - the insurance is a pretty heavy life insurance policy that’s tied into my company, so its tested. I have taken nothing resembling steroids, but the questionnaire had items asking about PEDs and steroids, so I can naturally assume they’ll test for it. From what Ive researched however, a SARM won’t come up per se, but yes, it can in fact raise other values.
Ahhhh, I assumed you meant health insurance. Yea life insurance is different.
I don’t understand your logic at all about the testing though. You have no idea if they test for SARMS. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t. You don’t even know if they actually test for steroids. I don’t know why you’re assuming they do, just because it shows up on a questionnaire. Steroid testing can get pricey as hell if they want to measure anything aside from testosterone itself. They’re definitely not testing every policy holder for every steroid. That’s just not feasible.
I would also assume that you’re not getting tested more than once, MAYBE twice a year. Do you know when the tests are ahead of time? And what is the format of the test? Do you get to bring in your own sample? Does someone actually watch you pee in a cup, or do you get privacy?
Ive had one test since first signing up for it, but they said it was random and I could be called up at any time to take one. When I did my last test it was a whiz quiz, nobody watching.
As far as what they test for, the insurance agent said “the big ones” like coke, pot, heroin, meth and unprescribed medications. He didn’t seem to know what a SARM was but said PEDs in general, as you’re suggesting, aren’t really on their radar.
reviewed specifically with the insurance company what they test for - yes, in some instances they will test for AAS so I looked deeper and had a conversation with the agent - SARMs are not something they are looking for.
SO I said what the hell, give this a whirl. Through a few contacts at the gym, I was referred to a supplement shop in my area and after a few more conversations with them, they recommended AndroSarm (LDG-4033) and REVo2 Max (SR9009). This is a one month cycle that I’ve been told doesn’t require a PCT, but may grab one regardless.
In the last 2 weeks, I dropped StrongLifts in favor of MadCow - for one, I LOVE the program and for another, I noticed the SARM stack actually has helped thus far. Im having no issues with the program and maintaining my motivation and strength in the gym. Added to that, I’ve already experienced a mild initial result of the supplements - muscles are harder, a lot fuller and while I haven’t done any specific tape measurements yet, I have noticed that my XL shirts are a lot tighter in the chest, arms and back as my waistline has come down a bit (loose fit in a size 36).
On the advice of a friend, Im keeping my caloric deficit reasonable - between 1900-2200 Calories with a weekly re-feed on Sunday. Think large steaks, huge breakfasts etc. This goes a long way in keeping the sanity and having something to work towards.
As of now, I’m 5 9 228# - when I started this, I was at 238# - something I was worrying about with having lost an initial 100# over a 1.5 year period. Im still shedding additional fat with 2-3 cardio days, which usually involves boxing, jumping rope and it looks like Im inheriting an elliptical machine in the next few weeks.
So far, no side effects that I can notice save for one that may be a good one - my appetite is a struggle - as in, I have to literally force myself to eat sometimes, which I attribute to the SR-9009.