S-23 SARM results are often stated to be the best you will get from any of the SARMs or peptides available. Except for anabolic steroids, S-23 is considered amongst the most powerful options out there. But what’s the truth here? There are a myriad of SARMs and peptides out there for bodybuilders, so what makes this so potent?
Some people also tell you that S-23 is structurally similar, and works in the body in a similar way, to anabolic steroids.
That opens up a lot of concerns around side effects and long-term health problems. So what we’re going to do here is clear everything up in this complete guide. You’ll learn everything you need to know in the next five minutes. S-23 cycle length and dosing information, side effects and warnings, realistic results you can achieve, and how it compares to other SARMs.
S-23 Explained
S-23 is yet another SARM (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator) created by a company called GTX. GTX makes a number of SARMs and SERMs, most notably Ostarine, Andarine, and now S-23.
All of their research chemicals are similar. Ostarine was the mildest and most original one. It was designed to protect lean muscle mass in a calorie deficit, and increase strength.
Andarine was stronger and more androgenic. It could also build hard muscle tissue. Then they developed S-23, which is an even stronger variant.
All three of them are structurally similar, and all of them work in the same way. They mimic testosterone in the body. They bind with high affinity to muscle and bone tissue, bypassing the problems of anabolic steroids which can also cause significant increases in prostate size, amongst other androgenic side effects.
Developed from an earlier variant classed as C-6, it’s been found to be around 80% bioavailable. Later development switched the original para-nitro group with a cyano group, delivering close to 100% oral bioavailability.
Preclinical study data, using lab rats, found it to be highly suppressive of natural testosterone production. In fact, in studies, every male rat suffered from complete infertility by the end.
This led to the idea that it could be used as an oral male contraception supplement.
However, SARMs don’t aromatize into estrogen. That would mean exogenous Oestrogen supplementation would also be required, defeating the point. So it’s important to note here that although people say that S-23 is a potent muscle builder, it’s never been fully tested on humans for any purpose and has definite potential problems.
So Is S-23 A SARM Or A Steroid?
Structurally, S-23 is definitely a SARM. It is derived from a family of SARMs, and in the body, it binds to the androgen receptors with a strong affinity.
Because its tissue selectivity (it binds to androgen receptors mostly around muscle and bone) is strong, it’s classified as a SARM. However, although the data is not completely clear, compared to FDA approved anabolic steroid substances, S-23’s data shows that it is actually a stronger agonist of androgenic and anabolic tissues across the body.
That means that it does not ignore androgen receptors in other areas of the body, such as the prostate.
So what you are dealing with here is something that binds to androgen receptors in muscle and bone tissue with a very high affinity, with a Ki of 1.7 nM compared to RAD-140’s binding affinity of 7nM. That means it has a binding affinity in muscle and bone tissue that is four times greater than RAD-140.
The answer is therefore that no, it’s not a steroid because it binds to certain androgen receptors with a higher affinity than others.
But on the other hand yes, S-23 will react in the body in a similar way to asteroid, especially at higher doses, by triggering androgenic activity across all receptor sites.
This sets it apart from other androgenic SARMs, which are far more targeted to muscle and bone tissue only, but with far lower potency.
S-23 SARM Results & Effects
S-23 is incredibly potent. It is a Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator, but it’s so aggressive that it does at higher doses bind to other receptor sites in the body. You cannot use this in the same way as with other SARMs, where you just take some Nolvadex post-cycle and everything will be fine.
This stuff will outcompete with testosterone, DHT, and even other SARMs for receptor sites. So stacking it with another androgenic SARM like RAD-140 is pointless. All you will be doing is increasing your chances of total testosterone suppression without gaining anything in terms of muscle growth.
Taken at a moderate dose, S-23 has been shown to deliver the following positive bodybuilding effects:
- Significant increase in lean muscle mass
- Ver dry and defined muscle tone changes
- Rapid improvements in bone mineral density
- Protection of muscle mass in a calorie deficit
- Improved physical energy levels and determination
- Improved mood and balance
- Some studies showed dose-dependent fat loss
I’ll just mention the last point because some people claim that you can use S-23 to burn fat.
Preclinical profiling did show some dose-dependent fat loss. But the point is that most anabolic agents, including anabolic steroids, do not directly increase fat burning. They simply do not change direct mobilization of stored fat, nor do they affect the fat/glucose energy balance.
So for me, and my experience using SARMs back this up, it’s more a case as you increase in muscle mass and strength, you naturally burn more calories and have more endurance.
Overall, I’ve found S-23 to be a supercharged version of S-4. That’s hardly a surprise considering it’s a progression of that formula. However, remember that S-4 is far more tissue selective to muscle and bone tissue alone than S-23.
S-23 Dosing & Cycle Length
Because SARMs have never been through human trials for any purposes, talking about dosing on cycle length has to be purely based on anecdotal evidence.
Some people are dosing S-23 several times per day. This seems to be based on the fact that in rats, the half life of S-23 is around 12 hours. The theory is then that it must be much shorter in humans, but I say again that is anecdotal.
So a lot of guys are dosing this at 10 mg in the morning, 10 mg in the afternoon, and another 10 mg in the evening. The total daily dose is 30 mg. That’s as high as I would go. You can take 30 mg once per day, but for something so potent, I’m of the opinion that it might be better to stick to these lower doses spread out so that you get a more stable blood serum concentration level.
If you’re a beginner, if you’ve never taken this before, I would start with just 10 mg per day for a few weeks to see how you get on.
In terms of cycle length, I’d stick to 8 weeks in the beginning, especially if you are going higher than 10 mg per day. Maybe even six weeks if you are hitting 30 mg per day and you’ve never used it before.
10 weeks is the absolute maximum I would suggest you cycle S-23 without a significant break.
Don’t just pick an arbitrary break either. Because this is so potent and binds with such affinity to all androgen receptors, I’d strongly suggest you have blood work done before and after your first cycle so that you can see the effect it’s had on your T levels.
Then have more blood work done after six weeks or so of recovery. That way you’ll know if you’re natural testosterone levels bounce right back. If they haven’t, you’ll need a longer break than six weeks.
Use S-23 As Part Of A Potent SARMs Bulking Stack
As I’ve already said, S-23 is not a targeted weapon. Compared to something like RAD-140 or even high doses of Andarine or Ligandrol, it’s just not as targeted. If you want a power weapon that is going to really produce large gains that are dry and hard, like Andarine stepped up a gear, then S-23 is definitely for you to consider trying at least.
As I’ve said though, because it binds with high affinity to all androgen receptors in the body, even though it does bind to the receptors in muscle and bone tissue with a higher affinity than elsewhere, then you shouldn’t use it with another androgenic research chemical.
That’s why I always combine it with non-androgenic SARMs/chemicals to ensure I can get better cumulative effects then using one at a time, but without increasing my chances of significant side effects.
Here’s what I use a potent SARMs bulking stack:
- 30 mg S-23 dosed three times per day
- 5 mg GW-501516 Cardarine dosed two hours before your workout
- 10 mg MK-677 Ibutamoren
- Eight-week cycle
- Gap between cycles should be at least six weeks
- Nolvadex definitely required (and possibly Clomid)
Obviously, you’ve got the potent anabolic effects of S-23 delivering significant muscle growth and power output gains. A small dose of Cardarine pre-workout will give you a significant energy boost as well. Allowing you to power through each session and make the most of the stack.
Plus, I’ve thrown in a moderate dose of Mk 677. It will increase your appetite, increase muscle gains, and strength, and help to regulate your body rhythm.
Put all that together, and you’ve got a mix of androgenic and non-androgenic research chemicals that will deliver:
- Significant muscle gains that are lean and hard
- Increased vascularity (similar to DHT)
- Huge strength gains
- Improved focus and endurance
- Higher energy output
- Higher levels of glucose and fat burning
- Improved recovery times
I will stress again that S-23 isn’t for beginners. It’s very much like an anabolic steroid. If you’re new to all this, start at a low dose, perhaps 5 mg three times per day instead of 10. Also, do not stack it with any other anabolic SARMs.
S-23 Side Effects & Cautions
I’ve already covered the biggest potential S-23 side effect. Although it binds with a high affinity to androgen receptors in muscle and bone tissue, it’s also more non-selective. This is particularly the case at higher doses. It will significantly suppress your testosterone production.
It will also increase the size of your prostate. It does this in a dose-dependent manner. It does it to a lesser extent than DHT, testosterone, and anabolic steroids. But it will enlarge it far more than targeted SARMs like RAD-140 and Andarine.
S-23 will also raise your body temperature. This will increase levels of sweating and require you to drink more water. Because of this elevated body temperature, you will get night sweats as well. They may not be bad, but for some people really are. It’s because of the increased body temperature that this happens.
So you’ve got the potential problems of elevated body temperature, sweating, and increased levels of thirst. The dehydration if not dealt with will also lead to muscle cramps. When you sweat profusely you lose a lot of electrolytes. This can lead to muscle cramping.
Because S-23 is such a potent anabolic substance, you can experience significant bouts of aggression.
The aggression is actually another sign of how indiscriminate S-23 is with its anabolic effects on the body. The increased androgenic activity leading to aggression is very similar to that of the well-known aggression when using anabolic steroids.
As well to the above, you can also get problems with acne and hair follicle miniaturization, leading to weaker hair growth.
My Experiences Using S-23
I’ll be honest, my experiences with using S-23 haven’t been that numerous for all the reasons I stated above.
I use it sparingly, and I make sure I have Clomid available. It’s the only SARM I get blood work done before and after I run a cycle.
Clomid is definitely what you need rather than Nolvadex for PCT. It has to bounce your testosterone levels back quickly and deal with Oestrogen production, and Clomid is far more aggressive at dealing with this than Nolvadex.
I’ve actually used it for both bulking and cutting. I’ve only done one cutting cycle using it, and I decided after that I much prefer the results of using Andarine.
In fact, I consider using Ostarine and S-23 together for a cut. But I figured there wasn’t really any point to that because you might as well just hit the middle ground between the two and use Andarine (remember that Ostarine, Andarine, and S-23 are all made by the same company and a very similar in structure, just proportionately stronger).
Mainly though, people use it for bulking. My experience after a single cycle stacked with MK-677 and SR-9009 for energy was:
- Strong visual gains
- Muscle tone was harder and drier
- I felt like I was on supercharged Andarine
- Very good gains in strength and endurance
- I felt more powerful and potent
On the downside, it was hugely suppressive. I actually even started using some Nolvadex a week before the end of the cycle, when I probably should have stopped at the end of week seven. My blood work showed 53% drop in my LH (luteinizing hormone) levels during the seven weeks. That was even after a few days of Clomid.
But overall, it’s potent. If you want to take a step above the normal abilities of SARMs, and gets close to anabolic steroids as you can without actually taking them, then S-23 is the only one you should be considering.
Finding S-23 For Sale
As well as being difficult for some guys to use, the other problem is finding S-23 for sale at all right now. There are several problems in the world contributing to the drying up of the supply of SARMs, peptides, nootropics, and other grey market substances:
- Chinese SARMs ban has fully kicked in and very little is making out illegally.
- Other countries did not pick up the slack from China, and because of other interests have not replaced the volumes at all.
- The pandemic has skyrocketed shipping prices and times. It’s also closed a lot of low-profit grey market factories around the world.
- A lot of the slack of nootropics and SARMs was being picked up by grey market labs in Eastern Europe. Most of them in Ukraine and Russia. Because of the war there, there’s pretty much nothing coming from there either.
Overall, supply has dwindled which has forced prices up and quality down.
For me, the two most reputable suppliers right now, which I’ve used for several years on and off, are Chemyo and Swiss Chems.
These two are some of the few companies that still selling SARMs in the USA right now that are good quality for the money.nPrices are still pretty damn good, especially considering they only sell capsules that have been historically higher price than liquid.
Right now, Swisschems gives 60 capsules of S 23 for $69.95. Each dose at 10 mg, it’s the perfect dose for dosing two or three times per day to hit what I would suggest is that 30 mg per day maximum. And Chemyo gives 20mg/ml-50 ml for $59.99.