For years, athletes from all over the world have come across a new type of supplement known as SARM in sports nutrition stores. They are often contrasted with anabolic steroids, the best muscle-building and fat-burning tool ever. What is their difference, and how exactly do SARMs work? Let's figure it out together.
What Is the Difference Between SARMs and AS?
First of all, what is the difference between SARMs and anabolic steroids? In the very principle of action. SARMs stand for Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators. Their work is based on the mechanism of attachment to the receptors of male sex hormones and interaction with them, by analogy with drugs such as clomiphene or tamoxifen (which interact with female hormones). They have a number of advantages over anabolic steroids, since they do not lend themselves to the effects of enzymes that can convert the male hormone Testosterone into compounds undesirable for the body. While anabolic steroids themselves are analogs of male hormones, SARMs are just modulators, that is, substances that act on androgen receptors. Accordingly, their effect is not as lethal as when a dose of synthetic hormones is injected into the blood.
How Do SARMs Impact the Body?
Unlike other hormonal therapeutical methods, SARMs target muscle tissue specifically, so scientists hope they are a safer alternative. But given that they are still in the research phase, scientists cannot say if they are safe for use in the general population.
Active substances of this class selectively affect the nerve endings, contacting only with the receptors of sex hormones. Depending on the type, SARMs can both stimulate and block neuronal activity. Since they belong to the class of androgen-like substances, their action is directed to androgen receptors in the cell. They are responsible for several metabolic processes that are important for athletes:
- Muscle tissues active growing that is the most important feature for athletes.
- Rejuvenation of connective tissue that impacts growing of muscles and their strengthening.
- Bone tissues regeneration that is also Important for sports achievments and whole health condition of an athlete.
- Decreasing fat amount by activating metabolic functions of the body just the same way AS does.
Moreover, due to the targeted effect of SARMs, they do not affect other vital systems of the body. They do not affect the liver or kidneys, do not affect the reproductive function or the cardiovascular system. Everything that makes anabolic steroids an undesirable interference with the natural state of the body is absent in SARMs.
So today, even without proven medical researches SARMs are called safe steroids in athletic culture. Due to the low number of side effects and a milder effect on the body, they can become an indispensable aid in achieving a visible and tangible effect that is important for athletes.
