RAD-140
most data
The Dose Guy’s verdictSep 1, 20263 sources
RAD-140 works. It is the strongest SARM for raw strength and mass, and that is exactly why it earns a caution. It suppresses your testosterone hard, stresses the liver, and the aggression reports are consistent enough to take seriously. Treat it like an oral anabolic, because functionally it is one. If that sounds like more than you signed up for, ostarine is the SARM that actually earns a mild reputation.
What it is
RAD-140 is a nonsteroidal selective androgen receptor modulator that binds the androgen receptor with high affinity. In plain terms, it tells your muscle tissue to grow by activating the same receptor testosterone uses, without the steroidal backbone. The pitch is tissue selectivity: anabolic in muscle, lighter on the prostate. In practice, at the doses people run, RAD-140 suppresses natural testosterone heavily, crushes HDL, and hits the liver harder than the “selective” label suggests.
Among SARMs it sits at the top for raw strength and at the top for side-effect cost. LGD-4033 is the closest rival for mass, with more water retention and less aggression. S-23 is the only one more suppressive. At the other end of the shelf, ostarine is mildest and most studied, the option for people who actually want a lighter touch.
What the research shows
The only human trial was never about muscle. It was an oncology study, and the liver signal it flagged is the headline:
Realistic protocols
People run RAD-140 at 10 to 20 mg a day, orally, for eight weeks. Start at 10. If strength and fullness are showing up and sides stay manageable, hold there. Pushing to 20 brings more suppression and more liver strain for a marginal gain most people cannot tell from 10 in the mirror.
Bloodwork before and after is not optional. You want liver enzymes, a full hormone panel, and lipids. If ALT or AST climbs mid-cycle, that is your cue to stop, not push through.
Skip the alcohol. RAD-140 already loads the liver, and drinking on top of it is the combination that shows up in case reports. Take the eight weeks off.
PCT is mandatory. RAD-140 suppresses LH and FSH at the doses people run. A SERM for four weeks after the cycle is the standard recovery protocol. Nolvadex at 20 mg a day or enclomiphene at 12.5 mg a day, starting about a week after the last dose. RAD-140 clears slowly, and starting the SERM while the compound is still active wastes the first week of recovery.
RAD-140 is WADA-banned. If you compete in a tested sport, this is a positive test.
A third-party COA matters here. The capsule that put a 16-year-old in cardiology was bought the same way yours will be, from an unregulated market where the product is not always the compound or dose on the label.
Side effects
The side profile is what earns the steroid comparison:
