If you're reading this article, chances are you're thinking of taking Ostarine MK 2866 and are wondering if it's going to suppress your testosterone levels, and if so, how much.
I've been taking selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) like Ostarine for over a decade now, and I wish that I knew all of this before my first Ostarine cycle.
Today, we will cover:- Does Ostarine Suppress Testosterone?
- How Suppressive is Ostarine?
- How to Minimize Suppression on Cycle
- How to Run PCT to Get Testosterone Back Up
- …and more
So, if you're considering taking Ostarine MK 2866, but don't want to experience the nasty side effects of testosterone suppression, then keep on reading to discover what you can do.
Is Ostarine Suppressive?
Ostarine MK 2866 is amazing for helping users pack on lean muscle mass, shred body fat, and improve bone density, among other things. But, is Ostarine suppressive?
The short answer, is yes. Ostarine MK 2866 will suppress your testosterone levels, which is why it's extremely important to take the proper precautions while you're on cycle.
Thankfully, this isn't anything to worry about, though. Any sort of compound that leads to muscle growth and enhanced physical function, will almost always be suppressive.
What's important, is that if you take the necessary precautions, not only can you expect to build a ton of lean body mass and lean muscle while on Ostarine MK 2866, but you can successfully avoid many of the negative side effects that come with low testosterone.
Explaining Suppression
Before we get too far, let's explain why taking selective androgen receptor modulators causes your natural testosterone and testosterone production to go down.
Normally, your testicles produce testosterone, which binds to androgen receptors in the body. This signals your body to build muscle mass and get rid of any excess fat.
When you take selective androgen receptor modulators, however, due to their high binding affinity for androgen receptors, they “block” the testosterone from binding, as well.
Now, all that extra testosterone that would normally be bound to androgen receptors, is floating around in your bloodstream. This makes your body think you have too much of it, and don't need that much, which leads to testosterone suppression.
How Suppressive is Ostarine?
All selective androgen receptor modulators will help you build lean muscle mass and avoid muscle wasting while cutting, yes, but they will all also suppress your testosterone.
Thankfully, some are not as suppressive as others. When it comes to Ostarine MK 2866, according to the clinical development program, the suppression is very mild.
In fact, according to one study, there is “little to no suppression” from Ostarine:“The salient features for promising clinical and preclinical SARMs include hypermyoanabolic and hyperosteoanabolic efficacy (hyper-defined as in excess of intact control) at doses associated with decreased prostate size and little to no suppression of pituitary gonadotropins.”
-NRS Nuclear Receptor Signaling Journal, Edition 10, Published Nov 26th, 2008 [R]
In other words, taking Ostarine is a great way to encourage muscle building, enhance athletic performance, and improve muscle hardening, without negatively affecting your natural hormone levels nearly as much as anabolic steroids typically do.
In short, Ostarine will give you muscle growth and body fat loss significantly similar to anabolic steroids, but only with around 5% of the side effects. In my opinion, this makes SARMs the best performance enhancing drug that we know of, according to clinical trials.
Testosterone Suppression Symptoms
If you're reading this article, you're probably on Ostarine MK 2866 right now, or are thinking of getting on it to pack on some lean muscle mass and help with muscle preservation on a cut.
…or, maybe you are on it right now, and are wondering if you're experiencing testosterone suppression. Thankfully, there's some easy ways to tell if you are actually suppressed.
Here are the symptoms of testosterone suppression:
- Feeling Tired & Lethargic
- Mood Swings, Depression
- Gynecomastia (Man Boobs)
Typically, this list would include symptoms like muscular dystrophy, muscle weakness, and weight gain, but if you're on Ostarine MK 2866, it will counteract those symptoms.
The best way to know if you're experiencing suppression while on Ostarine MK 2866, is if you notice that your sex drive and libido drop. This is the only guaranteed symptom.
If you are experiencing this, don't worry. There's an easy fix, I will outline below.
How to Mitigate Suppression
Keep in mind that almost all research chemicals and pretty much any performance enhancing compound will yes, yield many positive effects, but may also suppress testosterone.
According to clinical studies, when taking the recommended dosage of under 20 mg Ostarine per day, and avoiding long term Ostarine usage, you will experience minimal suppression.
That being said, here are the guidelines we recommend to avoid suppression:
- DIM (400mg/day) – DIM is huge amongst bodybuilding enthusiasts as a cycle support supplement, because it's phenomenal for estrogen management.
- Testo Max – This is a dietary supplement consisting of natural ingredients that not only functions well as a post cycle therapy, but can also help you avoid the adverse effects of testosterone suppression while on cycle.
- Ostarine Dosage – Read our Ostarine dosage guide. The more MK 2866 you take, the more suppression you will experience, so when in doubt, just take less. Typically 10mg/day is best to get the muscle growth and fat loss benefits, without the test shut down.
This should be enough for the most part, since Ostarine MK 2866 is not very suppressive. It's great at helping to increase muscle mass, improve protein synthesis, boost bone density, and more, with just some mild suppression that isn't too bad.
Be sure to do a proper post cycle therapy. Read our Ostarine PCT guide for more info.
Conclusion
Ostarine MK 2866 is an amazing selective androgen receptor modulator that will help you increase muscle mass, encourage muscle growth, the development of new muscle tissue, and will even shred off body fat at the same time.
If you want to get all those benefits of increased muscle tissue, while still protecting your natural testosterone, your best bet is to take this supplement while on cycle.
It will encourage gaining muscle and even improves lean body mass composition, while also keeping your testosterone levels high and estrogen levels low.
