Many people in the UK and worldwide use SARMs to help to enhance their gym gains and muscle mass, as well as sparking a reduction in body fat and building physical strength and endurance. In this review, we will take a look at PUMP, also known as S-23 to look at what you can expect from using it, as well as answering some of the questions that people may have about it.
Anecdotally, people have seen excellent results using S-23 to bulk up and lose body fat quickly, which is why S-23 PUMP is proving so popular in the performance-enhancing community.
What exactly is a SARM?
SARM is an acronym for Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator. This is the technical term but what does it actually mean? An androgen is any natural or synthetic steroid hormone that regulates the development and maintenance of male characteristics in vertebrates.
SARMs are a class of therapeutic compounds that keep some of the desirable effects of androgens, such as preventing the onset of osteoporosis and muscle loss, while at the same time reducing the risks of developing prostate cancer. They are essentially seen as a safer and more beneficial way of taking steroid hormones to stimulate muscle growth.
The exponential increase in popularity of SARMs is due in large part to the perception that they are substantially like steroids but without the risks and the side effects that are often associated with their use. S23 is perhaps the most powerful of the SARMs that is on the market today and it is important to be informed about the potential benefits and risks associated with it before considering whether it is right for you.
What Are the Benefits of S-23?
S-23 PUMP SARM is a non-toxic pharmaceutical-grade product that is considered to be one of the most potent SARMs on the market today. S-23 has been carefully formulated to have a strong binding affinity to androgen receptors and what this means for the user is that they should expect to see the closest level of performance to standard anabolics.
Enhanced Strength
S-23 has the ability to dramatically increase your strength. The strength gains that can be achieved on S-23 are phenomenal and have to be seen to be believed and they can be considered to be comparable to what someone would expect to be able to make on a cycle of traditional steroids.
People who use S-23 on a regular basis will tell you that they see the difference week after week as their strength continues to increase and personal bests and records are repeatedly smashed. Anecdotally, from people who have used S-23, it is pretty common to be able to gain over 50lbs on all of the major lifts over course of the cycle.
It may not be possible to maintain this extraordinary level of strength once the cycle has been completed but with well-planned and consistent training, you may be able to turn the majority of the strength gains that you have made into permanent ones.
Increased Muscle Mass
This is one of the main areas where S-23 excels and is the source of much of the hype that you will read online about it. This is the one SARM that will allow you to make similar levels of muscle growth to some of the stronger traditional steroid treatments. Some people regard S-23 as something akin to a hybrid between normal SARMs and steroids for this reason but it is definitely a SARM, it is just the results that are next level.
Many people would have reservations about recommending S-23 for beginners as it seems to be more suited to people who have built up some level of muscle mass, to begin with. It seems to be better at enhancing something that is already there than creating something new from scratch. This is not meant as a discouragement to people who are new at bodybuilding, it is just the best way to ensure that your body is able to not only cope with but derive the maximum benefit from this extraordinary SARM.
It is easy to forget that nutrition and training are also a necessary part of any successful training regime. S-23 is an exceptional SARM but it won’t do all of the work for you, and definitely isn’t an excuse for slacking off either on your diet or in the gym.
It is also necessary to continue with both nutrition and exercise in order to maximise the retention of your muscle gains once you have completed the cycle.
Increased Fat Loss
S23 is also good for promoting fat loss, though it is not quite as good as some of the anabolics for this, it still performs pretty well. You are able to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time which is a pretty large benefit when it comes right down to it. This enables you to get into excellent shape and look great, even while running a small calorific surplus.
Some users of S-23 report that they are able to get much better pumps at the gym and that they look a lot more “vascular”, in that they have much more prominence in the veins in their arms.
Reduction in Recovery Time and a Boost to Endurance
S23 should give you measurable gains when it comes to endurance, though perhaps not as much as some of the other compounds that are commonly used in this area. You will be able to see the difference as your ability to do more reps and sets increases and your cooldown time between them will reduce.
Reduced recovery time is also something that is a noticeable effect of using S23. The amount of time between workouts can be safely reduced from around 72 hours to 24 hours. The usual time that it takes to recover from a hard gym session is 72 hours so this means that you will be able to go to the gym much more often without significantly increasing your risk of injury. It also means that you will be able to work harder on consolidating your gym gains.
Better Bone Strength
One of the things that SARMs do is that they increase muscle mass and bone strength and this can be a way to either treat or delay the onset of osteoporosis. Any drug that affects the sex hormones Estrogen and Testosterone has the potential to have an effect on bone density and the increased muscle mass will help to keep bones cushioned from blows that may otherwise cause injury.
Studies using animals have shown that increasing bone mineralisation and building muscle and tissue at the same time offered unusual, if not unique health benefits. This remained true, no matter the dosage of S23 that was administered. It could be a small dose or a large one and the benefits remained broadly similar as regards bone health. It is possible that further research in this area can pave the way for better osteoporosis treatments in the future.
S23 Vs Steroids
This is one of the very few SARMs that can compete with moderate doses of DHT-derived anabolic steroids in terms of the results achieved for muscle mass and density. S23 would seem to more than hold its own against the results for most of the steroids, including Masteron and Winstrol. The consensus within the bodybuilding community seems to be that S23 gives a more solid and leaner effect than some of the steroid treatments.
S23 Vs Other SARMs
This seems to be one of the most powerful of the SARMs class compounds. S23 has a bigger binding affinity, which generally means that it is more effective in building muscle and it also seems to be more effective in reducing fat. S23 will also cause the muscles to dry out a lot more than some of the other SARMs on the market today. This will allow them to stand out more in competitions and take on a more striking look than would otherwise be possible to achieve.
Compared directly with RAD140, it would appear that S23 is more androgenic but also comes with more potential for side effects than RAD140 as a result.
Is S-23 a Male Contraceptive
S23 was originally developed as a potential male contraceptive by GTx, Inc. It works by suppressing the creation of viable sperm cells, inhibiting the process known as spermatogenesis. S23 is, however, not marketed as a male contraceptive and people who decide to take it as a way of achieving effective male contraception should be advised that there are other methods that should be considered and used in conjunction with it.
There is also anecdotal evidence that some people’s stamina in the bedroom is increased, and this would make sense, given the other properties exhibited by this SARM, including enhanced endurance in other ways and the shortening of recovery times between physical exertions.
S23 Dosage – What is the Right One?
There is a lot of conflicting information online about the correct dosage to use for S23 and these can vary from around 0.5mg all the way up to 50mg per day. These estimates tend to be based on the process of trial and error used by many experienced people in the bodybuilding community. The problem with all of these is that they tend to be based on what worked for a particular individual, versus what will most likely work for the majority of people.
A dosage of somewhere between 10mg – 30mg per day, has been split into a morning and an evening dosage. SARM only has a half-life of 12 hours so in order to be able to maintain stable blood levels, it is necessary to spread out the dosages during the day. Around 96% or S23 will be absorbed and reach a peak efficiency within 4 hours.
It is vitally important that after the cycle has been completed, users of it complete Post Cycle Therapy (PCT) using Clomid or Norvaldex. This will help to ensure that there isn’t a shutdown of your normal testosterone production. The maximum cycle for S23 should be 8 weeks and optimum results will normally be experienced after around 4 weeks, so roughly a month.
S23 Side Effects
The main side effect of S23 is the suppression of your natural testosterone levels. Given that it was developed as a male contraceptive, this makes a lot of sense and is why it is so important to do Post Cycle Therapy (PCT).
S23 is one of only two SARMS where it can be necessary to undergo PCT after a cycle. The other one is YK11. For people who wish to avoid having to go through PCT, it is recommended that they avoid using S23. It cannot be stressed enough that this is a necessity to avoid your body completely shutting down its natural testosterone production. It is beyond doubt that this will happen, so it is entirely necessary to factor in PCT when you are considering whether to use S23.
S23 is very strong and it takes the body some time to recover from a cycle of it. There are likely to be symptoms of suppressed testosterone while you are in the recovery period from the cycle and these can include increased irritability, aggression and brain fog.
Increased Aggression
Although this is significantly lower level than the stereotypical “roid rage” that many people experience with anabolics, it is worth keeping an eye on your aggression levels while taking S23. The best thing that you can do is to try to be aware of your own levels of aggression in how you are interacting with people.
It can be easy not to feel it creeping into your interactions until it has reached the point where people are avoiding your company for this reason.
Night Sweats
S23 can cause you to dehydrate at night because it will often trigger night sweats. Because of this, it is important that you keep water by the bedside and rehydrate thoroughly throughout the night. If you dehydrate too badly at night you will begin to experience muscle cramps as a result and these can be extremely painful.
The reason for this increase in night sweats is thought to be because of the increase in your metabolic rate that is produced by S23. As a result of this, your sweat response is triggered and it is not uncommon to wake up drenched in sweat. It seems that the only way to get this under control is to reduce the dosage of S23 that you are using.
Hair Loss
Every one of the androgenic compounds will cause a degree of hair loss, this is a well-known side-effect. S-23 is stronger than most of the other SARMs and therefore the degree of hair loss can be even more significant than with some of the others. It is easy for hair shedding to turn into full-scale hair loss so it is something that is certainly worth keeping an eye on.
If you wish to prevent hair shedding, it may be possible to incorporate a different compound such as RU-58841 into your cycle. This strengthens hair follicles and promotes hair growth to the extent that it generally counteracts the negative side effects of S-23 with regard to hair loss.
What Can S23 be Stacked With?
“Stacking” when it comes to bodybuilding is the practice of taking two or more bodybuilding compounds or supplements at the same time in order to increase the gains that can be made using them. When doing this, it is important to choose what to stack very carefully, as some of the compounds on offer can react badly with each other and are therefore contraindicated, and should not be used together.
The most popular compounds to stack with while using S23 are Cardarine and Ostarine as these seem to offer complementary effects and most people who use them notice enhanced results in their workouts and increased muscle gains.
What is Cardarine?
Cardarine, which is sometimes referred to as GW501516, is a synthetic compound that acts as a metabolic modulator. Many people think that Cardarine is a SARM but it is actually of a different class of drugs entirely called Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor (PPAR) agonists. The cells that contain most of the receptors that are acted upon are muscle cells and this is why many athletes choose to use this compound.
Cardarine is thought to act upon energy metabolism in cells and increase energy expenditure. This means that fat burning can happen more quickly and this is obviously something that can help people achieve ripped and toned physiques like those that are cherished and aspired to in the bodybuilding scene.
What is Ostarine?
Ostarine, unlike Cardarine, is in fact a SARM and is often referred to by the name of MK-2866 or Enobosarm and was developed for the treatment of muscle wasting and osteoporosis. It is used by the bodybuilding community to help them to increase muscle mass and for the perceived health benefits it offers to tackle osteoporosis.
Is S23 Safe for Human Consumption?
S23, in common with most other SARMs, lacks human clinical trial research to definitively prove whether or not it is safe for human beings to take. There have been limited trials on animals which show positive results but these are yet to be replicated using humans.
There is a dearth of information on the safety or otherwise of S23 for humans as there has been little research into this area and human clinical trials have yet to be conducted.
It is extremely important to understand the risks when deciding whether to buy S23 and it is actually illegal in the UK to advocate that it be used by humans. S23, along with various other SARMs that are on the market are eligible for sale on the basis that they are for research use only.
Health Concerns
There have been various different health ailments that have been linked to S23 including liver damage, heart attacks and strokes but there isn’t enough reliable medical evidence to prove these conclusively either one way or the other and this is something that is likely to remain hearsay and conjecture until such times as clinical trials are advanced by a pharmaceutical company. The long-term effects of S-23 use have also not been considered.
Approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The Food and Drug Administration of America (FDA) has not yet approved S23 for human consumption in America and this seems to be a long way off from happening.
