I think for RECOMP right now its fine, I mean it will help keep current muscle mass while trying to go hard at cutting fat. It also seems to help add density to muscles but not size. The availability to get SARMS right now makes it a decent choice as well. This allows people at a slightly HIGHER bodyfat percentage to push their cardio limits and preserve muscle while burning fat and keeping their recovery up to stay on their program, with LITTLE SHUTDOWN, although it is there.
Slightly better idea for some trying to accomplish this as their goal.
Ross, we tend to not agree, SARMS and shutdown are oddly enough one area where we do agree...What would you replace SARMS with for specific recomp goals, with minimal sides and no need for HARDCORE PCT? This is the area which I think SARMS has its place.
Open for discussion...
-Legacy
There are almost a dozen different anabolic steroids that you could use for specific recomposition goals, with minimal sides and no need for a "hardcore PCT";
Methenolone, Boldenone, Drostanolone, Oxandrolone, fluoxymesterone, Turinabol, Stanozolol, Testosterone undecanoate...
You should also know, there are many different SARMS. None of the SARMs yet developed are truly selective for anabolic effects in muscle or bone tissues without producing any androgenic effects in tissues such as the prostate gland, however several non-steroidal androgens show a ratio of anabolic to androgenic effects of greater than 3:1 and up to as much as 10:1, compared to testosertone which has a ratio of 1:1.
These are the SARMS currently available:
AC-262,356[10]
Andarine ("S-4") - partial agonist, intended mainly for treatment of benign prostatic hypertrophy
BMS-564,929 - mainly affects muscle growth, intended as general treatment for symptoms of andropause
JNJ-28330835.[11][12]
LGD-2226 - affects both muscle and bone
LGD-3303[13]
Ostarine [14] - affects both muscle and bone, intended mainly for osteoporosis but also general treatment for andropause
S-23 - under development as a male hormonal contraceptive[15]
S-40503 - selective for bone tissue, particularly low virilization, intended for osteoporosis and may be suitable for use in women
^ Piu F, Gardell LR, Son T, Schlienger N, Lund BW, Schiffer HH, Vanover KE, Davis RE, Olsson R, Bradley SR (March 2008). "Pharmacological characterization of AC-262536, a novel selective androgen receptor modulator". J. Steroid Biochem. Mol. Biol. 109 (1-2): 129–37. doi:10.1016/j.jsbmb.2007.11.001. PMID 18164613.
^ Zhang X, Li X, Allan GF, Sbriscia T, Linton O, Lundeen SG, Sui Z (January 2007). "Serendipitous discovery of novel imidazolopyrazole scaffold as selective androgen receptor modulators". Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters 17 (2): 439–43. doi:10.1016/j.bmcl.2006.10.035. PMID 17079140.
^ Allan GF, Tannenbaum P, Sbriscia T, et al. (2007). "A selective androgen receptor modulator with minimal prostate hypertrophic activity enhances lean body mass in male rats and stimulates sexual behavior in female rats". Endocrine 32 (1): 41–51. doi:10.1007/s12020-007-9005-2. PMID 17992601.
^ Vajda EG, López FJ, Rix P, Hill R, Chen Y, Lee KJ, O'Brien Z, Chang WY, Meglasson MD, Lee YH (February 2009). "Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of LGD-3303 [9-chloro-2-ethyl-1-methyl-3-(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)-3H-pyrrolo-[3,2-f]quinolin-7(6H)-one], an orally available nonsteroidal-selective androgen receptor modulator". J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 328 (2): 663–70. doi:10.1124/jpet.108.146811. PMID 19017848.
^ Kearbey JD, Gao W, Narayanan R, et al. (2007). "Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator (SARM) treatment prevents bone loss and reduces body fat in ovariectomized rats". Pharm. Res. 24 (2): 328–35. doi:10.1007/s11095-006-9152-9. PMID 17063395.
^ Jones A, Chen J, Hwang DJ, Miller DD, Dalton JT (January 2009). "Preclinical characterization of a (S)-N-(4-cyano-3-trifluoromethyl-phenyl)-3-(3-fluoro, 4-chlorophenoxy)-2-hydroxy-2-methyl-propanamide: a selective androgen receptor modulator for hormonal male contraception". Endocrinology 150 (1): 385–95. doi:10.1210/en.2008-0674. PMID 18772237.