> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://compoundcodex.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # LGD-4033 for muscle growth - URL: https://compoundcodex.org/lgd-4033/ - Published: 2026-08-22T17:02:10.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-24T08:27:58.000Z - Description: Does ligandrol build muscle in healthy men — and what did its trial run long enough to detect? - Author: The Archivist - Tags: sarms, grade-emerging, verdict-supported, lgd-4033 Emerging evidence Supported ⚑ Catalogued by a health authority Marks reviewed Aug 2026 4 sources cited Next review Aug 2027 --- ## The one that actually has a trial Two SARMs-shelf breakdowns so far have landed on *Untested in humans* — Cardarine, whose endurance claim rests on mice, and RAD-140, whose single human trial was in cancer patients and never reported. Ligandrol is different, and the difference is worth being clear about. In 2013 a randomized, placebo-controlled trial gave LGD-4033 to **76 healthy men aged 21 to 50** for 21 days, at 0.1, 0.3 or 1.0 mg daily.[1](#c1) It measured lean body mass, muscle strength, stair-climbing power and sex hormones. It is a real trial, in the right population, asking the right question. This page is graded higher than its shelf-mates because of that trial. It is also, on close reading, the trial that explains why the rest of this article exists. ## What the trial found Two things at once, and only one of them gets quoted. #### Basaria et al. 2013 — 76 healthy men, 21 days[1](#c1) Lean body mass increased dose-dependently Fat mass no significant change Total testosterone dose-dependent suppression Sex hormone-binding globulin dose-dependent suppression HDL cholesterol and triglycerides dose-dependent suppression FSH and free testosterone suppressed at 1.0 mg only ALT, AST, PSA, haemoglobin, QT interval no significant change at any dose Hormones and lipids after stopping returned to baseline So it works, at least on the scale. Lean mass rose with dose, fat mass did not move, and the compound was well tolerated with no drug-related serious adverse events. And in the same participants, over the same three weeks, testosterone was suppressed in a dose-dependent way, along with SHBG, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides.[1](#c1) That is not a rare side effect discovered later — it is a primary finding of the trial that establishes the benefit. Both results come from the same 76 men. The reassuring part is real too: hormone levels and lipids returned to baseline after treatment stopped.[1](#c1) Over 21 days, at doses up to 1 mg, the suppression was reversible. Whether that holds at the doses and durations people actually use is a question the trial was not built to answer. ## What three weeks cannot see The trial reported no significant change in ALT or AST at any dose — normal liver enzymes throughout.[1](#c1) That fact is quoted constantly, and it is true. It is also the wrong length of study to mean what people take it to mean. #### Trial duration versus when liver injury actually appears Basaria trial duration 21 days Typical SARM liver-injury latency 2–3 months Documented latency range to 1 year NIH LiverTox gives the typical latency for SARM-associated liver injury as two to three months, with a documented range from a few weeks to a year.[2](#c2) The trial that found normal liver enzymes ended before the median onset window opened. **"The clinical trial showed no liver problems" and "LGD-4033 does not cause liver problems" are different statements.** The first is accurate. The second does not follow from it, because the study stopped roughly two months before the injury it is being used to rule out typically appears. This is a general habit worth carrying: before accepting that a trial found no harm, check whether it ran long enough for that harm to show up. LiverTox names ligandrol first among the SARMs most frequently associated with clinically apparent liver injury, and assigns the class a likelihood score of **B** — a likely cause of liver injury with jaundice.[2](#c2) The pattern is cholestatic: fatigue, appetite loss, weight loss, abdominal pain and itching, followed by dark urine and jaundice. Reported cases have been prolonged but have so far invariably resolved after stopping, with transplantation avoided.[2](#c2) ## The problem with the bottle Everything above concerns pharmaceutical-grade LGD-4033 administered in a controlled trial. What people buy is a different matter, and there is hard data on exactly how different. In 2017, researchers bought 44 products marketed online as SARMs and analysed them using WADA-approved procedures. The results were published in *JAMA*.[3](#c3) #### 44 products sold online as SARMs — what was actually in them Contained any SARM at all23 of 44 · 52% Contained a *different* unapproved drug17 of 44 · 39% Amount matched the label18 of 44 · 41% Amount differed substantially from the label26 of 44 · 59% Contained substances not on the label11 of 44 · 25% Contained no active compound whatsoever4 of 44 · 9% Read the second row again. The unapproved drugs found instead included **GW501516** and **ibutamoren** — the compounds covered in our [Cardarine](https://compoundcodex.org/cardarine/) and [MK-677](https://compoundcodex.org/mk-677/) breakdowns.[3](#c3) > Only 52% contained selective androgen receptor modulators and many were inaccurately labeled. Van Wagoner et al., JAMA, 2017[3](#c3) This changes what the evidence on this page is even about. A trial establishing what 1 mg of pure LGD-4033 does over 21 days tells you very little if the product in hand has roughly even odds of containing LGD-4033 at all, and a one-in-three chance of containing something else entirely — possibly the compound WADA took the rare step of issuing a public health warning about. ## Three claims, three answers Increases lean body mass in healthy men Emerging Supported Suppresses testosterone dose-dependently Emerging Supported Can cause clinically apparent liver injury Safety finding — reported, not graded LiverTox likelihood B Note that the first two carry identical marks and come from the same trial. Our scale grades how well established a claim is, not whether the finding is welcome — a well-evidenced harm and a well-evidenced benefit get the same dots. ## Safety and unknowns - Adverse events reported In the 21-day trial: dose-dependent suppression of total testosterone, SHBG, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides; FSH and free testosterone suppressed at the highest dose. No drug-related serious adverse events, and adverse event frequency similar to placebo.[1](#c1) Beyond the trial: clinically apparent cholestatic liver injury, with ligandrol named first among the SARMs most frequently implicated.[2](#c2) USADA additionally lists testosterone suppression, bone remodeling, kidney and prostate enlargement across the class, with case reports of myocarditis and tendon rupture.[4](#c4) - Longest human exposure studied **21 days.**[1](#c1) That is the entire controlled human safety record for this compound in healthy men, and it is shorter than the typical onset window for the liver injury the class is associated with.[2](#c2) - Known interactions and at-risk groups Not characterised. The trial excluded nobody notable but enrolled only healthy men aged 21–50; effects in women, older adults, or anyone with liver or cardiac disease are unstudied. The HDL suppression is worth raising with a clinician by anyone with cardiovascular risk. - Regulatory status Not approved by the FDA for human use; all SARMs are investigational only.[4](#c4) Not a controlled substance in the US — the SARMs Control Act has been introduced repeatedly since 2018 and never passed. Prohibited by WADA at all times under S1.2, Other Anabolic Agents.[4](#c4) - What has not been characterized Anything beyond three weeks. Whether testosterone suppression remains reversible at higher doses or longer durations — the trial's reassurance on that point covers 21 days at up to 1 mg only. How often liver injury occurs. And, given the JAMA findings, what is actually in any given product: roughly half of those tested contained no SARM, and a quarter contained substances not on the label.[3](#c3) ## How this was graded #### Evidence strength — Emerging, criteria checked Qualifying randomized controlled trials1 ✓ Correct population — healthy adults76 healthy men ✓ Independent research groups1 ✗ (2 required for Moderate) Total participants76 ✗ (200 required for Moderate) Trial duration21 days ✗ Systematic review or meta-analysisnone ✗ Emerging is the highest grade on our SARMs shelf, and it rests on a single unreplicated three-week trial in 76 people. That is what the top of this category currently looks like — worth holding in mind when comparing it against the supplements shelf, where Strong requires a thousand participants and a published meta-analysis. ## Bottom line LGD-4033 is the one SARM on this site with a proper human trial behind it: 76 healthy men, randomized, placebo-controlled, and lean body mass rose with dose. That finding is real and it is why this page is graded above its shelf-mates. The same trial found dose-dependent suppression of testosterone, SHBG, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides — reversible over three weeks at up to 1 mg, which is the only duration and dose anyone has tested. It also found normal liver enzymes, in a study that ended roughly two months before SARM liver injury typically appears. Ligandrol is the SARM most often named in those case reports. And in the largest analysis of what is actually sold, only about half the products contained any SARM at all, while nearly two in five contained a different unapproved drug. Whatever the trial establishes about LGD-4033, it may not be a fact about the bottle. sarms grade-emerging verdict-supported lgd-4033 ## Sources 1. Basaria S, Collins L, Dillon EL, Orwoll K, Storer TW, Miciek R, Ulloor J, Zhang A, Eder R, et al. The safety, pharmacokinetics, and effects of LGD-4033, a novel nonsteroidal oral, selective androgen receptor modulator, in healthy young men. *The Journals of Gerontology: Series A*. 2013;68(1):87–95\. [PMID 22459616](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22459616/?ref=compoundcodex.org) 2. National Institutes of Health, LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury. Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators. [NCBI Bookshelf NBK619971](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK619971/?ref=compoundcodex.org) 3. Van Wagoner RM, Eichner A, Bhasin S, Deuster PA, Eichner D. Chemical composition and labeling of substances marketed as selective androgen receptor modulators and sold via the internet. *JAMA*. 2017;318(20):2004–2010\. [PMID 29183075](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29183075/?ref=compoundcodex.org) 4. US Anti-Doping Agency. Selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs): prohibited class of anabolic agents. [usada.org](https://www.usada.org/spirit-of-sport/selective-androgen-receptor-modulators-sarms-prohibited-class-anabolic-agents/?ref=compoundcodex.org) Vendor pages routinely quote a specific lean-mass figure in kilograms from the 2013 trial. The published abstract reports the increase as dose-dependent without stating per-dose values, and we could not retrieve the full text to verify the circulating number, so we have not repeated it. The direction and dose-dependence of the finding are what the record supports. **The Compound Codex** — every mark on this page is assigned under our [public editorial standards](https://compoundcodex.org/editorial-standards/). The rubric is versioned, its revisions are logged, and any grade here is open to challenge. This breakdown summarizes published research and regulatory records for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice and does not endorse the use of any compound discussed. Doses mentioned describe the protocols used in the cited trial and are not recommendations. LGD-4033 is not approved for human use in any jurisdiction and is prohibited at all times in tested sport. If you are taking any SARM and develop fatigue, itching, dark urine or yellowing of the skin or eyes, stop and seek medical attention. © 2026 The Compound Codex · Every claim cited, none of them prescriptive.