CARDARINE (GW501516): BENEFITS, EFFECTS, & MORE (2023)

WHAT IS CARDARINE?

Cardarine is not a SARM. Cardarine (also known as GW-501516 and Endurobol) is a PPARδ receptor agonist that was developed by Ligand Pharmaceuticals and GSK for the treatment of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.

You’ll find, similar to MK-677 Ibutamoren, most research chemicals are sold by SARMs websites due to their gray-area nature and ability to be sold legally. This is another reason why chemicals like GW-501516 are often placed under the umbrella of SARMs.

Unfortunately, Cardarine was abandoned after a controversial study in which rats developed cancer came out.

Despite posing this risk, it has been used by numerous professional athletes and by hundreds of thousands of users for the purpose of improving endurance, burning fat, and protecting the heart. This is one of the most widely used non-anabolics PEDs and for a good reason, since its properties are nothing short of miraculous.

BUY GW-501516

Click on the link below to buy our recommended GW-501516 and save 10% OFF with code ENH10 at checkout!

BUY GW-501516

Click on the link below to buy our recommended GW-501516 and save 10% OFF with code ENH10 at checkout!

CARDARINE (GW-501516) HISTORY

Cardarine (GW-501516) was designed by Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGD-4033) and GlaxoSmithKline (UK pharma company known for many drugs including its COVID treatments) in the 1990’s.

It had promising affects on mice trials until one test in 2007 revealed it was somewhat involved in the spreading of pre-existing cancerous tumors or carcinogenesis [R].

One proof we love to use around here, among all of the research chemicals we talk about, is the fact that if these chemicals didn’t work, why would the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and other regulatory agencies place them on their prohibited substance list [R]?

The question is always rhetorical.

We’ll take a deep dive into the benefits and side-effects of Cardarine and allow you to make the informed decision on whether or not it’s a good chemical to use for your research.

HOW TO BUY CARDARINE LEGALLY

Cardarine is a legal performance enhancing drug. Given that is has not been approved by the FDA, Cardarine can be classified as a research chemical. Research chemicals are completely legal to buy and sell online and over-the-counter, as long as they are being marketed as research products for laboratory use only and not for human consumption.

You can find high-quality, 3rd-party purity-tested Cardarine GW-501516 by clicking in the link below. Use code ENH10 to save 10%!

HOW DOES CARDARINE WORK?

Cardarine is a selective agonist of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPARδ) and has a high affinity for the delta receptor of the (PPAR)-δ [R].

Once activated, the liver switches its energy source from glucose to fatty acids; this is one cause of reducing blood sugar levels [R].

This fuel switch upregulates the body’s expression of proteins involved in energy expenditure, improves insulin sensitivity, and body composition, which can lower the overall incidence of type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease [RR].

BROSCIENCE TIP

Cardarine should be considered with every SARM or AAS cycle to negate the side-effects on cholesterol and blood sugar; even during a post-cycle therapy (more on Cardarine applications in the Cycle Therapy chapter).

How Cardarine works

GW-501516 PROS & CONS IN A NUTSHELL

PROS:

  • GREATLY IMPROVES ENDURANCE
  • REDUCES CHOLESTEROL
  • REDUCES INFLAMMATION
  • REDUCES BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS
  • ACCELERATES FAT LOSS

CONS:

  • CAN TURN TYPE 2 MUSCLE FIBERS INTO TYPE 1 (REDUCE MUSCLE SIZE)
  • CAN BE LINKED TO BRAIN CELL DAMAGE
  • MAY CAUSE LIVER FIBROSIS
  • MAY OR MAY NOT BE LINKED TO CARCINOGENESIS

Don’t let this list of seemingly scary cons discourage you! Keep reading to find out more about the side-effects and the context behind them.

CARDARINE BENEFITS

While clinical research was abandoned with GW-501516, the benefits and side-effects we’ve compiled from A LOT (thousands) of users and several blood panels from our community to come up with a semi-exhaustive list for you.

ENDURANCE

Cardarine can dramatically improve endurance and stamina almost overnight. Some users even claim that it can double their endurance, allowing them to run, swim or ride a bike at a higher intensity for longer periods of time. You should not necessarily expect it to double your endurance, but you will most definitely experience a 30%+ improvement if you are a good responder to it [R, R].

Even though this benefit is more attractive to endurance athletes than to bodybuilders, the latter can still benefit from it not only when they do cardio, but also when doing weights, as the endurance increase can also be felt there.
 

CHOLESTEROL, INFLAMMATION, & CANCER

Cardarine will significantly improve your lipid panel by increasing HDL (good cholesterol) and lowering LDL (bad cholesterol) as well as Triglycerides. This benefit makes Cardarine a useful addition to any SARM or AAS cycle since it can offset the dyslipidemia caused by such compounds [R, R].

It has also been proven to lower inflammation and it has been shown to fight certain types of cancer, as well as lower blood sugar levels, which makes it a great addition to an MK-677 cycle (more on this in the Cycle Therapy Chapter). There is also evidence that it can protect the kidneys [R, R, R].
 

FAT LOSS

In simple terms, we could say that Cardarine accelerates fat loss by prioritizing fat as an energy source and modulating various genes that are involved in fat burning [R, R].
 
Even though it can most definitely aid in losing fat, do not expect drastic results. This is not on the level of a hardcore thermogenic fat-burner like Clenbuterol, let alone DNP.

CARDARINE SIDE-EFFECTS

Unfortunately, Cardarine is not without side-effects and while the list may look scarier than the value of the benefits, most of these side-effects of Cardarine are either taken out of context, not shown in humans, or simply exaggerated. However, the unexpected is often expected in research and we want our community to know the good, the bad, and the ugly with every research chemical.

CANCER RISK

First off, let’s call it what it is, carcinogenesis. Cancer was already existing in the body and now something is speeding it up. Cardarine alone does not cause cancer.
 
The study in question involved the administration of Cardarine to Wistar Rats for 2 years Upon doing some research into this species, we find out that Female Wistar rats have a life expectancy of up to 3 years and that they are prone to developing cancer.

There is a lot of discussion online about the human equivalent of the dose that these rats were administered. Some people claim that the human equivalent would be 200mg/day, whereas some people say it is closer to 40 mg/day. The latter is a more accurate assessment.

Regardless of what the real equivalent dose is, what is clear is that if one were to take Cardarine, they should not take more than 20mg/day, and they should take long breaks and limit its use as much as possible.

Fortunately, there has not been a single report of cancer being directly caused by Cardarine in humans yet, and there is a study indicating that Metformin could inhibit PPARδ agonist induced tumor growth.
 

HEART ENLARGEMENT

Cardarine has been shown to enlarge the heart in the same way that intense Cardio does. No signs of pathological cardiac hypertrophy were found so this side-effect is not necessarily dangerous.
 

MUSCLE FIBER TYPE SWITCHING

 

Cardarine may be capable of converting Type 2 muscle fibers into Type 1 muscle fibers.


Type 1 muscle fibers (slow-twitch) are conducive towards endurance based activities like long distance running, swimming and cycling.


Type 2 muscle fibers (fast-twitch) are conducive towards activities that require short bursts of energy like weightlifting and sprinting.


Endurance athletes naturally have a greater percentage of Type 1 muscle fibers, so it should not come as a surprise that PEDs like Cardarine which were created to be “cardio in a pill” can contribute to an increase in Type 1 muscle fibers.


On paper, this is great news if you are an endurance athlete but bad news if you are a bodybuilder; we believe that a bodybuilder will not experience this switch as long as he focuses his efforts on weightlifting rather than cardio & endurance.


Muscle flatness is also possible, though almost never reported when the user is bulking up and eating a lot of carbs. Cardarine will burn through glucose faster, which can make you look significantly flatter when cutting on a low-carb diet.

 

BRAIN DAMAGE

Even though Cardarine has been shown to increase blood circulation to the brain in preclinical trials, there is evidence to suggest that it can elevate IL-6, a cytokine that is linked to brain cell damage.
 

LIVER FIBROSIS

This is a very controversial side-effect. On one hand, there is evidence to suggest that it can decrease the likelihood of rats developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease but on the other hand, it was found to cause liver fibrosis in rats with liver disease. Liver fibrosis occurs when the liver regenerates and an excess number of proteins is used. Liver fibrosis can decrease blood flow through the liver and impair its function and ability to regenerate itself.

This is a scary side-effect when you consider that Cardarine could cause liver fibrosis when stacked with a hepatotoxic SARM but in our experience and after receiving a lot of anecdotal reports on Cardarine + SARM cycles, we have yet to see cases of liver fibrosis in liver scans or symptoms of a decaying liver.

Someone who uses SARMs and Cardarine responsibly and with an adequate liver protecting supplement on-cycle should not be too worried about this side-effect (more on this shortly).
 

INSOMNIA

While not shown in mice, we’ve received several reports of insomnia in users.
 
We dug a little deeper into these cases and found that all of the users experiencing insomnia administered Cardarine later in the day or at night. While we won’t even attempt to figure out why this occured, we would also like to acknowledge and clarify Cardarine is NOT a stimulant or “pre-workout”.
 
The fix was simple, take it in the morning since.
 

HOW TO AVOID & REVERSE SIDE-EFFECTS

While most of these side-effects are rare, they’re almost all unavoidable if they do in fact happen. This short list below should help provide clarity:
 

AVOIDING SIDE-EFFECTS

  • Do not take Cardarine if you have cancer
  • Seriously consider not taking Cardarine if your family is prone to certain cancers
  • Do not exceed the recommended dose of Cardarine
  • Do not take Cardarine if your family has a history of liver diseases or if you currently have a liver disease (unless guided by a physician)
  • Do take your vitamins and minerals like COQ10, D3, Omega-3s, Magnesium, & milk thistle
If you are planning to use Cardarine in a cycle and you want to make sure your results are as good as possible while minimizing all side-effects and preventing the nasty side-effects like liver fibrosis, muscle fiber switching, and brain cell damage, you need to read THE SARM HANDBOOK by @enhancedinfo.
 
This best-selling eBook by enhancedinfo has truly become the No.1 book about SARMs ever written, with over 7000 copies sold and close to 300 5-star reviews, all for the price of a basic menu at McDonalds. Click on the link below to read it!

GW-501516 DOSAGE FOR BODYBUILDING

Bodybuilders use anywhere from 10mg to 30mg a day of Cardarine but the sweetspot that most male users prefer is 20mg a day.

We’ve had many users cycle with 10mg and have amazing results. Diminishing returns was found with Cardarine doses above 20mg.

HOW TO CYCLE CARDARINE

The most common Cardarine dose on a cycle consists of 20mg taken for a total of 8-12 weeks. The shortest Cardarine cycles are usually around 4-6 weeks (during a PCT) and the longest ones can last for up to 16 weeks. 

Cardarine can be taken anywhere from 4 weeks to 16 weeks at 20mg/day.

We really believe that 20mg a day for 12 weeks is the best approach to using Cardarine, since it’s a protocol that allows most people to get amazing results without experiencing seriously nasty side-effects. This allows the user to take it synergistically with a SARM or AAS and finish it with the Post-Cycle Therapy that cycle calls for as well.

CARDARINE CYCLE THERAPY

It’s imperative to do your research before administering chemicals like Cardarine. While the benefits outweigh the side-effects in our opinion, there sometimes is a cost to research no matter what you do.

In this section, we’ll discuss some of the side-effects of Cardarine we touched on above and how to mitigate or at least control them. We’ll also give some other practical applications on when to use Cardarine during a SARM or AAS cycle.

PREVENTING LIVER FIBROSIS

Aside from the cases where liver fibrosis is unavoidable, either by it being genetically predisposed or gross negligence of health, the liver is supposed to regenerate.

While Cardarine may play on both sides of the fence in support and in detriment to the health of the liver, there are a few things users can do to help support a healthy, functional liver, especially while on a SARM or AAS:

  • Avoid alcohol
  • Avoid liver-toxic medications
  • Do not exceed 20mg/day of Cardarine
  • Supplement with Milk Thistle (500-750mg/day)
  • Supplement with N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC–800-1200mg/day)
  • Supplement with Liposomal Glutathione (500-1000mg/day) if taking Raloxifene or Tamoxifen.

REDUCING BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS

Many SARM or AAS cycles will include high levels of carbohydrates and GH drugs like MK-677.

*raised blood sugar enters room*

There are certain things one can do to ensure insulin sensitivity on-cycle is at an all-time high:

  • Take Cardarine at 20mg/day
  • *Use Berberine (300 to 500mg)
  • *Use Ashwagandha (250-500mg 2x/day)
  • *Use Chromium Picolinate (200mcg 3x/day)
  • *Use Cinnamon Bark (600mg 2x/day)

*use these before carb meals

STACK CARDARINE WITH THESE PEDs

The following PEDs should without a doubt have Cardarine on-cycle:

 

CARDARINE TL:DR

In a nutshell, we could say that Cardarine is an incredibly effective research chemical that will not only by itself effectively accelerate fat loss but synergistically stack with any SARM or AAS to optimize cholesterol and blood sugar health.

This is an excellent option for those wanting to stack something with their other PEDs and also for experienced, enhanced lifters who simply want to use something during their SARM or AAS cycle as a cycle support.
 
Take Cardarine once per day at 20mg (in the morning).

WHERE TO BUY CARDARINE

If you’ve decided to research with MK-677 and want to find the best Cardarine for sale, choosing a reliable company to buy from is crucial, since buying it from a bad company could result in you getting no results or getting horrible side-effects due to being sold something that’s not actually GW-501516 Cardarine.

We recommend going with Chemyo GW-501516.

All of their SARMs and research chemicals come in 50 ml (milliliter) bottles, which is a full 20 ml more than the industry standard of 30 ml—that’s a 66% increase in the value you’re getting with these products.

Key benefits of Chemyo:

  • Third Party Testing
  • Very Good Prices
  • Responsive Customer Support
  • Wide Range of Products
  • Big Cryptocurrency Discount

They have been in the game for half a decade and have truly become one of the most reputable and most respected providers for 99.9% pure SARMs and other research chemicals.

You can buy Cardarine from them through the link below and use code ENH10 to save 10% off your order

CARDARINE FAQs

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