LGD-4033

Overview

LGD-4033 (Ligandrol, VK5211, anabolicum) is a selective androgen receptor modulator originally developed by Ligand Pharmaceuticals and later licensed to Viking Therapeutics. It's the most clinically studied SARM — trialed in healthy men, postmenopausal women, and for hip fracture recovery — and the data that exists is relatively reassuring at the doses tested (up to 2 mg/day in the Viking Therapeutics Phase 2 hip-fracture trial; 1 mg/day in healthy-volunteer studies). Oral, half-life 24-36 hours, so once-daily dosing is fine. The community runs it at 5-10x the trial doses, which is where most of the anecdotal reports come from. At those doses it's meaningfully suppressive but produces noticeable lean mass gains with less of the androgenic edge of RAD-140. It remains a research compound with no approved medical use, is banned by WADA, and became briefly famous after a run of athlete positives between 2015 and 2019 (Will Grier, Joakim Noah, Shayna Jack) where contaminated OTC supplements were implicated. LGD-4033 was added to the WADA Prohibited List in 2018.

Dosing Information

Common Side Effects

• · Testosterone suppression
• · Mild water retention
• · Lowered HDL cholesterol
• · Headaches
• · Fatigue (especially end of cycle)
• · Reduced libido (during suppression)
• · Mild elevation in liver enzymes
• · Hair shedding (in those predisposed)

Monitoring Recommendations

Total T, Free T, LH, FSH, Estradiol at baseline, mid-cycle, and 4 weeks post-PCT. Liver panel at baseline and end of cycle. Lipid panel at baseline and end of cycle — HDL typically drops 20-40%. CBC if running longer than 8 weeks or stacking.

Storage & Handling

Community Notes

r/steroids and r/SARMSourceTalk generally consider LGD the 'most versatile' SARM — strong enough to run solo for a recomp, mild enough to stack. Typical community doses are 5-10mg/day for 8 weeks, with full PCT expected. Suppression is real and dose-dependent: 10mg/day for 8 weeks will flatten most people's natural test. Water retention and a slightly 'fuller' look is commonly reported, unlike the drier feel of RAD or Ostarine. The Viking Therapeutics trial data (VK5211) is the best human safety reference point and worth reading before starting.

LGD-4033 is not currently part of any catalog regimen.