Updated September 2026. SARMs Store sells research compounds only. Nothing on this page is medical advice or an instruction for human use.
Post-cycle therapy is one of the most asked about subjects in this category and one of the least well evidenced. The phrase comes from bodybuilding, not from medicine, and the gap between the two uses causes most of the confusion. This guide sets out what the clinical trials actually measured about hormonal suppression and recovery, what a clinician means by the drugs usually named in PCT discussions, why those drugs are not available over the counter in the UK, and what the supplements sold under the PCT label genuinely contain.
What the research shows about suppression
Every compound in this class that acts as an androgen receptor agonist suppressed the hypothalamic pituitary gonadal axis in the trials, and did so in proportion to dose.
The clearest single dataset is the phase I study of LGD-4033 (Basaria and colleagues, Journals of Gerontology, 2013). Seventy-six healthy young men received placebo or 0.1, 0.3 or 1 mg daily for 21 days. Total testosterone fell in a dose-dependent way, as did free testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin, follicle stimulating hormone and luteinising hormone. The suppression was greatest at 1 mg. Importantly for this topic, the authors followed the participants after dosing stopped and reported that hormone levels returned towards baseline by around day 56, with no intervention of any kind.
The Ostarine phase II study (Dalton and colleagues, Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, 2011) recorded a similar dose-related fall in total testosterone and SHBG over 12 weeks at up to 3 mg daily, again reversing after the study ended. Neither trial used any recovery protocol, because none was thought necessary at those doses.
That is the entire useful human dataset on recovery. It covers three weeks at 1 mg of LGD-4033 and twelve weeks at 3 mg of enobosarm in supervised settings. It does not cover the amounts found in retail research products, which are commonly several times higher per capsule, and it does not cover combinations. Recovery times observed in a trial at a low dose cannot be extrapolated to an unsupervised protocol at a higher one, and nobody has published data on the latter.
What PCT means in bodybuilding and what it means in medicine
In bodybuilding forums, PCT describes a period after a cycle in which drugs are used to restart endogenous testosterone production. The drugs named are almost always selective oestrogen receptor modulators, usually tamoxifen or clomifene, sometimes an aromatase inhibitor, occasionally human chorionic gonadotropin.
In clinical medicine those are licensed prescription medicines with specific indications. Tamoxifen is used in breast cancer. Clomifene is licensed for anovulatory infertility in women and used off-label by specialists in male hypogonadism. Human chorionic gonadotropin is a prescription injectable. In the UK all of them are prescription-only medicines under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. Supplying them without a prescription is an offence, and no legitimate UK supplement retailer sells them. Anyone offering them online is either selling something else or breaking the law, and given the analytical findings in the JAMA 2017 product survey, “something else” is a real possibility.
There is no published clinical trial of a SERM used to restore testosterone after SARM administration. Not one. The practice is entirely extrapolated from steroid-era experience, and the extrapolation has never been tested.
What the support supplements actually contain
Because the prescription route is closed, the UK market sells food supplements under the PCT and cycle support labels. Honesty about what these are matters more than marketing.
Bodybuilt Labs SARMs PCT is a food supplement containing ashwagandha extract, Tribulus terrestris standardised to 90 per cent saponins, Rhodiola rosea, vitamin E and saw palmetto extract, in 90 capsules, manufactured in the UK to GMP standards. Bodybuilt Labs SARMs Cycle Support contains grape seed extract standardised to 95 per cent proanthocyanidins, N-acetyl-L-cysteine, Tribulus terrestris, saw palmetto, hawthorn berry, vitamin E and celery seed extract, also 90 capsules and UK manufactured.
These are botanical and antioxidant formulas. They are not hormonal drugs and they do not restore suppressed testosterone production. Some of the individual ingredients have research behind them for other purposes. Ashwagandha has been studied in randomised trials for stress and cortisol, with a frequently cited trial by Chandrasekhar and colleagues in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine in 2012 reporting reduced perceived stress scores. N-acetyl-L-cysteine is a well characterised glutathione precursor with a large literature in hepatology, though the studies concern paracetamol toxicity and liver disease rather than supplement users. Tribulus terrestris has been tested specifically for testosterone effects and did not raise testosterone in controlled human studies, including work by Neychev and Mitev published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology in 2005. We include that finding because it is inconvenient and true.
So the accurate description is this: these are general wellbeing supplements with plausible ingredients, sold alongside research compounds because that is what the market asks for. They are not post-cycle therapy in the clinical sense and nobody should buy them expecting hormonal recovery.
Comparison with related compounds
Not everything sold in this category suppresses the axis. MK-677 is a growth hormone secretagogue and does not bind the androgen receptor, and the trials did not report testosterone suppression. Cardarine is a PPAR-delta agonist and likewise has no androgen receptor activity. Stenabolic is a REV-ERB agonist. The suppression question applies to Ostarine, LGD-4033, RAD-140, YK-11, S-4, S-23 and ACP-105, and to prohormones, which are metabolised to active androgens and suppress more strongly than any SARM studied.
Legal status in the UK, 2026
SARMs are not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. They are unlicensed medicines under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 if sold or advertised for human use, which the MHRA enforces. Food supplements such as the PCT and cycle support products are regulated as foods, which is why their labels cannot make medicinal claims. SERMs remain prescription-only. All androgen receptor agonists in this class are prohibited in sport at all times under the WADA list.
How to check a supplier
For a research compound, require the batch-specific certificate of analysis, identity by HPLC or LC-MS, a purity percentage, a batch number that matches the bottle, UK manufacture and a research-only notice. For a supplement, the questions are different: a full ingredient list with quantities and standardisation percentages, GMP manufacture, and no medicinal claims on the label. Both Bodybuilt Labs support products list their ingredients in full on the product page, which is the minimum standard you should accept.
Frequently asked questions
Do the studies show a PCT is needed after SARMs? No trial has tested one. In the trials that measured recovery, hormones returned towards baseline without any intervention, at the low doses studied.
Can I buy Nolvadex or Clomid in the UK without a prescription? No. Tamoxifen and clomifene are prescription-only medicines and cannot lawfully be sold over the counter.
Does SARMs PCT raise testosterone? No. It is a food supplement of botanicals and antioxidants. It does not contain hormonal ingredients and we make no claim that it restores testosterone.
How long did recovery take in the research? In the LGD-4033 phase I study, hormone levels returned towards baseline by roughly eight weeks after a 21-day course at up to 1 mg daily.
Does MK-677 need post-cycle support? The published trials did not report testosterone suppression with MK-677, because it does not act on the androgen receptor.
What does cycle support contain? Grape seed extract, NAC, Tribulus, saw palmetto, hawthorn berry, vitamin E and celery seed extract, made in the UK to GMP standards.
Related reading
- Are SARMs safe? What the evidence says about side effects
- Ostarine (MK-2866): the complete research guide
- LGD-4033 (Ligandrol): the research guide
- Are SARMs legal in the UK? 2026 update
Research product: Bodybuilt Labs SARMs PCT, 90 capsules
Sources: Basaria S et al., J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2013;68:87-95. Dalton JT et al., J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle 2011;2:153-161. Neychev VK, Mitev VI, J Ethnopharmacol 2005;101:319-323. Chandrasekhar K et al., Indian J Psychol Med 2012;34:255-262. Van Wagoner RM et al., JAMA 2017;318:2004-2010. Human Medicines Regulations 2012. WADA Prohibited List 2026.