SR9009 (Stenabolic)
Also known as: SR9009, Stenabolic, SR-9009
Sold as 'exercise in a pill' on mouse studies that used injections — swallowed, almost none of it reaches the bloodstream, which makes the oral product close to pointless.
Substance family
Medications for blood pressure, lipids and glucose. They appear here because these are exactly the markers most anabolic compounds push in the wrong direction.
Effects on
Which outcomes this substance acts on — descriptive, not a recommendation.
Strain profile
Where this substance is most likely to hit — a rough orientation, individually dependent on dose, duration and predisposition.
This substance causes
Dosing & protocols by goal
Rough orientation ranges as reported in harm-reduction literature — not an individual treatment plan. Doses are individual and open-ended; frequency depends on the ester or half-life.
Human clinical data
MedicalDose
Does not exist
Frequency
—
Cycle length
—
SR9009 has never been studied in humans. The published work is in mice, and the key experiments used intraperitoneal injection — not oral administration.
Grey market practice
Not a recommendationDose
20–30 mg / day reported, split into 3–4 doses
Frequency
Every 4 hours
Cycle length
—
The frequent dosing reflects the ~4 hour half-lifehalf-lifeHow long it takes for half the substance to leave the body — it determines dosing frequency, not duration of effect.. It does not solve the actual problem: oral bioavailabilitybioavailabilityThe share of an administered dose that actually reaches the bloodstream intact. is measured at roughly 2 %, so most of what is swallowed never reaches circulation regardless of how often it is taken.
Side effect & countermeasure
Typical problems and what you can do to reduce harm — at a glance. Does not replace medical monitoring.
Problem
Oral bioavailability of about 2 %
Countermeasure
The single fact that matters most here. Pharmacokinetic work puts SR9009's oral bioavailabilitybioavailabilityThe share of an administered dose that actually reaches the bloodstream intact. at roughly 2 %, meaning a 30 mg capsule delivers well under a milligram into the bloodstream. The mouse studies that produced the impressive endurance results used injections. Buying the oral product and expecting the injected result is the central misunderstanding, and no dosing schedule fixes it.
Problem
It is not a SARM
Countermeasure
SR9009 does not touch the androgen receptorandrogen receptorThe docking site in the cell that androgens bind to in order to have any effect.. It is a REV-ERB agonist acting on circadian and metabolic pathways. It is sold in SARMSARMA non-steroidal compound that binds the androgen receptor with claimed tissue selectivity. shops and discussed in SARM threads, which is a shelf-placement fact rather than a pharmacological one — like cardarine, which is a PPARδ agonist. It causes no suppressionsuppressionThe body shutting down its own testosterone production because an external source is present., which is the one genuine consequence of not being androgenic.
Problem
The 'exercise in a pill' framing
Countermeasure
This came from a 2012 mouse study where treated animals ran further. It was widely reported in that phrasing, and the phrasing outlived the caveats: mice, injections, and no follow-up in any human. Nothing has since demonstrated an endurance effect in a person.
Problem
Interfering with the circadian clock
Countermeasure
REV-ERB is part of the machinery that regulates the day-night rhythm — not a peripheral metabolic switch. Sleep disruption is the most commonly reported effect, which fits the mechanism. The long-term consequences of pharmacologically shifting circadian regulation are unstudied in humans, and that is a broader unknown than it sounds.
Problem
No manufacturing oversight
Countermeasure
As a research chemical there is no quality control. Given that a correctly manufactured product would still barely be absorbed orally, the question of what is actually in the bottle is doubly relevant.
Overview
SR9009 is the second compound on this site sold as a SARM that is not one — cardarine being the first. It does not bind the androgen receptor at all.
It is included here mainly for one reason: it is the clearest example of a substance whose reputation comes entirely from a study design that does not match how people take it.
Mechanism of Action
SR9009 activates REV-ERBα and REV-ERBβ, nuclear receptors that form part of the circadian clock — the system regulating the body's day-night rhythm — and that also influence metabolism, mitochondrial activity and fat storage.
In mice, activating them increased mitochondrial density in muscle, raised metabolic rate and improved running endurance. Those are genuine findings and they are why the compound became known.
There is no hormonal component. It does not suppress the axis, does not affect estradiol, does not require a PCT.
The Bioavailability Problem
This is the part that determines whether any of the above matters for a person swallowing a capsule.
The oral bioavailability of SR9009 has been measured at approximately 2 %. Almost everything taken by mouth is broken down before it reaches circulation. A 30 mg dose delivers a fraction of a milligram systemically.
The mouse experiments behind the headline results did not use oral administration. They used intraperitoneal injection — straight into the abdominal cavity, bypassing the problem entirely.
So the situation is: a compound that worked in mice when injected, sold as an oral product to humans, in whom it has never been tested by any route. Taking it four times a day addresses the short half-life and does nothing about the 98 % that never arrives.
Why This Matters Beyond One Compound
SR9009 is a useful case study in reading claims about research chemicals.
A study exists. It is real, published and produced a striking result. The result is then reported without three details that change everything: the species, the route of administration, and whether anyone has ever repeated it in a human.
The same three questions apply to every substance in the grey market category — and for SR9009 the answers are mouse, injection and no.
Side Effects & Risks
- Sleep disruption, consistent with the circadian mechanism
- Headaches reported
- No hormonal suppression — the one clear advantage of not being androgenic
- Long-term effects of pharmacological circadian modulation are unstudied
- No manufacturing oversight; contamination and mislabelling are common
Blood Work & Monitoring
- No specific monitoring is established, because no human data exists
- Liver values (ALT, AST) — reasonable baseline for any unregulated oral compound
- Fasting glucose and lipids — given the metabolic mechanism, worth tracking if it is used
Legal status by region
Regulation differs considerably between jurisdictions and changes over time. This is a rough orientation, not legal advice — check the rules that apply where you are.
| Region | Regulatory status |
|---|---|
| United States | Not approvedSold under the SARM label although it does not act on the androgen receptor. |
| EU / UK | No marketing authorisationNeither a medicine nor a supplement — no legal route for human use. |
| Most other jurisdictions | Unregulated grey area |
| Competitive sport | Prohibited at all timesListed by WADA under S4.5 as a metabolic modulator, alongside cardarine. |