What is YK11
YK11 is a steroidal SARM (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator). More specifically, it?s a Myostatin inhibitor. It?s considered to be one of the most powerful SARMs on the market and it?s actually comparable to certain steroids in its effectiveness.
Because it?s a SARM, it binds itself to our androgen receptors. Unlike steroids, SARMs are selective. This means that they choose which androgen receptor to bind on so that we can get all the benefits of when they bind to muscles and no side effects that steroids cause (prostate problems etc.). But YK11 is also a Myostatin inhibitor. This is actually the main reason why it?s getting so much attention and popularity lately.
YK11 is also a myostatin inhibitor (myostatin reduces our muscle mass), which means that you won?t be losing muscle while cutting and will very likely gain some instead, making it a great compound for cutting, lean bulking and especially body recomposition.
How does YK11 work
As we said, YK11 is a Myostatin inhibitor. It?s important that we know what Myostatin and Follistatin are to understand how YK11 works.
Myostatin is a protein that reduces muscle mass in our bodies as well as our strength. Follistatin is the antagonist of Myostatin, it increases our muscle mass and strength. Basically, Follistatin keeps Myostatin in place and promotes muscle growth. Myostatin, on the other hand, blocks muscle growth.
YK11 aims to increase our Follistatin levels by inhibiting our Myostatin. Because it inhibits the Myostatin, it?s very effective at keeping our muscle mass because Myostatin can?t promote muscle loss. The results of this are increased levels of Follistatin which very effectively promote great muscle gains.
YK11 in sports
Almost all sports bodies, including the Olympics, listed YK11 as a prohibited substance because of the unfair advantages that it gives (increased muscle mass, strength, etc.). It?s listed as a banned substance by the WADA (World Anti Doping Agency) and the USADA (the United States Anti Doping Agency).
Don?t use this compound if you are a competing professional athlete.
If you want more information on the legality of YK11 and other SARMs, read our article where we answer this question in detail- are SARMs legal.
YK11 Benefits
Most likely, this is what you are the most interested in when it comes to this compound. Let?s go over the benefits.
The benefits are:
Increased muscle growth
Strengthened bones
Increased strength
YK11 side effects
People who took YK11 and stuck to the recommended report incredible muscle and strength gain and very little side effects. Some people still report side effects such as:
Hair-loss (Most people who report this got their ?lost? hair back in a few weeks after the cycle, suggesting that the reason hair-loss / hair shedding occurred in the first place was due to them being nervous and stressed during the cycle.)
Mild acne (Most people lose acne after the cycle, suggesting that the reason they got it was due to the stress.)
Increased aggression
Lower libido (This is due to the testosterone suppression that YK11 causes. Libido will return to normal a few weeks after the cycle)
Gyno (This is very, very rare and only happens to people who take dosages close to 40mg a day and keep their cycle up for over 12 weeks.)
It is also worth noting that YK11 does not cause liver damage up to a 30mg dosage. After that, the substance can become toxic to the body and make unnecessary damage to the liver or other organs.
Dosage and cycle length
Most bodybuilders say that they get great results by taking a dosage of 10 to 15 mg per day and see very little side effects when taking a dosage like this for the length of 8 weeks. We recommend if you are inexperienced with SARMs to take a dosage of 5 mg YK11 per day for a length of 6 to 8 weeks. Your body will see great improvement when taking a dosage like this, especially if you are not close to your genetic limit yet.
Half-Life
The research so far tells us that the half-life is 12 hours. This means that in order to keep YK11 levels in our body optimal, we should split our dosage into two parts and take one in the morning and the second one in the evening.
For example, if your dosage will be 5mg per day, you should take 2.5mg in the morning and 2.5mg in the evening. Doing this will get you the best results possible out of your cycle.
Hair loss
In short, no it cannot. Real, pure SARMs don?t cause hair loss, prohormones that are in some bunk products do. Read more about this subject in my article on SARMs hair loss.
I recommend you buy SARMs from good, trusted vendors like my recommended companies to avoid side effects like hair loss.
Stacking with other SARMs
I don?t recommend that you stack YK11 with other SARMs. This is because it?s one of the strongest SARMs on the market and stacking it with other, weaker SARMs would be a waste. There are only so many androgen receptors available in your body. Stacking YK11 with another SARM would just waste some of these receptors because the other SARM would bind to some of them.
Another reason why this is a bad idea is suppression. YK11 is already suppressive, you don?t want to raise that suppression by adding more suppressive compounds.
At the end of the day, it?s safer and more effective to just cycle YK11.
Stacking with other compounds
There are a few compounds that would do very well if you stacked them with YK11. These compounds are MK 677, Cardarine and SR9009.
These three compounds are non-hormonal (non-suppressive) so they are great when stacked with SARMs. If you want to lose fat, I recommend that you add Cardarine or SR9009 to your stack and if you want to bulk up, add MK 677.
YK11 MK 677 stack
YK11 MK 677 stack is probably the most popular YK11 stack and rightfully so.
As we said, YK11 has great benefits of both muscle gains and strength gains as well as fat loss.
MK 677 compliments that very nicely. It also has fat loss and muscle gains benefits. Not only that, but if you take MK 677 in the morning, you will also get increased hunger. This is great if you are trying to bulk up. If you want to avoid this, just take it in the evening.
Overall, this is a great cycle and most users seem to go for it. Probably the best thing about this stack is the fact that MK 677 is non-hormonal. In other words, it won?t cause any additional suppression.
YK11 PCT
When it comes to the question PCT or no PCT, you really have to know if you are suppressed or not. The only 100% certain way of knowing if you are suppressed enough to need to do a PCT (Post Cycle Therapy) is by getting your blood work done.
A good rule of thumb is that you don?t need a PCT for any SARM because they aren?t that suppressive, this includes YK11. Your body will recover naturally in a few weeks after the cycle if your compounds are high-quality and pure.
Sometimes, companies sell bunk products that are way more suppressive than they should have been so that is why some people get suppressed from SARMs.
As we said, the only way to 100% certainly know if you are suppressed is by getting a blood test done. Another way of knowing, though not as reliable, is to see how you are feeling. If you feel like sh*t and have no energy and just want to sleep all day then yeah, you are probably suppressed. If you don?t feel like that, however, you almost certainly aren?t suppressed.
Your body will recover naturally if you use real, high-quality, pure YK11 and stick to normal dosages and cycle length.
Conclusion
In conclusion, YK11 is one of the most powerful SARMs currently available on the market. The strength and muscle gains from this compound are comparable to the ones you would get from certain anabolic steroids. It?s a lot stronger than some strong SARMs like LGD 4033 or RAD140.
Keep in mind, there aren?t a lot of studies done on YK11 and so far there aren?t any clinical trials either. Still, a lot of people cycle it and report good results. The best thing you can do to get good results and to avoid side effects when cycling YK11 is to make sure that you buy high-quality and to stick to normal dosages as well as a normal cycle length.