Every SARM is banned in sport at all times, in and out of competition, under section S1.2 of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List. So are MK-677, cardarine, the drugs used for post-cycle therapy and most research peptides. The table shows the 2026 status and list section of every compound we cover; below it you will find how anti-doping labs detect these drugs and what detection studies found.
| Compound | Status in sport (WADA) | List section | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AC-262 | Prohibited at all times | S1.2 Other anabolic agents – SARMs (class, 'including but not limited to') | Not named on the 2026 List. UK Anti-Doping lists accadrine (AC-262,536) among SARMs, prohibited under S1. Non-Specified. | SARMs | UK Anti-Doping (supplement ingredient warning, updated 29 April 2026) (2026) |
| ACP-105 | Prohibited at all times | S1.2 Other anabolic agents – SARMs (class, 'including but not limited to') | Not named on the 2026 List. UK Anti-Doping lists ACP-105 among SARMs, prohibited under S1. Non-Specified. | SARMs | UK Anti-Doping (supplement ingredient warning, updated 29 April 2026) (2026) |
| Anastrozole | Prohibited at all times | S4.1 Aromatase inhibitors | Named as 'anastrozole'. Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| Andarine (S4) | Prohibited at all times | S1.2 Other anabolic agents – SARMs | Named as 'andarine' (S4 is andarine). Non-Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| BPC-157 | Prohibited at all times | S0 Non-approved substances | Named as an example in S0. S0 substances are Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| Cardarine | Prohibited at all times | S4.4.1 Metabolic modulators – PPARδ agonists | Named as 'GW1516, GW501516' (with its chemical name). S4.4 substances are non-Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| CJC-1295 | Prohibited at all times | S2.2.4 Growth hormone releasing factors – GHRH and its analogues | Named as 'CJC-1295' (and CJC-1293). Non-Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| Clomiphene | Prohibited at all times | S4.2 Anti-estrogenic substances (anti-estrogens and SERMs) | Named as 'clomifene'. Specified. TL26 sets a 2.0 ng/mL minimum reporting level because eggs or poultry from treated hens can leave traces. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| Enclomiphene | Prohibited at all times | S4.2 Anti-estrogenic substances (anti-estrogens and SERMs) | The List names clomifene. Enclomifene is one of clomifene's two isomers; WADA Technical Letter TL26 (effective 1 Jan 2026) reports clomifene in urine as the sum of zuclomifene and enclomifene, with a 2.0 ng/mL minimum reporting level. S4.2 substances are Specified. | WADA Technical Letter TL26 – Clomifene (effective 1 January 2026) (2025) |
| GHK-Cu | Not named – uncertain (may fall under S0) | Possibly S0 Non-approved substances | GHK-Cu is not named anywhere on the 2026 List. S0 covers any pharmacological substance not addressed elsewhere and with no current approval for human therapeutic use. BSCG describes GHK-Cu as a gray area that may be interpreted as prohibited under S0. Athletes should ask their anti-doping organization before use. | Sport and Military Rules of GHK-Cu You Need to Know (BSCG) (2026) |
| IGF-1 LR3 | Prohibited at all times | S2.3 Growth factors and growth factor modulators – IGF-1 and its analogues | The List names 'Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1, mecasermin) and its analogues'; IGF-1 LR3 is an IGF-1 analog. Non-Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| Ipamorelin | Prohibited at all times | S2.2.4 Growth hormone releasing factors – growth hormone secretagogues (GHS) | Named as 'ipamorelin'. Non-Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| LGD-4033 | Prohibited at all times | S1.2 Other anabolic agents – SARMs | Named as 'LGD-4033 (ligandrol)'. Non-Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| MK-677 | Prohibited at all times | S2.2.4 Growth hormone releasing factors – growth hormone secretagogues (GHS) | Named as 'ibutamoren (MK-677)'. S2 substances are non-Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| MOTS-c | Prohibited at all times | S4.4.1 Metabolic modulators – AMPK activators | Named as 'mitochondrial open reading frame of the 12S rRNA-c (MOTS-c)'. Non-Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| Ostarine | Prohibited at all times | S1.2 Other anabolic agents – SARMs | Named as 'enobosarm (ostarine)'. Non-Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| RAD-140 | Prohibited at all times | S1.2 Other anabolic agents – selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) | Named as 'RAD140'. S1 substances are non-Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| RAD-150 | Prohibited at all times | S1.2 Other anabolic agents – SARMs (class, 'including but not limited to') | Not named on the 2026 List. UK Anti-Doping lists RAD-150 (TLB-150) among SARMs and classes SARMs as prohibited under S1. Non-Specified. | SARMs | UK Anti-Doping (supplement ingredient warning, updated 29 April 2026) (2026) |
| S-23 | Prohibited at all times | S1.2 Other anabolic agents – SARMs | Named as 'S-23'. Non-Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| SR9009 | Prohibited at all times | S4.4.1 Metabolic modulators – Rev-erbα agonists | Named as 'SR9009' (with SR9011). Non-Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| Tamoxifen | Prohibited at all times | S4.2 Anti-estrogenic substances (anti-estrogens and SERMs) | Named as 'tamoxifen'. Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| TB-500 | Prohibited at all times | S2.3 Growth factors and growth factor modulators – thymosin-β4 and its derivatives | Named as 'Thymosin-ß4 and its derivatives e.g. TB-500'. Non-Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| Tesamorelin | Prohibited at all times | S2.2.4 Growth hormone releasing factors – GHRH and its analogues | Named as 'tesamorelin'. Non-Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
| YK-11 | Prohibited at all times | S1.2 Other anabolic agents – SARMs | Named as 'YK-11' in the SARMs examples. Non-Specified. | World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026 (2025) |
How the Prohibited List is organized
All the sections below are banned at all times. “Specified” substances are those more likely to have been taken for a reason other than performance; WADA stresses they are not less dangerous, and the label mainly affects sanctions (WADA 2026 List).
| Section | What it covers | Examples from our database | Specified? |
|---|---|---|---|
| S0 | Non-approved substances: drugs with no current approval for human use that no other section covers | BPC-157 (named) | Yes |
| S1.2 | Other anabolic agents, including SARMs | Andarine, enobosarm (ostarine), LGD-4033 (ligandrol), RAD140, S-23 and YK-11 (named); RAD-150, AC-262,536 and ACP-105 fall under the SARM class | No |
| S2.2.4 | Growth hormone releasing factors: GHRH analogs and growth hormone secretagogues | CJC-1295, tesamorelin, ibutamoren (MK-677), ipamorelin | No |
| S2.3 | Growth factors, including IGF-1 analogs and thymosin-β4 derivatives | IGF-1 LR3 (as an IGF-1 analog), TB-500 | No |
| S4.1 | Aromatase inhibitors | Anastrozole | Yes |
| S4.2 | Anti-estrogenic substances, including SERMs | Clomifene (and its isomer enclomiphene), tamoxifen | Yes |
| S4.4.1 | Metabolic modulators: AMPK activators, PPARδ agonists, Rev-erbα agonists | MOTS-c, GW1516 (cardarine), SR9009 and SR9011 | No |
One compound in our database is not named anywhere on the 2026 List: GHK-Cu. It may still fall under S0, so athletes should ask their anti-doping organization first (BSCG). WADA’s note on the 2027 List makes the same point for peptides in general: a peptide can be prohibited even if it is not named (WADA 2027 note).
Banned since when
- SARMs have been prohibited at all times since 2008 (Kintz 2025; Adolf 2026).
- Cardarine (GW1516) was added to routine doping controls in 2009 (Thevis 2010). In 2013 WADA took the rare step of warning athletes directly about its side effects (WADA 2013).
- From 2026, labs report clomifene only above 2.0 ng/mL in urine, because eating eggs or poultry from treated hens can leave traces (WADA TL26).
How anti-doping labs detect SARMs
WADA-accredited labs screen samples with liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS), which identifies a drug by its mass as well as by where it appears in the separation (NCI). Three things make these tests hard to beat:
- Breakdown products last longer than the drug. After one 15 mg dose of cardarine, the drug itself was found only briefly, but a sulfone metabolite stayed detectable in urine for up to 40 days (Sobolevsky 2012). For LGD-4033, labs track a long-term metabolite that stays detectable much longer than the drug itself (Sakellariou 2026).
- Very small amounts are enough. A single 1 µg dose of ostarine, a tiny fraction of a capsule, was found in urine for up to 9 days (Walpurgis 2020).
- Blood and hair can be tested too. Blood and dried-blood-spot methods find sub-nanogram amounts of MK-677 (Mazzarino 2026). A single 10 mg dose of MK-677 was still found in hair collected 4 weeks later (Kintz 2026), and cardarine has been found in hair (Kintz 2020).
How long each compound stayed detectable in published studies, by compound and type of test, is in our SARMs drug test guide. Those figures come from small studies, often with micro-doses, and are not safe windows.
Positive tests in sport
Adverse analytical findings (positive tests) for SARMs rose from 15 in 2014 to 142 in 2019, then stayed high (139 in 2023, 106 in 2024); the numbers also reflect how much and how widely labs tested (Adolf 2026). LGD-4033 alone caused 62 positive tests in 2019 (Wagener 2022), and a 2024 study calls ostarine the most abused substance in its class (Taoussi 2024). Most positive tests follow the deliberate purchase of products sold as SARMs; positives blamed on contaminated ordinary supplements rest on limited evidence (Adolf 2026).
Contamination and accidental exposure
- In a 2017 analysis of 44 products sold online as SARMs, 25% contained substances not listed on the label (Van Wagoner 2017). In a European study of seized products, 24% were presented as dietary supplements, so the buyer may not know they are taking a drug (Barrios 2025).
- Skin contact can be enough: 50 µg of RAD-140 applied to the forearm was detected in urine for up to 9 days (Korsmeier 2025).
- An athlete tested positive for a ligandrol metabolite at trace levels; hair tests showed her husband, not she, had used it, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport lifted her provisional ban (Kintz 2025).
Testing outside sport
Workplace drug tests are a different thing: see which tests look for SARMs and our page on SARMs and military drug tests. Use outside sport is not rare: when a Swedish lab screened 542 male urine samples from routine healthcare with WADA methods, 4% contained SARMs, most often LGD-4033, RAD-140 and ostarine (Bohlin 2024).