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SR9011 is an experimental drug that switches on Rev-Erb, a protein that helps run the body’s internal 24-hour clock. It has been studied only in cells and mice, has never been tested in a human clinical trial and is not approved for human use anywhere. It is often sold next to SARMs, but it is not one.
Its reputation in bodybuilding circles comes from a few mouse studies that showed more energy burned and less body fat. Those results are real, but they came from high injected doses in rodents, and they do not tell us what a capsule bought online will do in a 35-year-old man. Several claims that circulate online, including some on the previous version of this page, go well beyond the evidence.
This guide covers what the compound is, how it works, what the animal research found, what users report, the side effects and unknowns, how it compares with SR9009, and where it stands with the FDA and anti-doping rules.
Key Takeaways
- SR9011 is a synthetic Rev-Erb agonist, not a SARM. It does not act on the androgen receptor.
- It works through the circadian clock, the system of genes that times sleep, activity and metabolism across the day.
- In a 2012 Nature study in mice, it raised oxygen consumption by about 5% and reduced fat mass, but the mice moved about 15% less.
- There are no human trials, no human safety data and no established human dose. All dosing figures online are anecdotal.
- It is named on the WADA Prohibited List, and products sold online are often mislabeled or contaminated.
What Is SR9011?
SR9011 is a small synthetic molecule developed in Thomas Burris’s lab at Scripps Research in Florida. It was designed to activate Rev-Erbα and Rev-Erbβ, two nuclear receptors that act as brakes inside the body’s molecular clock. Its structure and identifiers are listed in the PubChem compound record.
The compound was first described alongside its sister molecule, SR9009, in a 2012 Nature paper by Solt and colleagues. The researchers built these agonists as tools to study the clock and suggested that drugs like them might one day help treat sleep disorders and metabolic disease. No company has taken it into human trials since.
Is It a SARM?
No. SARMs (selective androgen receptor modulators) such as ostarine bind to the androgen receptor, the same receptor testosterone uses. This compound acts on Rev-Erb, a completely different receptor family. It gets grouped with SARMs because the same online sellers stock it and market it to the same audience for fat loss and endurance.
It Is Not “Stenabolic”
The name “Stenabolic” refers to SR9009. The two are often confused, and the earlier version of this page used both names for the same compound. For the SR9009 profile, see our Stenabolic (SR9009) compound page.
How It Works: The Circadian Clock Connection
Almost every cell in your body runs on a roughly 24-hour clock. At its center are two proteins, CLOCK and BMAL1, which switch on a wide set of genes during part of the day. Other proteins then shut that activity down so the cycle can reset.
Rev-Erb is one of those brakes. It represses Bmal1 and many genes that control fat and glucose handling. In a 2012 Nature study of Rev-Erb knockout mice, losing both forms of the receptor badly disrupted daily activity rhythms and lipid metabolism.
SR9011 strengthens Rev-Erb’s braking action. In the Solt study, a single injection changed the daily pattern of core clock genes in the hypothalamus of mice and shifted the timing of metabolic genes in the liver, muscle and fat tissue. In the liver, the changes pointed toward less fat and cholesterol production. In muscle, they pointed toward more fat and glucose burning.
That is the theory behind the bodybuilding interest. The catch is that the clock controls far more than metabolism, and altering it with a drug affects sleep, activity, immunity and cell growth at the same time.
What the SR9011 Research Actually Shows
Almost everything known comes from a small number of mouse and cell studies. Here is what they found, with the details that usually get left out.
Metabolism and Fat Mass in Mice
In the Solt 2012 study, mice were injected with 100 mg/kg into the abdomen twice a day.
- After 12 days, treated mice lost weight, and the loss came from fat mass. Food intake did not change.
- After 10 days in metabolic cages, oxygen consumption was about 5% higher, a sign of higher energy expenditure.
- Fasting blood triglycerides and total cholesterol fell in lean treated mice.
The headline results in obese mice, including large drops in triglycerides, cholesterol and glucose, came from SR9009. The old claim that SR9011 raises HDL and lowers LDL has no study behind it that we could find, so it has been removed.
Activity and Endurance
This is where marketing and data part ways most clearly. In the same study, treated mice showed about a 15% decrease in movement. In mice kept in constant darkness, a single dose wiped out their running-wheel activity during the following active period. They kept their strength, and normal activity returned the next day.
The popular claim of a 50% boost in running capacity does not come from SR9011 research. It traces to press coverage of a 2013 Nature Medicine study in which SR9009 increased exercise capacity in mice. No published study has shown that SR9011 improves endurance in animals or people.
Inflammation
A 2020 Frontiers in Immunology study tested the compound on microglia, the immune cells of the brain, taken from newborn rats. It lowered pro-inflammatory signals during an immune challenge. It also disturbed the cells’ clock genes and reduced their ability to clear debris, their mitochondrial respiration and their energy (ATP) production. That is a mixed cell-dish result, not evidence of faster recovery from training.
Cancer Cells
A 2018 Nature study by Sulli and colleagues found that SR9009 and SR9011 killed several types of cancer cells without harming normal cells, and impaired brain tumor growth in mice. It is an interesting lead for cancer research. It says nothing about safety or benefit in healthy lifters.
Off-Target Effects
A 2019 PNAS study found that SR9009 still changed cell growth, metabolism and gene activity in cells with no Rev-Erb at all. SR9011 was not tested, but the finding suggests this class may have effects nobody has mapped.
What Is Missing: Human Data
- No human trials. It has never been tested in a published clinical trial of any phase.
- No human pharmacokinetics. The key mouse studies used injections. There is no published data on how much survives oral dosing in people or how long it lasts. Claims of a “4-hour half-life” or “12 hours of energy” have no published source and have been removed.
- No long-term safety data. The longest dosing in the main mouse study was under two weeks.
Research vs Bodybuilding Claims
| Common claim | What the research shows |
|---|---|
| Burns fat | Reduced fat mass in mice given high injected doses for 12 days. No human data. |
| Boosts endurance by 50% | That figure comes from an SR9009 study. SR9011 reduced movement in mice. |
| Builds muscle | No study has shown muscle gain. |
| Improves cholesterol | Lowered triglycerides and total cholesterol in lean mice. No HDL or LDL data. |
| Improves sleep | It shifts the clock and suppressed activity in mice. Effects on human sleep are unknown. |
| No side effects | Never tested in humans, so the side effect profile is unknown. |
Dosage: What Users Report
There is no evidence-based human dose. The figures below are what users commonly report online. They are anecdotal, untested and not a recommendation.
- Commonly reported range: 10 to 30 mg per day, often split into several doses
- Commonly reported cycle length: up to 8 weeks
These numbers are not derived from the research. The Solt study used 100 mg/kg by injection twice a day, and mouse doses do not convert directly to human capsules, especially when nobody knows how well the oral form is absorbed. Product strength is also unreliable, as covered below. For how studied doses differ from forum doses across other compounds, see our SARMs dosage chart.
The old claim that no PCT (post-cycle therapy) is needed because the compound is “non-suppressive” has also been removed. It does not act on the androgen receptor, so it is not expected to shut down testosterone the way SARMs do, but nobody has measured its hormonal effects in men. For how suppression works with actual SARMs, see our guide to PCT for SARMs.
Side Effects and Unknowns
Because it has never been studied in humans, there is no reliable list of side effects. The previous claim that it was “well tolerated without major side effects” in humans had no source and has been removed. Here is what can reasonably be said:
- Sleep and daily rhythm disruption. Its main action is to alter the circadian clock. Users commonly report trouble sleeping, and in mice a single dose suppressed normal activity for an entire active period.
- Unknown effects on immunity. In rat brain immune cells, it dampened inflammation but also reduced the cells’ clean-up activity and energy production.
- Unknown effects on cell growth. Drugs that affect cell survival and autophagy can affect healthy tissue in ways that only show up in long-term studies, and those studies do not exist.
- Possible off-target effects. Research on SR9009 suggests this class can act on more than Rev-Erb.
- Product risk. With unregulated products, you may not be taking SR9011 at all, or you may be taking something else with its own risks.
If you have a heart, liver, sleep or metabolic condition, or take prescription drugs, the unknowns are even larger. Talk to a doctor before taking any unapproved compound.
SR9011 vs SR9009
| SR9011 | SR9009 (“Stenabolic”) | |
|---|---|---|
| Drug type | Rev-Erb agonist | Rev-Erb agonist |
| First described | Solt et al., Nature, 2012 | Solt et al., Nature, 2012 |
| Key mouse findings | Higher oxygen use, less fat mass, lower activity | Fat loss in obese mice, better blood lipids and glucose, higher exercise capacity |
| Evidence of off-target effects | Not tested | Acts in cells lacking Rev-Erb |
| Human trials | None | None |
| WADA status | Prohibited | Prohibited |
The two compounds are closely related and were described in the same paper. SR9009 has been studied far more, which is why most “SR9011 benefits” online are borrowed from SR9009 research. The claim that SR9011 is simply “more effective” is not supported by any head-to-head data we could find, so it has been removed.
Legal Status: FDA, WADA and Drug Testing
FDA Status
The compound is not approved by the FDA for any use. It is usually sold as a “research chemical” labeled “not for human consumption.” The FDA has said that SARM-type products sold as supplements or “for research use only” are unapproved drugs, not dietary supplements, and it has linked SARMs to serious harms including liver injury, heart attack and stroke. SR9011 is not a SARM, but it is sold through the same channels and has the same unapproved drug problem.
Laws vary by country and change often. The previous claim that it was “legal worldwide except for Australia” could not be verified and has been removed. For a country-by-country view of related compounds, see our guide to whether SARMs are legal.
WADA and Drug Testing
The World Anti-Doping Agency’s Prohibited List names “Rev-erbα agonists, e.g., SR9009, SR9011” under metabolic modulators in class S4 (Hormone and Metabolic Modulators), which is banned at all times, in and out of competition. Even before it was named, it was already banned as a non-approved substance.
The old claim that it does not show up on a drug test misreads the research. A 2016 anti-doping study identified 14 metabolites using human liver enzymes and validated a method to detect the compound in urine. The authors did not find it in 1,511 earlier samples, but that reflects how rarely it was used at the time, not that it cannot be caught. Tested athletes should assume it can be detected.
What to Know About Product Quality
Because this is not an approved drug, no regulator checks what is inside the bottle. Research on similar products shows how big that problem is.
A 2017 JAMA study bought 44 products sold online as SARMs and tested them with WADA-approved methods:
- Only 52% contained a SARM at all
- 39% contained a different unapproved drug instead, including the Rev-Erb agonist SR9009
- 25% contained substances not listed on the label
- 9% contained no active compound
- Only 41% contained the amount stated on the label
The 2016 anti-doping study also confirmed SR9009 in a black-market product bought online. Labels saying “research use only,” a high purity percentage or a seller-supplied certificate of analysis do not prove what a product contains. Like cardarine, another non-SARM sold alongside SARMs, SR9011 carries the combined risks of an unstudied drug and an unregulated supply chain.
The Bottom Line
SR9011 is a useful lab tool for studying the body clock, but there is no human evidence that it builds muscle, improves endurance or burns fat safely, and it is banned in sport.
- It is a Rev-Erb agonist, not a SARM, and it has only been studied in cells and mice.
- In mice, high injected doses raised energy use and cut fat mass but also reduced activity. The endurance claims come from SR9009 research.
- There is no established human dose, no human safety data and no evidence on how well the oral form works.
- WADA names it on the Prohibited List, and products sold online are often mislabeled or contain other drugs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Disclaimer
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Individual results vary. No claims about outcomes.
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What happens if you combine SR 9011 with Tudca? Tudca increases bile salts while SR 9011 reduces them; one of them must not be beneficial, right?
As I understand it TUDCA increases bile flow and is actually a treatment for cholestasis (bile acid backup in the liver). TUDCA also changes bile salts slightly to make them more soluble. SR 9011 decreases bile salt production. Overall, I would expect a reduction in bile salts.
What about stacking this with Bromantane?
You might run into issues of overlapping side effects, best take a slow and gradual approach.
Thoughts on combining this with 5 Amino 1MQ?
Nothing beats this for trail running but for people who want to keep muscle tone whilst undergoing crazy endurance. That’s what I’ve found