Whilst we are not sure precisely what all of the side effects of follistatin integration may be, we are starting to piece together some kind of picture in regards to how it may impact a handful of areas negatively, or at least to some degree.

Myostatin expresses itself in the tendons; animal testing has shown that myostatin deficient mice have weak and brittle tendons on the whole when compared to “normal” test group examples.

Should this end result manifest itself in humans too, it’s safe to say that this would be a severe problem in both the short and long term should muscle mass continue to evolve disproportionately to tendon strength.

This would essentially mean that the muscles would eventually “outgrow” the tendons, thus resulting in mobility and joint issues over time.

This is assuming of course that follistatin really can increase muscle mass to extensive levels (which still needs to be proven) – but regardless of the situation in which impaired tendons are placed (either supporting “normal” or excessive muscle mass), this will prove to be a problem nonetheless.

Potential cardiac restriction has also been shown in mice – strangely, this contradicts evidence shown in this series of tests on both mice and humans, whereas follistatin was actually shown to have therapeutic effects on the heart.

As such, we cannot accurately discern whether or not follistatin will prove to be problematic for the heart. Potentially, it may display both therapeutic and restrictive characteristics in synergy, but this is unlikely.

With more testing, we will begin to see a decisive pattern emerge in regards to it either having a definitive positive or negative effect in this regard.

Some users have also reported excessively potent DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscular Soreness) whilst using follistatin – given the implications in regards to diminished tendon integrity, it makes sense that any “aching” would be amplified.

It should also be noted that some individuals choose to “spot inject” their follistatin – this means that (ordinarily speaking) they would train a muscle group, then directly inject into said muscle group following their training session.

Being that any injectable peptide or steroid can cause discomfort post injection (especially if the user is new to the process) it’s safe to say that the standard feeling of DOMS in conjunction with a sore injection site (in the same muscle that the individual targeted during their training) would without doubt lead to enhanced soreness in the area.

Surplus to these elements; there genuinely isn’t enough documented evidence to suggest that follistatin leads to a significant degree of adverse issue manifestation.

It should nonetheless be treated as a high risk compound until we can accurately discern precisely what kind of impact it is capable of having on the heart and tendons in both the short and long term.