What Is AICAR? Dosage, Half-Life & How to Track It
Also known as: 5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleoside · Acadesine · AICA riboside
AICAR is an AMPK activator — it turns on the same cellular energy-sensing pathway that exercise does — and earned the nickname “exercise pill” after animal studies showed sedentary mice given AICAR gained dramatic endurance improvements. Research dosing runs 1,000–5,000 mcg subcutaneously once daily. It’s prohibited by WADA as a metabolic modulator and is not approved for human therapeutic use. Educational information only.
What AICAR is and how it works
AICAR (5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleoside, also called acadesine) activates AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase), a cellular fuel sensor that turns on when energy runs low — the same switch that vigorous exercise flips naturally. Activating it pharmacologically appears to trigger some of the same downstream adaptations training does: improved fat oxidation and mitochondrial signaling.
The “exercise pill” reputation comes from a well-known mouse study showing sedentary animals given AICAR ran substantially further on a treadmill without ever training — a striking enough result to put the compound on the radar of endurance-focused researchers and, later, sports doping regulators.
That last point matters: AICAR is on WADA’s prohibited list as a metabolic modulator, and it is not approved for human therapeutic use anywhere. This is squarely research-only territory, with real legal and competitive implications if you compete in any drug-tested sport.
Typical dosing & reconstitution
Research protocols step the daily dose up gradually over several weeks:
- Weeks 1–2: 1,000 mcg
- Weeks 3–4: 2,000 mcg
- Weeks 5–8: 3,000 mcg
| Vial | BAC water | Concentration | 1 unit (U-100) ≈ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 mg | 3 mL | 16.7 mg/mL | 167 mcg |
At 16.7 mg/mL, even the top of the standard range (3,000 mcg) is only 18 units — comfortably inside a single insulin syringe. Higher-dose advanced protocols push toward 5,000 mcg/day, which the calculator will flag against your specific vial and dilution.
Half-life & what it means for frequency
AICAR clears relatively quickly, and — like most of the smaller research compounds in this group — there’s no published long-term human pharmacokinetic profile the way there is for an approved drug. Research protocols default to once-daily subcutaneous dosing based on the short-acting nature of the compound rather than a precisely characterized half-life.
Practically, that means the same daily-consistency logic applies as with AOD-9604 or 5-Amino-1MQ: no depot to lean on, so a missed day is simply a missed day rather than a level that keeps carrying you.
What to track & common side effects
Human side-effect data is thin given the lack of approved trials; research-context reports focus on injection-site reactions as the primary noted issue.
Given the WADA status and thin evidence base, what’s worth tracking is straightforward: dose, frequency, and whether you notice anything — endurance, recovery, energy — logged consistently enough to separate a real effect from normal week-to-week variation in training.
How to track AICAR in Stackeddd
Log AICAR’s daily dose and frequency precisely — with limited long-term human data, your own consistent log is the clearest picture you’ll have of what you actually took. Track an endurance or recovery marker alongside it if that’s what you’re evaluating.
Model it yourself · free, no account
Reconstitution Calculator
Model it yourself: enter your vial size and BAC water and the Peptides tab returns concentration and exact units for any dose — the same math built into the Stackeddd app.
Related compounds
Related reading: Peptide reconstitution math: how much BAC water to add
Frequently asked questions
What is AICAR used for?
It’s an AMPK activator studied for endurance and metabolic effects — nicknamed the “exercise pill” after mouse studies showed sedentary animals gained dramatic endurance improvements. It is not approved for human therapeutic use.
What is the half-life of AICAR?
It clears relatively quickly, but there is no well-characterized long-term human pharmacokinetic profile — research protocols use once-daily dosing based on its short-acting nature rather than a precise published half-life.
Is AICAR banned in sports?
Yes — the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) prohibits AICAR as a metabolic modulator. That’s worth knowing regardless of your reason for researching it.
How is AICAR dosed in research protocols?
A common approach steps from 1,000 mcg daily in weeks 1–2 up to 3,000 mcg daily by weeks 5–8, subcutaneous, with more advanced protocols pushing toward 5,000 mcg.
This is educational information, not medical advice. Doses and protocols above reflect published references and community practice — protocol decisions belong with your prescribing physician. Generic names used throughout. How this reference is built & how the AI is tested →
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