Does Cialis help bodybuilding? No trial has shown that it builds muscle, strength or recovery in people who train. Tadalafil, the medicine in Cialis, is approved in Australia for erectile dysfunction and the urinary symptoms of an enlarged prostate in adult men, and its leaflet is plain: "Do not take CIALIS to treat any other complaints" (Cialis CMI). The small studies behind the gym claims measured other things, and one of them points the wrong way for anyone who lifts.
Does Cialis build muscle?
Not in any study of people who train. The trial usually quoted gave 43 non-obese men with mild erection or urinary problems, average age 48, tadalafil every day or as needed for two months. The daily group gained lean mass around the abdomen on a body scan, and it went back to baseline two months after they stopped (Aversa et al., Endocrine 2017). The men were not training, and strength was not measured. A PubMed search on 26 September 2026 found no trial of tadalafil or sildenafil that measured muscle size or strength in people doing resistance training.
Does Cialis raise testosterone?
Not in the studies that followed men for months. Summarising three trials in which men took tadalafil daily for six to nine months, the Australian product information reports "no adverse effect on mean concentrations of reproductive hormones, testosterone, luteinising hormone or follicle stimulating hormone" compared with placebo (Cialis PI). In an open study of 20 men treated for a year, testosterone did not change (Greco et al., J Sex Med 2006). The gym claim traces to nine athletes whose saliva cortisol and testosterone rose more after a maximal exercise test on one dose of tadalafil than on placebo (Di Luigi et al., J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2008) — a short stress-hormone response, not a lasting rise. If low testosterone is the real question, see can testosterone and Cialis be taken together?
Does it give a better pump or faster recovery?
There is no evidence that it does, and a trial of muscle-damage markers found the opposite. The pump idea rests on blood flow and vasodilation: tadalafil blocks PDE5, an enzyme found in blood-vessel walls and, among other tissues, skeletal muscle. In healthy men it barely moved blood pressure — a mean maximal fall of 1.6/0.8 mmHg lying down (Cialis PI). In 12 well-trained men, a dose the day before a 30-second all-out cycling test "does not substantially influence anaerobic performance indices" (Guidetti et al., Br J Sports Med 2008).
For recovery, healthy men took two doses of tadalafil or a placebo before an exhausting exercise test. On tadalafil, blood markers of muscle damage were already higher at rest — creatine kinase up 75% — and went higher again after the exercise; the authors concluded it made the men "more susceptible to the oxidative stress induced by an exhaustive bout of exercise" (Ceci et al., Eur J Appl Physiol 2015). In 12 healthy men, a single dose induced no inflammatory response (Ceci et al., Acta Biochim Pol 2017).
What side effects matter if you train?
Back and muscle pain — the things a lifter notices first. In the 12-week trials in the Australian product information, back pain was reported by 6.5% of men on tadalafil against 3.2% on placebo, muscle pain by 3.9% against 1.6%, and pain in the arms or legs by 3.3% against 1.3% (Cialis PI); they become more common as the dose goes up (EMA — Cialis product information). Headache, indigestion, flushing and a blocked nose are the other common ones (healthdirect). Never take it with nitrates for chest pain or with "poppers" — the leaflet names amyl and butyl nitrite (Cialis CMI) — and ED medicines are avoided if sexual exertion could put your heart at risk (healthdirect).
Can you get Cialis for training in Australia?
No. Tadalafil "can only be supplied to Australians with a prescription" (TGA), after a doctor has assessed you (healthdirect). Tadalafil for high blood pressure in the lungs is a separate product, Adcirca (EMA — Adcirca) — not a gym medicine for women either: can women take tadalafil? It is not on WADA's Prohibited List; what drug tests look for is on can Viagra be detected in drug tests?
What about supplements instead?
They carry evidence of their own: the Australian Institute of Sport puts creatine monohydrate in its Group A, with strong evidence for use in specific situations in sport (AIS Sports Supplement Framework). What the common ones do to erections: does creatine cause erectile dysfunction? and can whey protein cause erectile dysfunction? Products sold for "hormone" or sexual effects are a different matter: why some "herbal" sex pills contain hidden medicines.
The short answer
Cialis is a prescription medicine for erection and prostate problems, not a training aid. The studies found a temporary change in abdominal lean mass in men who were not training, no lasting rise in testosterone, no real change in sprint performance and more muscle-damage markers after hard exercise — and back and muscle pain are among its common side effects. Endurance is answered in is Cialis useful for running?, and other conditions in our guide to Viagra and Cialis for sport, the lungs and other conditions.
