Protein/Creatine Questions

[5hift]

For the past month or so I have been working out seriously on a daily basis. I've begun to take both protein and creatine on a regular basis as well, and I was wondering if there was specific times that would be best to take it (before you workout or after etc). As well as how much I should be taking (I weigh about 175 lbs now ... I think my weight comes into play as well). I do get quite a bit of protein through food as well but I've never figured it out exactly.

Right now I just mix one serving of protien (45 g) and one teaspoon of pure creatine (5 g I think) in the same shake and have it just once a day when I come home from the gym.

Should I take these separately/together and more than once a day?
How much should I take?
When are the best times to take it?

[JAYMEZ]

What kind of work out are you doing? How often a week? What are your goals? And how is your diet?

For takeing them , You can drink it before , between , and after work outs, you just dont want to have to much of it. But I dont really think it matters when you take them , hell you dont have to take them at all if you want to get big. I was 170 pounds when I was in grade 11 , now I am 218 pounds and I work out all the time , but not once have I used any substance to get there , just alot of water and a healthy diet :D

I think Wildcat uses Creatine , do a search for one of his threads.

[5hift]

I lift 5 days a week and I do cardio about 6 days a week and for both, the workout is always pretty intense (1 hr for each time for lifting and between 1hr -1.5 hrs each time for cardio).

My diet is really healthy, I dont stick to anything hardcore,I just try to eat smart. I usually eat about 5 smaller meals throughout the day.

My goals are what everyone says is impossible to do: lose body fat while building muscle at the same time. So far in the past month, while following this workout/diet and attempting this goal, I have lost a lot of fat, while maintaing pretty much the same body weight, and I have made some serious strength gains as well.

I dont know if that helps with how much protein/creatine I should be taking daily.

[BumpinTalon]

usually everyone's advice on creatine differs. it depends if you have pure creatine, or the GNC stuff that is mixed with some other stuff.
a guy in Men's Health said that he will usually take creatine right after a workout, on his workout days, or first thing in the morning when he wakes up on a non-workout day.
protein, you should take it after a workout, since everything you eat after a workout goes to help rebuild your muscles.

[tapout]

Originally posted by BumpinTalon
usually everyone's advice on creatine differs. it depends if you have pure creatine, or the GNC stuff that is mixed with some other stuff.
a guy in Men's Health said that he will usually take creatine right after a workout, on his workout days, or first thing in the morning when he wakes up on a non-workout day.
protein, you should take it after a workout, since everything you eat after a workout goes to help rebuild your muscles. i agree but you should cut back on your cardio you are 170 man pumpin will burn your fat as well

[YCB]

Well, creatine is used to resynthesize ATP(energy), which in turn gives your "more" energy. Generally people do a loading phase where they take about 20-25 grams of creatine a day for like 5-7 days, so they have "extra" creatine in their bodies. Then after that about 5 grams a day which is a kind of maitainence phase.

Now since you have increased your creatine stores, you are able to replenish the ATP you use during lifting. When I took creatine, I took it in the morning right before I ate (2.5g) (so your body absorbs it instead of your food?), then I took it about 20-30mins before I work out (2.5g). No point to take it after a work out unless your in the loading phase.

With protein, since you get enough nutrition through the day, you probably don't need to take it as a meal replacement or anything. Just take it after a work out (45g is what I usually take, 2 scoops of ON), and a normal meal after that. Before bed take some casein (milk), since its a slow absorbing protein to feed your body while you sleep. If you really want you could buy a product called Muscle Milk by Cytosport and take that before bed.

Since you're I guess bodybuilding right now, you want about 175-280g (really wide range) of protein a day if your 175lbs.

[1badPT]

Originally posted by Khali
I lift 5 days a week and I do cardio about 6 days a week and for both, the workout is always pretty intense (1 hr for each time for lifting and between 1hr -1.5 hrs each time for cardio).

My diet is really healthy, I dont stick to anything hardcore,I just try to eat smart. I usually eat about 5 smaller meals throughout the day.

My goals are what everyone says is impossible to do: lose body fat while building muscle at the same time. So far in the past month, while following this workout/diet and attempting this goal, I have lost a lot of fat, while maintaing pretty much the same body weight, and I have made some serious strength gains as well.

I dont know if that helps with how much protein/creatine I should be taking daily.
With the amount of times you're working out, you quite possibly are overtraining. If you are looking for size gains, try cutting it back to 3 weight training workouts per week and only do one cardio session per week. Your body needs time to rebuild in between workouts and if it doesn't get that time, you're just going to slowly whittle your existing mass away. Only way to get big without putting on fat IMO is counting calories and everyone hates to do that. Don't worry about the fat if you're gaining, its easy to get rid of because once you have the size, your body will naturally require a lot of calories and simply adjusting your diet will let you get rid of the mush.

As for protein/creatine, creatine you only want to take a tsp or 2 per day, ideally when you wake up and about an hour before working out. Protein powder doesn't matter so much as long as its not your main source of protein - the majority of your protein should be from diet. You can take your protein with your breakfast and within an hour after your workout mixed with a good shot of dextrose to help your body take up the protein.

[1-Cent]

It all depends on your body type as far as dietary requirements go (ie: T3/T4 production aka the speed of your metabolism). A natural and hobbyist lifter can get away with 1g /lb of bodymass, I wouldn't go any lower than that, 1.5g /lb would be much better and put to good use. Adjust the amount of protien supplements you intake to assist yourself in reaching those numbers if you can't already with real food. After a workout is the best time when you can absorb the extra nutrients most efficiently. Adding dextrose or maltodextrine to your shake PWO would also be an asset.

For creatine, 99.9% of people that use it will give you completely misleading information and just regurgitate what the guy at GNC working on comission told them. Loading is BS, maitainence is BS, take 10g /day everyday without exception. I've never seen medical evidance to support the occurance of homeostasis to such a degree with creatine that it becomes uneffective. When you first start creatine you initially bloat up a little with water retention in your skeletal muscles, this will slowly dissipate over time, cycling only gives the impression that you're gaining additional size because you go through the bloat phase all over again when you restart the cycle.

When I used it, I did for probably 3 years straight, no breaks. 10g /day from the first day till the last and the results never faded over time. Just my 0.02

[Hakkola]

I don't think anybody really answered the first question, if they did my apologies, it's been a long day.

So I'll ask it now. I'm taking creatine and protein supplements, is it ok to mix them together in the SAME shake?

My next question, if you're not taking the protein shake within 4 hours of a workout, does it really matter if you mix it with milk?

I don't personally use milk, I make a shake with about 1/5 or 1/4 of the blender filled with yogurt (I know it's a milk product), 1 or 2 banana's , and some frozen berries, when all is said and done it's almost 3 mugs full of drink. Plus I have my creatine, so as you can see it's a lot of fluid intake for just supplements. Can I just put my daily serving of explode into my portein supplement shake?

[hockeybronx]

Yes it is fine to take them together. For best results I would recommend:

- take your creatine about 25 minutes before your workout (if you do a good warm-up you can take your creatine, wait 10 minutes, then do your 15 minute warm up and then you are set to go

- take your creatine immediately after your workout as well. If you want to stick to the 5 grams a day, then take 2.5g before and 2.5g after your workout.

- best time to take your protein is right when you wake up, right before you go to bed, or right after your cool down after your workout.

[Hakkola]

Originally posted by hockeybronx
Yes it is fine to take them separately. For best results I would recommend:

:rofl:

I'm asking if it's ok to take them together.

[hockeybronx]

Originally posted by Hakkola


:rofl:

I'm asking if it's ok to take them together.

Copy that:banghead:

[1-Bar]

WHOOO LOTS OF INFO....


Originally posted by YCB
Generally people do a loading phase where they take about 20-25 grams of creatine a day for like 5-7 days, so they have "extra" creatine in their bodies. Then after that about 5 grams a day which is a kind of maitainence phase.

I've read a lot of papers on the loading phase of the creatine cycle. It is true that they have more creatine in the system, but after a 2 weeks of a loading phase vs. during regular routine workouts, the amount of creatine found in the muscles in the same. So the only thing the loading phase is good for (long term) is going back to the store and buying somemore.


Originally posted by 1badPT

With the amount of times you're working out, you quite possibly are overtraining.

I agree :thumbsup: Overtraining is much more worse then undertraining.....tires your body, you can get injured, muscles don't heal in time and your mose suceptable to infection.


Originally posted by 1-Cent
It all depends on your body type as far as dietary requirements go (ie: T3/T4 production aka the speed of your metabolism). A natural and hobbyist lifter can get away with 1g /lb of bodymass, I wouldn't go any lower than that, 1.5g /lb would be much better and put to good use.

great info....I would agree. If you surpass 4.0g/lb your either intaking too much protien or your a body-builder.


Originally posted by Hakkola
I'm asking if it's ok to take them together.

hahhaa.....together in one shake should be fine. It all gets processed together in your stomach nehow. But you might feel a little blowted, that's a lot of liquid your taking in.


......now my opinion. I would take creating post workout sine you need to replenish your ATP stores post workout. Taking it prior to workout doesn't seem right, unless its 3-4 hours prior (since it takes that long to digest and work its way through to your muscle tissue). The point of creatine is to replensh the system so you can have proper workout energy next session vs. providing energy for that workout session.

As for protein intake, 1-cent pretty much hit the nail on the head on that one.....

[Hakkola]

The brand of creatine mixture suggest taking it before and after a work out, I work out at school and generally go before my afternoon classes so it's tough to have my creatine after workout, but I'll make the effort by carrying a bottle of supplements with me when I go to school.

Haha, just read hockeybronx again, now I don't know if I should take my protein in the morning/night or soon after workout. :rofl:

I guess everyone has their own opinions, and we'll see what works with my schedule I guess.

Biggest question was if I can mix creatine with my whey and I got a good answer, thanks! When I bought the whey at GNC I asked them if I could mix the stuff and all he said was, "I wouldn't."

[hockeybronx]

Originally posted by Hakkola
Haha, just read hockeybronx again, now I don't know if I should take my protein in the morning/night or soon after workout. :rofl:


Whenever you want. Man, do you want me to mix your shakes for you too? How about shining your shoes?


And you're buying your supplements at GNC? You are definitely getting ripped off:

www.supplementscanada.com

[Hakkola]

Originally posted by hockeybronx


Whenever you want. Man, do you want me to mix your shakes for you too? How about shining your shoes?

www.supplementscanada.com

Yeah, that sounds nice, I can't afford to pay you though, cuz I buy my supplements at GNC. ;)

Looks like a good site, but I hate buying things over the internet. Thanks though.

[RX-7_TWINTURBO]

Originally posted by Hakkola


Yeah, that sounds nice, I can't afford to pay you though, cuz I buy my supplements at GNC. ;)

Looks like a good site, but I hate buying things over the internet. Thanks though.
then buy them at popeyes

[ecstasy_civic]

Originally posted by RX-7_TWINTURBO

then buy them at popeyes


:werd:

good prices!

[Hakkola]

I buy my stuff at GNC because it's a 10 second walk from work. However I'll check out popeyes next month when I need more stuff, if it's not too far out of my way.

[1-Cent]

Originally posted by Hakkola
I buy my stuff at GNC because it's a 10 second walk from work. However I'll check out popeyes next month when I need more stuff, if it's not too far out of my way.

Free shipping when you buy over $100, why even waste the gas when you could have it come to your door.