Question about Creatine.

[SoSimpo]

Is creatine bad for you?
Do you lose the amount of muscle u gain after you stop taking it?
And do you guys recom cell-tech creatine?

Thanks!

[JordanAndrew]

You pretty much loose all your gains once you stop using creatine. All it is is water in your muscles.

[lellowrx7]

No its not bad for you, just stay hydrated.
Creatine helps your muscles absorb water giving you the boost and making you gain weight.
Try not to consume caffeine with it, its supposed to reduce the effectiveness.
Take it with grape juice, it releases insulin which helps absorb the creatine for max performance.
Try and mix with protein too for max effectiveness.

[SoSimpo]

Originally posted by lellowrx7
No its not bad for you, just stay hydrated. Creatine helps your muscles absorb water giving you the boost and making you gain weight. Try not to consume caffeine with it, its supposed to reduce the effectiveness. Take it with grape juice, it releases insulin which helps absorb the creatine for max performance. Try and mix with protein too for max effectiveness.

But the creatine im getting is already flavoured or does it matter if u take it with grape juice or like powerrade? Are you suppose to go for a cycle? or do u continue? thanks!

[lellowrx7]

It doesn't really matter i mean you could throw it in a protein shake or something, even plain water.
Its just grape is proven to release insulin into the body which would help to absorb the powder.
As for cycling, i don't really have a solid answer.
Some people say you should, some people say you shouldn't.
If you are gonna cycle do it properly, so Week 1 you load hard 20g a day, Week 2 - 4 10g a day, Week 5 - 8 no creatine.

[SoSimpo]

Originally posted by lellowrx7
It doesn't really matter i mean you could throw it in a protein shake or something, even plain water.
Its just grape is proven to release insulin into the body which would help to absorb the powder.
As for cycling, i don't really have a solid answer.
Some people say you should, some people say you shouldn't.
If you are gonna cycle do it properly, so Week 1 you load hard 20g a day, Week 2 - 4 10g a day, Week 5 - 8 no creatine.

Ahh thanks for the help !!
What if you cant work out during that day? do you still take it?

[lellowrx7]

Yeah you wanna keep a constant flow of it.
Even if you cant make it to the gym make sure you take the creatine.
Especially during the loading phase! haha

[SoSimpo]

Originally posted by lellowrx7
Yeah you wanna keep a constant flow of it.
Even if you cant make it to the gym make sure you take the creatine.
Especially during the loading phase! haha

haha thanks for the info!!

[wintonyk]

Straight from my Fitness and Sport Textbook:

4 equal doses of 5-7 g per day has been shown to significantly affect muscle creatine levels within 2 days. (short term or loading)

It has been shown that creatine combined with a simple carbohydrate (glucose) will increase creatine transport into the muscles via an insulin mediated effect.

Excessive amounts of creatine are not stored in the body but excreted unchanged as urine.

Benefits:
- Improvement in total and maximal force in repetitive isometric muscle contractions
- improvement in muscular strength and endurance in isotonic strength tests including 1rm tests
- improvement in muscular force/torque and endurance in isokinetic strength training
- improvement in cycle ergometer performance in maximal test ranging from 6-30 seconds

Coles notes:
- its safe
- simple sugar helps you absorb ie the grape juice already mentioned (grape juice without sugar added will be better than powerade imho opinion because it has more glucose (greater insulin spike) than fructose )


In my experience. Your loading phase you see gains quicker, but after 2 weeks it works out to be the same as just doing 5g /day vs 20/day for one week then decreasing.

I gained 15 lbs while on creatine and lost 10 when stoppped. I cycled twice. One was hard first week than 4 more then 3 rest. The second time i just did 5/day for 5 weeks and saw the same result.

May have to get on this again so i can hit 200

[SoSimpo]

Originally posted by wintonyk
Straight from my Fitness and Sport Textbook:

4 equal doses of 5-7 g per day has been shown to significantly affect muscle creatine levels within 2 days. (short term or loading)

It has been shown that creatine combined with a simple carbohydrate (glucose) will increase creatine transport into the muscles via an insulin mediated effect.

Excessive amounts of creatine are not stored in the body but excreted unchanged as urine.

Benefits:
- Improvement in total and maximal force in repetitive isometric muscle contractions
- improvement in muscular strength and endurance in isotonic strength tests including 1rm tests
- improvement in muscular force/torque and endurance in isokinetic strength training
- improvement in cycle ergometer performance in maximal test ranging from 6-30 seconds

Coles notes:
- its safe
- simple sugar helps you absorb ie the grape juice already mentioned (grape juice without sugar added will be better than powerade imho opinion because it has more glucose (greater insulin spike) than fructose )


In my experience. Your loading phase you see gains quicker, but after 2 weeks it works out to be the same as just doing 5g /day vs 20/day for one week then decreasing.

I gained 15 lbs while on creatine and lost 10 when stoppped. I cycled twice. One was hard first week than 4 more then 3 rest. The second time i just did 5/day for 5 weeks and saw the same result.

May have to get on this again so i can hit 200

Thanks for the information!
But do you still suggest that i should continue taking creatine ever day in my loading phase even if i cant make it to the gym?

[wintonyk]

Ya def. Your body requires about 2 g per day. And the typical diet consumes less than one. And almost zero for vegetarians. You need to replace your creatine every day otherwise you will lose the benefit of taking it.

Workout 4-5 days per week and take the creatine 7

[SoSimpo]

Originally posted by wintonyk
Ya def. Your body requires about 2 g per day. And the typical diet consumes less than one. And almost zero for vegetarians. You need to replace your creatine every day otherwise you will lose the benefit of taking it.

Workout 4-5 days per week and take the creatine 7

Alrighty, cuz today i only took 10G and i didnt work out..

[wintonyk]

I would hop back on for the 20g per day for the loading phase. Then bring it back down to 5-7.

The 2g I mentioned is just for normal without intense training. Consuming approx 1 and making the remainder endogenously.

[SoSimpo]

Originally posted by wintonyk
I would hop back on for the 20g per day for the loading phase. Then bring it back down to 5-7.

The 2g I mentioned is just for normal without intense training. Consuming approx 1 and making the remainder endogenously.

Alright, nice =]
Thnaks for the help

[Ronjacinto83]

I made so much gains using creatine and my performance got so much better in basketball, judo and bjj! But that jus maybe all in my head! Take it, you will like it!!!!

[Canucks3322]

This is the only legit, legal nutritional supplement I've ever taken that actually works for building muscle...even the protein powders you buy are packed with fillers...I worked in a Nutrition House store for a year on weekends so I know what I'm talking about.

It works by giving your muscles more "energy" essentially...and it makes your muscles look "bigger" by filling them up with water.

DO NOT use anything other than 100% pure creatine monohydrate, there was actually a video posted here on beyond a couple years ago about the industry and how all the new creatine products mixed with all this other stuff is pure marketing crap and how creatine has become so easy to manufacture that the companies had find new ways to package it and sell it for more...that's why you'll see all these "next generation" creatine products, don't buy that crap, all you need 100% pure creatine, you can get a bottle at Superstore for like 15 bucks and it'll work just as good as that big fancy, sparkly 80 dollar tub at Popeyes.

[gqmw]

I quickly scanned it, don't know if it was mentioned but you can take creatine mono with apple juice as well as grape juice. Putting it just in water isn't as effective for releasing all of its nutrients.

And as posted above, cell-tech and what not are a waste of money, cause just simple creatine monohydrate will do the exact same job, and each bottle will last you way longer.

One other thing is be sure to cycle it.

[duaner]

First time I ever used creatine was several years ago--plain creatine monohydrate. I never did a loading phase since a guy that I knew (was about 6' 2", 240) said that I would only excrete the extra.

So I did regular does from day 1 and after about 6-8 weeks (hard to remember) I went from 185lbs to 211. And I do not have the genes to put on mass easily. After I quit taking creatine, I lost 11 lbs and have never been below 200lbs since.

Last year I decided to try creatine again and when I went to get some, the guy asks if I wanted monohydrate or the new creatine which has all the extra stuff that is supposed to help. I decided on the newer stuff since it must be better but it really did nothing for me and had so much extra crap (upon closer reading of the label), that I decided it wasn't worth any risk from this largely unregulated industry.

So I gave that a break for quite a while and recently got back onto some regular 100% Monohydrate. And, btw, I did a bit of research and apparently taking it with Protein is just as good or better than with sugar (grape juice, etc.).

[wintonyk]

Originally posted by duaner

So I gave that a break for quite a while and recently got back onto some regular 100% Monohydrate. And, btw, I did a bit of research and apparently taking it with Protein is just as good or better than with sugar (grape juice, etc.).

This:

Originally posted by wintonyk
Straight from my Fitness and Sport Textbook:

It has been shown that creatine combined with a simple carbohydrate (glucose) will increase creatine transport into the muscles via an insulin mediated effect.

Creatine with glucose will increase absorption by about 60%. Protein won't have nearly that significant of an impact alone. But in combination will yield even further increase in plasma creatine. Protein will never have as significant on an impact on insulin as glucose. Link

[max_boost]

I've actually contemplated this. How are your strength gains after you get off of it?

I haven't stalled on my lifts yet but if I do, will be looking for that boost.