Creatine

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T-Man
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Creatine

Post by T-Man »

What's the real truth about Creatine? Is it good or bad?
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Boss Man
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Re: Creatine

Post by Boss Man »

You can overdose on Creatine if you take too much. Also it causes Water retention in many cases, os don't dtink alacohol when using it, as Alcohol dehydrates you.

As stated it won't do much for novice lifters, though it does affect power output and it also affects Phosphate energies too, by turning ATP, (Adenosine Tri-phosphate), into ADP, (Adenosine Di-Phosphate), so the muscle energy that helps muscles moves, provides the Phosphate yield which is useful, but that's all for novices really.

People who do long distance running sometimes take it, for the energy, but as it works better on explosive Fast Twitch Muscle Fibres, it is not much kop regards Slow Twitch, so the person couldn't necessarily use the increased power output, to push through the added water weight.

Monohydrate is the basic kind, but Kre-alkalyn is one of the better ones as is CEE, (Creatine Ethyl Esther). CEE came out about a year after Kre-alkalyn and supposedly required no cycling and caused no water retention.

Kre-alkalyn supposedly caused less water retention than Monohydrate, (around 2-4 lbs, instead of 6-10), but allowed for no cycling.

Frankly, cycle any Creatine, it's better for Kidney health.

Rumours abounded that Ethyl Esther was not 100% safe and wouldn't bypass Gut Enzymes, making the Esther bond strip off, so you ended up with a fancy monohydrate, but this was countered by accxusations it was a Kre-alkalyn manufacturer slurring the reputation of CEE, but I don't recall either thing being proven 100%.

Cretine Serums are crap. One big natural guy I haven't seen for a few years, took it once and all it did was give him the shakes, sweat more and one occassion fart so loudly and the Gym stank of Fish. He stopped using it.

Then some promoter of the MMA, (Muscle Marketing USA), brand, who were either marketing or distributing it in Germany, I think it was the Weider corporation, accused the company of not making it clear on the packaging, that Creatine doesn't stay stable in liquid and breaks down into Toxic Creatinine.

This was criticism of Serums from the getgo. I don't know how that turned out in the courts though, if indeed it went that far.

Don't waste your time with chewy Creatine lozenges or Gels, they're almost certainly crap as well.

Creatine can by cycled in several ways.

A: 3 weeks on 1 off.

B: 2 months on 1 off.

C: 3 months on, 1 off

You can do a 4 x 5 gram load for 5-7 days, thne a 5-10 g maintenance thereafter. Some say this speeds up results and muscle saturation, compared ot a 5g dose a day.

If you maintain on 10g and some do, give it a good 6+ hours between doses. Does 1 after workouts, but if you go to bed less than 6 hours after workouts, dose 2 in the morning.

Creatine can be consumed from Meat and Fish in around 2g a day.

Creatinine, the byproduct, is normal in men at around 0.7-1.2 ng/dl, (Nanograms per decilitre of blood), a Nanogram being a billionth of a gram. For females it's around 0.6-1-1 ng/dl.

A toxic amount is around 10 ng/dl, though I don't know specifics about conversion.

There may be a few other things I've neglected to mention or haven't researched, but that should inform you enough :).
ultimatehlth
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Re: Creatine

Post by ultimatehlth »

I agree with BossMan if you use it cycle it. I generally do 12 weeks on and 6 weeks off. Studies show you gain no advantage by loading so I take 2.5 - 3 grams 1 hour before working out and another equal serving within an hour of finishing. Within a month you will reach the same levels with less wasted in your urine, less stress on your Kidneys and less water retention.The idea is it should help you to crank out an extra rep or two. That extra stimulation should lead to further muscle hypertrophy. Done correctly you should see a 3-7 pound gain in lean body mass. Note that some of that is water in the muscle cells since creatine is cell volumizing.
Last edited by ultimatehlth on Mon Apr 28, 2014 7:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
scottgaran
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Re: Creatine

Post by scottgaran »

As has been indicated, creatine is a good supplement. It is however, really most useful for people that have trained a long time, and are looking for that little extra boost, as it can help you get that extra rep or two. For beginners, however, don't waste your money. Your body is already primed for growth. A better supplement would be protein.
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Zhaga
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Re: Creatine

Post by Zhaga »

I agree with scott. You should use whey as a beginner.... Creatine is more for later use...
Jayseven123
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Re: Creatine

Post by Jayseven123 »

Creatine is a great foundational supplement. I would recommend getting an ionized version of the mono hydrate to increase absorption while putting less into your body. You should always cycle on and off Creatine to give your body a chance to get back to normal.

I find good prices on Creatine at http://www.strongsupplementshope.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, they have a great selection and fast shipping.
JacksonJox
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Re: Creatine

Post by JacksonJox »

Has anyone ever read about creatine from the other perspective? I mean we all know about its effects on endurance, power increases, strength incerases, etc.

" The creatine supplement group scored 4 points more, on average, than their non-creatine counterparts on the Raven's progressive matrices test. "

What about increased brain performance, depression, and PTSD reduction? Check it out :)
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