sorry, a supplement question :)

kindrabbit

Hi

A little background - I am a 42 yr old woman. I've been training for 2.5 yrs. In the last 6 months I have been doing the compound lifts 5X5 and concentrating on hypertrophy. I have seen some gains in size and/or fat loss, especially in my shoulders, even though I'm eating at a deficit.

I currently take Arnold Iron whey. I have the vanilla which is yummy. I don't take it every day. It used to just be on days when I didn't hit my protein goal (around 120g) but I am on a budget and as the jar has got emptier I take it less often as I don't have a spare £30 for another tub right now.

My question isn't really about that though. As I get close to my goal weight (4lb to go!!) and move into maintaining/gaining some size I have been wondering if I would benefit from some creatine. I have been doing a bit of googling in preparation for the next stage and was hoping to find a product with protein and creatine in it but I cant seem to find anything - they all seem to be separate tubs.

Does anyone have any advice and/or recommendations

usmcmp

http://examine.com/supplements/Creatine/

You can mix your creatine in with a shake or into coffee. Creatine can improve recovery and gives you just a little extra in the gym since it provides additional phosphates (a building block for energy).

DavPul

Creatine will probably help your lifts, but not your ultimate goal weight. Tendency is to store more water weight.

DavPul

Oh, and why are you apologizing?

kindrabbit

DavPul wrote: »

Oh, and why are you apologizing?

Lol, its my nature! I was worried that the question had been asked before but couldn't find anything in the search function. Thanks for your reply. Goal weight is a tricky thing. I know that the number on the scale doesn't matter and that my appearance and strength are the important things but I still have the goal to get to that magic number, just because that is the goal I set so long ago. It seems crazy to not get there when I am so close, even though my goals have evolved over that time. Once this last 4lbs have gone I can tick that goal off and concentrate on the next goal - getting ripped and ditching the scale!

Sam_I_Am77

kindrabbit wrote: »

Hi

A little background - I am a 42 yr old woman. I've been training for 2.5 yrs. In the last 6 months I have been doing the compound lifts 5X5 and concentrating on hypertrophy. I have seen some gains in size and/or fat loss, especially in my shoulders, even though I'm eating at a deficit.

I currently take Arnold Iron whey. I have the vanilla which is yummy. I don't take it every day. It used to just be on days when I didn't hit my protein goal (around 120g) but I am on a budget and as the jar has got emptier I take it less often as I don't have a spare £30 for another tub right now.

My question isn't really about that though. As I get close to my goal weight (4lb to go!!) and move into maintaining/gaining some size I have been wondering if I would benefit from some creatine. I have been doing a bit of googling in preparation for the next stage and was hoping to find a product with protein and creatine in it but I cant seem to find anything - they all seem to be separate tubs.

Does anyone have any advice and/or recommendations

Creatine will more or less help improve your strength training performance and like davpul said, you may gain some water weight in the process but how noticeable will depend on you. I'm not aware of any protein / creatine combination. Stand-alone creatine mono is dirt-cheap and you can always mix it with the protein of your choice. Honestly, if a company did combine the two it would just give them an excuse to gouge you on the price so you're better off buying the separate.

usmcmp

kindrabbit wrote: »

DavPul wrote: »

Oh, and why are you apologizing?

Lol, its my nature! I was worried that the question had been asked before but couldn't find anything in the search function. Thanks for your reply. Goal weight is a tricky thing. I know that the number on the scale doesn't matter and that my appearance and strength are the important things but I still have the goal to get to that magic number, just because that is the goal I set so long ago. It seems crazy to not get there when I am so close, even though my goals have evolved over that time. Once this last 4lbs have gone I can tick that goal off and concentrate on the next goal - getting ripped and ditching the scale!

I would hold off on starting creatine until you hit that number. Creatine adds water weight because it stores water in your muscles.

hrtchoco

I find creatine makes me less sore the next day.

DavPul

usmcmp wrote: »

kindrabbit wrote: »

DavPul wrote: »

Oh, and why are you apologizing?

Lol, its my nature! I was worried that the question had been asked before but couldn't find anything in the search function. Thanks for your reply. Goal weight is a tricky thing. I know that the number on the scale doesn't matter and that my appearance and strength are the important things but I still have the goal to get to that magic number, just because that is the goal I set so long ago. It seems crazy to not get there when I am so close, even though my goals have evolved over that time. Once this last 4lbs have gone I can tick that goal off and concentrate on the next goal - getting ripped and ditching the scale!

I would hold off on starting creatine until you hit that number. Creatine adds water weight because it stores water in your muscles.

Either ditch the creatine until you hit the magic number or ditch the magic number and hit the creatine. Either option works for me

kwtilbury

Creatine is easily the most researched and supported supplement out there. It's also super cheap.

Buy creatine monohydrate (Creapure brand if you want to get fancy). You should be able to find it for around $0.10-$0.20 per serving. Less if you do your research.

kindrabbit

whats the difference between micronised and monohydrate?

rainbowbow

kindrabbit wrote: »

whats the difference between micronised and monohydrate?

Micronized is a fine powder which is highly soluble and alleviates most of the gastrointestinal effects of creatine monohydrate. I'll use an analogy i've seen before; imagine the difference between granulated sugar (non-micronized) and powdered sugar (micronized). Both are creatine monohydrate though.

As far as a protein WITH creatine? I dont know of any.

I prefer to take my creatine either in a preworkout supplement with BCAAs, or first thing in the morning in some juice. So i either buy the ultra cheap plain ol' creatine monohydrate or it's included in my preworkout.

Lastly, i would ditch the idea of hitting that 4 pound goal if you want to start creatine. I gain around 6 pounds when on/off creatine.

999tigger

Agree with what Davpaul and the others have said. Creatine works to retain water in muscles so you will gain weight.

There are 2 types of creatine, the original was monohydrate which takes a few weeks to start getting to maximum effect and build up in your body or the more efficient ethyl ester which gets into your body much faster and you cna take pre workout becayse you need less of it. All the studies I read show that monohydrate is just as effective and its often a lot cheaper.

There are lots of proteins with creatine, but they are normally in the all in one or recovery ranges of things they manufacture. They just contain a bog standard dose of 5g of creatine.

kindrabbit

rainbowbow wrote: »

kindrabbit wrote: »

whats the difference between micronised and monohydrate?

Micronized is a fine powder which is highly soluble and alleviates most of the gastrointestinal effects of creatine monohydrate. I'll use an analogy i've seen before; imagine the difference between granulated sugar (non-micronized) and powdered sugar (micronized). Both are creatine monohydrate though.

As far as a protein WITH creatine? I dont know of any.

I prefer to take my creatine either in a preworkout supplement with BCAAs, or first thing in the morning in some juice. So i either buy the ultra cheap plain ol' creatine monohydrate or it's included in my preworkout.

Lastly, i would ditch the idea of hitting that 4 pound goal if you want to start creatine. I gain around 6 pounds when on/off creatine.

Oh that 4lb is coming off, if I have to loose a foot! It's a goal I set myself 2.5 yrs and 4 stone ago. I would be crazy not to hit 140lb when I am so close. I know I will gain with the creatine and am mentally preparing myself for it. I wont start the creatine until I get there. Once I loose the 4lbs I plan to let go of the attachment to the scale and start my new phase and gain muscle/weight.

I really appreciate everyones advice. I dont have a trainer so get all my advice and do all my research on-line. It's great to have somewhere to come where people understand where I am coming from.

DavPul

I'm by no means telling you that hitting that 140 goal isn't an awesome achievement, but I wouldn't marry myself to an arbitrary number that I set almost 3 years ago. It was a number where you guessed you'd look goof or feel good, but it's just a guess. If at some point along your journey you started lifting or increased your training, differences in LBM could make a big difference in what 140 looks like on a person. For myself my GW will changed based on if I want to look a certain way, play a certain sport, or achieve a particular thing. My number changes and I try not to get married to a number just because of....reasons.

Again, I'm not saying don't hit 140. I'm just saying don't get married to it. Especially if your plan is to change course the second you hit it.

kindrabbit

The journey has been a strange one. 2.5 yrs ago I was 56 lbs overweight having not done any exercise for 20 years. I hit 40 and joined slimming world and did the couch to 5k running programme. From there I joined the gym and from the start I was interested in lifting. I did a full body programme along with the jogging and did some circuit training classes but it wasn't until about 6 months ago that I really started concentrating on the compound lifts and getting my form down. I ruptured my rotator cuff and was unable to back squat for almost a year so that slowed progress but I'm back on it now and am working on my flexibility as I'd like to add OLY lifts to my routine. (I just think they look so cool!!)

I do understand what you're saying though. If I was purely interested in aesthetics (and I was 15 years younger) I would be aiming for 125 but I will be 43 this year and a flat tummy isn't my goal. I want to be healthy and strong!

I still have that weight loss goal in my head though and I guess you could say I'm married to it. I'm certainly committed to it. Doesn't it seem crazy to get 4 lbs from goal and not hit it? that's - what? - 2 weeks away? I really want to tick that box and say I did it. I hit my target. I wanted to be 10 stone and a size 10 and I am so close I would be crazy to not got there now.

When I get there I will most certainly be gaining some weight - mostly because I am so sick of eating at a deficit!- and along with some fat I hope to gain some muscle. I'm hoping the creatine will help with that.

I know that 140 is no more of an achievement than 144 but when you are so close to the goal you have had in your mind for so long I would kick myself forever if I didnt get there. I will have my camera in my hand and as soon as I have evidence that I hit target I will ditch the scale! then I have to learn a whole new way of life and have faith that my training will let me maintain and gain as I want!! The plan is to recomp - gain muscle and loose fat and maintain weight, all very slowly over 6-8 months. I will re evaluate things after that although I am pretty flexible. As long as I don't put on a load of fat (and I cant see me doing that now I have changed my lifestyle) I'll be happy.