Considering Creatine

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  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,483 Member
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    Thanks for the heads up on the insomnia @Gisel2015.
    Since I am doing it in the morning I hope I won't be bothered.

    Cheers, h.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,136 Member
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    Keep me posted Heather, I was thinking in trying again but my beauty sleep is important to me and the way my old joints are behaving lately, I don't know if it would be a wise decision to go back to creatine. I did take the HCl version because I don't like the powder form. I don't do smoothies or oatmeal, so maybe that was the problem.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,977 Member
    edited January 2018
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    Creatine is rocket fuel for vegetarians, and may not be as effective as a supplement to people who already get some from their food.

    I eat a lot of protein in the form of meat and seafood which are prime sources for creatine. This is probably why I saw no additional benefit taking creatine as a supplement.

    Just no noticeable effect - good or bad. Stopped taking 5g daily after 3-5 months.

  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    I'd go with the latter (from reading the thread), you get enough in your diet @Anvil_Head.

    Though I am not vegetarian my meat and fish consumption is probably less than average. I'm hoping it will give me a bit of a boost with recovery.

    Cheers, h v

    It's certainly worth a try. The results have been documented in numerous scientific studies - there's ample proof that it works (at least for some, maybe most) and ample proof that there are no negative side effects associated with it. It's one of the few supplements on the market that's actually worth trying and it's pretty inexpensive.
  • fb47
    fb47 Posts: 1,058 Member
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    So I'm really looking for people's opinion on taking creatine. Did you have much luck with it? And also what changes did you notice after you stopped taking creatine? Also brands you recommend.

    A little background on me, I'm 21 year old male 180 pounds 5'8". I'm currently working on building strength (muscle size isn't my focus, my actual strength is). I don't care too much about my weight on the scale. I'm working on building muscle for the next 2 months before I do a cut for the summer and try to lower my b.f%. I lift hard on a 5 day split and eat a moderate calorie surplus. The suppliments I currently take are a multivitamin, bcaa during my workout, and I have protien powder I take when I'm going going to hit my protien goals.

    Didn't read what everyone else have said, but creatine is known and scientifically proven to work. For the price they cost, it's worth it. Make sure it's monohydrate. I would ditch the BCAA's, you don't need it and they are useless, here is a scientific research basically showing what a waste of money they are ( https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-016-0128-9 )
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    edited January 2018
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    brizzlar wrote: »
    sgt1372 wrote: »
    brizzlar wrote: »
    My friend is currently training to be a kidney specialist (already a medical doctor ). She advised me to avoid using creatine. That's now my advice too.

    Why?

    More specifically, what are the medical reasons not to use creatine? I'll look up the topic on the Net in the meantime to see if I can find the precautions/concerns there. Thanks.

    Not sure mate, all I know is it impacts the kidneys negatively.

    No, it might effect someone like myself with kidney disease. It's does not effect them on it's own to a normally functional kidney.
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
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    fb47 wrote: »
    So I'm really looking for people's opinion on taking creatine. Did you have much luck with it? And also what changes did you notice after you stopped taking creatine? Also brands you recommend.

    A little background on me, I'm 21 year old male 180 pounds 5'8". I'm currently working on building strength (muscle size isn't my focus, my actual strength is). I don't care too much about my weight on the scale. I'm working on building muscle for the next 2 months before I do a cut for the summer and try to lower my b.f%. I lift hard on a 5 day split and eat a moderate calorie surplus. The suppliments I currently take are a multivitamin, bcaa during my workout, and I have protien powder I take when I'm going going to hit my protien goals.

    Didn't read what everyone else have said, but creatine is known and scientifically proven to work. For the price they cost, it's worth it. Make sure it's monohydrate. I would ditch the BCAA's, you don't need it and they are useless, here is a scientific research basically showing what a waste of money they are ( https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-016-0128-9 )

    Well, technically you do need BCAA's since they are all EAAs but you don't need them as separate supplements beyond protein. One of the early studies, that is sited on examine.com, was sponsored by a company that was being sold that was obviously bogus since it involved trained lifters that made very impressive gains during the study and these gains were indicative of heavy drug use. This, of course, was the 500lb gorilla that was never addressed.
  • GainsLevelIncreased
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    So I'm really looking for people's opinion on taking creatine. Did you have much luck with it? And also what changes did you notice after you stopped taking creatine? Also brands you recommend.

    A little background on me, I'm 21 year old male 180 pounds 5'8". I'm currently working on building strength (muscle size isn't my focus, my actual strength is). I don't care too much about my weight on the scale. I'm working on building muscle for the next 2 months before I do a cut for the summer and try to lower my b.f%. I lift hard on a 5 day split and eat a moderate calorie surplus. The suppliments I currently take are a multivitamin, bcaa during my workout, and I have protien powder I take when I'm going going to hit my protien goals.

    Creatine is a great supplement, I like HCL. Monohydrate is good, tends to bloat people a bit, but if you can deal with the bloating, take the Monohydrate. It'll definitely put some size on you and you will get stronger over time. You'll see noticeable improvements in strength and size within 4 weeks. Monohydrate and HCL both should be taken pre and post workout. Monohydrate calls for 5g before and after, where HCL is more like 2-3 grams before and after.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    So I'm really looking for people's opinion on taking creatine. Did you have much luck with it? And also what changes did you notice after you stopped taking creatine? Also brands you recommend.

    A little background on me, I'm 21 year old male 180 pounds 5'8". I'm currently working on building strength (muscle size isn't my focus, my actual strength is). I don't care too much about my weight on the scale. I'm working on building muscle for the next 2 months before I do a cut for the summer and try to lower my b.f%. I lift hard on a 5 day split and eat a moderate calorie surplus. The suppliments I currently take are a multivitamin, bcaa during my workout, and I have protien powder I take when I'm going going to hit my protien goals.

    Creatine is a great supplement, I like HCL. Monohydrate is good, tends to bloat people a bit, but if you can deal with the bloating, take the Monohydrate. It'll definitely put some size on you and you will get stronger over time. You'll see noticeable improvements in strength and size within 4 weeks. Monohydrate and HCL both should be taken pre and post workout. Monohydrate calls for 5g before and after, where HCL is more like 2-3 grams before and after.

    Got any research to support that?

    Creatine works by saturation - the effects are chronic rather than acute. Timing of creatine intake is completely and totally irrelevant.
  • GainsLevelIncreased
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    AnvilHead wrote: »
    So I'm really looking for people's opinion on taking creatine. Did you have much luck with it? And also what changes did you notice after you stopped taking creatine? Also brands you recommend.

    A little background on me, I'm 21 year old male 180 pounds 5'8". I'm currently working on building strength (muscle size isn't my focus, my actual strength is). I don't care too much about my weight on the scale. I'm working on building muscle for the next 2 months before I do a cut for the summer and try to lower my b.f%. I lift hard on a 5 day split and eat a moderate calorie surplus. The suppliments I currently take are a multivitamin, bcaa during my workout, and I have protien powder I take when I'm going going to hit my protien goals.

    Creatine is a great supplement, I like HCL. Monohydrate is good, tends to bloat people a bit, but if you can deal with the bloating, take the Monohydrate. It'll definitely put some size on you and you will get stronger over time. You'll see noticeable improvements in strength and size within 4 weeks. Monohydrate and HCL both should be taken pre and post workout. Monohydrate calls for 5g before and after, where HCL is more like 2-3 grams before and after.

    Got any research to support that?

    Creatine works by saturation - the effects are chronic rather than acute. Timing of creatine intake is completely and totally irrelevant.

    I take it where it is combined with a pre and post workout formula. So if you take it straight, you're correct. Doesn't matter when you consume it, I still would take it pre and post tho..
  • fb47
    fb47 Posts: 1,058 Member
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    fb47 wrote: »
    So I'm really looking for people's opinion on taking creatine. Did you have much luck with it? And also what changes did you notice after you stopped taking creatine? Also brands you recommend.

    A little background on me, I'm 21 year old male 180 pounds 5'8". I'm currently working on building strength (muscle size isn't my focus, my actual strength is). I don't care too much about my weight on the scale. I'm working on building muscle for the next 2 months before I do a cut for the summer and try to lower my b.f%. I lift hard on a 5 day split and eat a moderate calorie surplus. The suppliments I currently take are a multivitamin, bcaa during my workout, and I have protien powder I take when I'm going going to hit my protien goals.

    Didn't read what everyone else have said, but creatine is known and scientifically proven to work. For the price they cost, it's worth it. Make sure it's monohydrate. I would ditch the BCAA's, you don't need it and they are useless, here is a scientific research basically showing what a waste of money they are ( https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-016-0128-9 )

    Well, technically you do need BCAA's since they are all EAAs but you don't need them as separate supplements beyond protein. One of the early studies, that is sited on examine.com, was sponsored by a company that was being sold that was obviously bogus since it involved trained lifters that made very impressive gains during the study and these gains were indicative of heavy drug use. This, of course, was the 500lb gorilla that was never addressed.

    I was talking about BCAA'S supplements alone, in the grand scheme of things, buying the supplement vs what it costs, it's definitely not worth it.
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
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    fb47 wrote: »
    fb47 wrote: »
    So I'm really looking for people's opinion on taking creatine. Did you have much luck with it? And also what changes did you notice after you stopped taking creatine? Also brands you recommend.

    A little background on me, I'm 21 year old male 180 pounds 5'8". I'm currently working on building strength (muscle size isn't my focus, my actual strength is). I don't care too much about my weight on the scale. I'm working on building muscle for the next 2 months before I do a cut for the summer and try to lower my b.f%. I lift hard on a 5 day split and eat a moderate calorie surplus. The suppliments I currently take are a multivitamin, bcaa during my workout, and I have protien powder I take when I'm going going to hit my protien goals.

    Didn't read what everyone else have said, but creatine is known and scientifically proven to work. For the price they cost, it's worth it. Make sure it's monohydrate. I would ditch the BCAA's, you don't need it and they are useless, here is a scientific research basically showing what a waste of money they are ( https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-016-0128-9 )

    Well, technically you do need BCAA's since they are all EAAs but you don't need them as separate supplements beyond protein. One of the early studies, that is sited on examine.com, was sponsored by a company that was being sold that was obviously bogus since it involved trained lifters that made very impressive gains during the study and these gains were indicative of heavy drug use. This, of course, was the 500lb gorilla that was never addressed.

    I was talking about BCAA'S supplements alone, in the grand scheme of things, buying the supplement vs what it costs, it's definitely not worth it.

    True, actually pretty much every supplement is just overpriced and unnecessary. Even the much vaunted creatine will result in pretty much zero difference for the vast majority of people because they aren't going to be pushing themselves hard enough to need the extra rep or two. Even those who can benefit from it would see minimal difference but those are elites and they survive by accumulating small advantages.
  • JAYxMSxPES
    JAYxMSxPES Posts: 193 Member
    edited January 2018
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    Chieflrg wrote: »
    brizzlar wrote: »
    sgt1372 wrote: »
    brizzlar wrote: »
    My friend is currently training to be a kidney specialist (already a medical doctor ). She advised me to avoid using creatine. That's now my advice too.

    Why?

    More specifically, what are the medical reasons not to use creatine? I'll look up the topic on the Net in the meantime to see if I can find the precautions/concerns there. Thanks.

    Not sure mate, all I know is it impacts the kidneys negatively.

    No, it might effect someone like myself with kidney disease. It's does not effect them on it's own to a normally functional kidney.

    Correct. There are longitudinal studies on individuals with healthy renal function and the studies strongly suggest no negative impact to renal function. Now, in the case of somebody that has problems with their kidneys; Creatine might very well be a bad decision. Unfortunately we will probably never see a study done on individuals with renal dysfunction using Creatine.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
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    Thanks for the heads up on the insomnia @Gisel2015.
    Since I am doing it in the morning I hope I won't be bothered.

    Cheers, h.

    like to hear how it goes for you. i don't take it so much for specific effects in the gym, though i think it does have some. my main reason is i'm just more physically comfortable on it. the water retention goes straight into your muscles, and my muscles like that sensation a lot.