Creatine???

getrealgirl

I am asking this ? for my 18 year old son. He is 6' 2'' 210 and very fit. He is currently in summer workout sessions for his Sr. year of football. He eats a variety of healthy foods and some of your typical teenage Ick. He is begging me to please let him use creatine to build up muscle faster. I know nothing! I am afraid of starting him on something that I really don't understand. I have been allowing whey protein and encouraging the lean meat and eggs. He insists that the other players who are supplementing with creatine are building up faster. Any real advice would be great. Most of what I am finding on the net is from ads and of course they are not going to tell me anything "bad".
TIA
A concerned mom

MuscleHeadNerd74

you don't need to worry its safe I been using it off and on for years and for the record there is food that has creatine in it like ground I think has like 5 grams in a 1lb i believe it's importatnt to drink lots of water with it

CrusaderSam

The real deal, is it will help a little bit if someone isn't getting enough in their diet. It doesn't help that much, most of the weight gained is in water and it doesn't even work at all for some people. I think its one of the most tested bodybuilding supplements and its not harmful.

The stuff you buy at your local gnc or what ever is nothing to even worry about. The problem is people lie all the time about how they get so much muscle so fast. A lot of times people will say oh I did this or that instead of just saying they are taking steroids. The fact that real creatine works so poorly its become a slang word.

So don't worry you son isn't going to turn in to Arnold overnight from taking this harmless mostly worthless stuff. Also hes 18 years old, you need to stop with this allowing nonsense, hes at the age where he should have already learned to make his own informed decisions for himself.

Hendrix7

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

^^ all you need to know

getrealgirl

The real deal, is it will help a little bit if someone isn't getting enough in their diet. It doesn't help that much, most of the weight gained is in water and it doesn't even work at all for some people. I think its one of the most tested bodybuilding supplements and its not harmful.

The stuff you buy at your local gnc or what ever is nothing to even worry about. The problem is people lie all the time about how they get so much muscle so fast. A lot of times people will say oh I did this or that instead of just saying they are taking steroids. The fact that real creatine works so poorly its become a slang word.

So don't worry you son isn't going to turn in to Arnold overnight from taking this harmless mostly worthless stuff. Also hes 18 years old, you need to stop with this allowing nonsense, hes at the age where he should have already learned to make his own informed decisions for himself.

getrealgirl

I am all for making his own decisions, but as long as I am still paying for his groceries (supplements included) and Dr. bills, I get input. ; )
I do sincerely appreciate the info.

tequilastuntman

In case you are just worried about taking creatine in form of a supplement powder:

1-2 decent steaks (contain creatine), implementing carb backloading and a gallon of water a day gave me similar results

Edit: I did not aim to really bulk up however, and most of the impact of supplements lies in the power of positive thinking really...

shmerek

As previously stated it is present in meat, it is just a component of food nothing dangerous. It is a food supplement.

getrealgirl

Great info on the website. Exactly what I was after!
Thanks for sharing!

Anniebotnen

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

^^ all you need to know

Thank you for this link! Good information!

HMVOL7409

If he wants to build muscle faster the tried and true way is through lifting and nutrition aka eating a lot. Creatine while safe and not a make or break supplement is not going to bring gains overnight or is some miracle drug that some claim it to be.

SunofaBeach14

Creatine is fine, and it does work (though it's not a miracle worker either), but make sure he is just using creatine monohydrate and avoiding the blends with who-knows-what in them.

neandermagnon

best advice to build muscle faster at his age is usually to eat more. GOMAD is what's recommended for young men getting into powerlifting (gallon of milk a day, i.e. in addition to regular large meals and a lot of protein) - i.e. traditional bullking with a calorie surplus. A calorie surplus is necessary to build muscle. Bulking does result in fat gain as well, but that's what cutting cycles are for (fat loss while maintaining lean mass).

Adolescent men have more testosterone in their system than fully grown men (18 is not fully grown, even if he's stopped growing in height his shoulders will still be growing and his long bones won't have all fused yet) so have more potential to build muscle in a calorie surplus. GOMAD (or any other diet that provides a similar calorie surplus) is not recommended for older men or women of any age (too big a surplus) - because young men have more testosterone then a calorie surplus plus adequate level of strength training results in more lean mass and less fat gain. Older men can't get the kinds of results adolescent and young adult men can, most of the surplus just becomes fat... women can't do this at any age. (older men and women can still gain lean mass and strength though... just the gains are limited and too big a surplus only ends up as fat gain)

no harm in him having creatine too, but check he's eating at a surplus because if he's not then his muscle gains will be held back by that, and creatine and anything else natural won't fix that.

mselihar

concerned mom: you have nothing to fear. Study after study has proven 5g of creatine daily, taken at any point during the day, is perfectly safe and beneficial for athletes.

likitisplit

best advice to build muscle faster at his age is usually to eat more. GOMAD is what's recommended for young men getting into powerlifting (gallon of milk a day, i.e. in addition to regular large meals and a lot of protein) - i.e. traditional bullking with a calorie surplus. A calorie surplus is necessary to build muscle. Bulking does result in fat gain as well, but that's what cutting cycles are for (fat loss while maintaining lean mass).

Adolescent men have more testosterone in their system than fully grown men (18 is not fully grown, even if he's stopped growing in height his shoulders will still be growing and his long bones won't have all fused yet) so have more potential to build muscle in a calorie surplus. GOMAD (or any other diet that provides a similar calorie surplus) is not recommended for older men or women of any age (too big a surplus) - because young men have more testosterone then a calorie surplus plus adequate level of strength training results in more lean mass and less fat gain. Older men can't get the kinds of results adolescent and young adult men can, most of the surplus just becomes fat... women can't do this at any age. (older men and women can still gain lean mass and strength though... just the gains are limited and too big a surplus only ends up as fat gain)

no harm in him having creatine too, but check he's eating at a surplus because if he's not then his muscle gains will be held back by that, and creatine and anything else natural won't fix that.

The technical term is "calorie partitioning". If I was your son, I'd stop by Taco Bell to get a snack in preparation for dinger.

LolBroScience

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

^^ all you need to know

This.

Best source for info on all supplements.

MityMax96

I am asking this ? for my 18 year old son. He is 6' 2'' 210 and very fit. He is currently in summer workout sessions for his Sr. year of football. He eats a variety of healthy foods and some of your typical teenage Ick. He is begging me to please let him use creatine to build up muscle faster. I know nothing! I am afraid of starting him on something that I really don't understand. I have been allowing whey protein and encouraging the lean meat and eggs. He insists that the other players who are supplementing with creatine are building up faster. Any real advice would be great. Most of what I am finding on the net is from ads and of course they are not going to tell me anything "bad".
TIA
A concerned mom

Creatine is fine
I started using it when I was 18-19.
I cycle on and off it. Currently off, will prolly start back on it in Aug.

You can get creatine from eating Beef.

And the examine.com link is a good place to read up on it

MityMax96

I also firmly agree with others.

Even at his age, and with his metabolism

A well balanced diet is the more important thing.....
He will benefit far more from having a proper diet in place, then he will adding a supplement to a crappy diet.

So for him and doing football.
Calories in are of primary importance.
Then hitting his macros will be beneficial....
I would say for him, hitting his BW in protein would be best....others will disagree adn that is fine....this is just my opinion.
His fats will prolly be in the area of 65 - 80 gr / day (minimum)
Then the rest of his calories he needs carbs, and a lot of them

getrealgirl

You all have been so helpful! I am helping him set up his own MFP today to track his progress. And... we are off to the store for MORE food and yes...some creatine. Now if anyone would like to contribute to my grocery fund...Ha Ha just joking!

dmpizza

What creatine does is "add water" to the muscles. This then enables you to work out longer, therefore you build more muscle..