Creatine - Anyone use?

ShampooIsBetter

Preface Qs:

1 - Is this the correct place to discuss supplements?
2 - When discussing such things, are we allowed to mention specific name brands? I know there are rules here against pitching products.

Anyway, my creatine just arrived. The label suggests two scoops per day. I am going to start off with one. I am interested in building/maintaining muscle, but I am not training to go into the UFC or anything. Everything I have read about it suggests it is a legal little brother to sterroids, something that will allow me to train harder and longer with less soreness and recovery time. I wont get the same results as roids, but I'm not looking for that. Just something to help me make one more step up in my daily workout routine.

Anyone use this stuff? Any success stories?

WERTZ9

creatine is a legal supplement. it pushes water/ blood into your muscles when lifting thus pushing the nutrients for them to repair into the muscles. You may experience stomach bloat from the water retention, but it is a very good supplement.

BR1986FB

Creatine can be very effective especially when you first start using it. Some suggest you load it, some don't. I personally don't.

crystalmichelle82

I dont use creatine so i dont have any personal experience with that but my research and from seeing other people's transformations, i have seen that Shakeology works to build muscle and lose weight. I wont push this on anyone but if you have any questions, message me or check out links on my profile. You will find what works for you but always try and do your research first.

ShampooIsBetter

Some suggest you load it

what does that mean?

BR1986FB

Some suggest you load it

what does that mean?

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/anssi1.htm

littlebones14

Creatine is effective and safe according to nearly every study ever published on it.

A loading phase isn't really required. 5-10 g/day is plenty sufficient. I use creatine pills myself (same *kitten*, different pile), and they work quite well. Creatine is involved in energy production, and it causes a small amount of water retention in the muscles. It will allow you to maintain a high exercise intensity for a slightly extended period (i.e. if you can bench 100 lbs for 15 reps, taking creatine you could probably hit 20).

RangerSteve

Preface Qs:

1 - Is this the correct place to discuss supplements?
2 - When discussing such things, are we allowed to mention specific name brands? I know there are rules here against pitching products.

Anyway, my creatine just arrived. The label suggests two scoops per day. I am going to start off with one. I am interested in building/maintaining muscle, but I am not training to go into the UFC or anything. Everything I have read about it suggests it is a legal little brother to sterroids, something that will allow me to train harder and longer with less soreness and recovery time. I wont get the same results as roids, but I'm not looking for that. Just something to help me make one more step up in my daily workout routine.

Anyone use this stuff? Any success stories?

Ugh.

Creatine is NOT a little brother to steroids. Whoever told you that is fear mongering. Creatine works on a cellular level to help produce ATP when the body uses it through glycolysis.

ATP = energy used by the cells

ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate)
Adenosine
Phosphate
Phosphate
Phosphate

^

---

When you exercise by doing things such as sprints or lifting weights, your body uses glycolysis to produce the energy necessary to complete the exercise. This usually runs out after about 10-12 seconds depending on numerous factors. Your body breaks down the phosphate to produce the energy. Creatine-phosphate is then shuttled in to replace the broken down phosphate bonds. When you take creatine, it saturates the levels in your body so the extra phosphate can be shuttled in to help you get through those tough sprints or weight lifting sessions. All it does is improve your immediate and anaerobic energy system.

It has nothing to do with steroids.
It doesn't need to be loaded (supplement companies push it to sell more product)
You can get by at around 3.5g - 5g a day.
All meat products, especially beef, already contain creatine so you also get it from there.

If you're not working out with weights or doing sprints, creatine supplementation will most likely produce no results. This is because different energy systems are used depending on what type of exercise you're doing. I know it's probably confusing and it's hard to explain without drawing a bunch of pictures but PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not propagate the myth that creatine has anything to do with steroids.

littlebones14

Preface Qs:

1 - Is this the correct place to discuss supplements?
2 - When discussing such things, are we allowed to mention specific name brands? I know there are rules here against pitching products.

Anyway, my creatine just arrived. The label suggests two scoops per day. I am going to start off with one. I am interested in building/maintaining muscle, but I am not training to go into the UFC or anything. Everything I have read about it suggests it is a legal little brother to sterroids, something that will allow me to train harder and longer with less soreness and recovery time. I wont get the same results as roids, but I'm not looking for that. Just something to help me make one more step up in my daily workout routine.

Anyone use this stuff? Any success stories?

Ugh.

Creatine is NOT a little brother to steroids. Whoever told you that is fear mongering. Creatine works on a cellular level to help produce ATP when the body uses it through glycolysis.

ATP = energy used by the cells

ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate)
Adenosine
Phosphate
Phosphate
Phosphate

^

---

When you exercise by doing things such as sprints or lifting weights, your body uses glycolysis to produce the energy necessary to complete the exercise. This usually runs out after about 10-12 seconds depending on numerous factors. Your body breaks down the phosphate to produce the energy. Creatine-phosphate is then shuttled in to replace the broken down phosphate bonds. When you take creatine, it saturates the levels in your body so the extra phosphate can be shuttled in to help you get through those tough sprints or weight lifting sessions. All it does is improve your immediate and anaerobic energy system.

It has nothing to do with steroids.
It doesn't need to be loaded (supplement companies push it to sell more product)
You can get by at around 3.5g - 5g a day.
All meat products, especially beef, already contain creatine so you also get it from there.

If you're not working out with weights or doing sprints, creatine supplementation will most likely produce no results. This is because different energy systems are used depending on what type of exercise you're doing. I know it's probably confusing and it's hard to explain without drawing a bunch of pictures but PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not propagate the myth that creatine has anything to do with steroids.

The ATP the body requires to perform glycolysis is produced during glycolysis. Creatine is functional only in the ATP-CP system, which will at very most, in highly trained athletes, reached up to 15 seconds before functionality dramatically decreases as glycolysis takes over.

End6ame

Some suggest you load it

what does that mean?

You say you have read about it, but yet you don’t know what loading is? I don’t mean to sound like a d*ck, but you should really do a lot more research before you purchase and use any supplement, especially if some moron tells you it is like steroids.

That being said, creatine is legal, safe, and effective, however there are some things to be aware of.

How it works:
In short (very short actually), creatine works by ensuring more energy is available for muscle contractions. Creatine also helps in the synthesis of protein, which further promotes muscle growth and development. (This is a very, very watered down and oversimplified explanation, you should research it more)

Side Effects:
Some people have reported symptoms of bloat and crapping while on creatine cycles; I personally have had neither. You need to ensure that you are drinking more water than usual while on creatine, to offset any possibility of muscle cramps. The reports of liver/kidney/heart damage as a result of creatine are not substantiated by any actual evidence

Dosage:
Refer to the dosage table here:
http://www.nutritionexpress.com/article+index/vitamins+supplements+a-z/creatine/showarticle.aspx?articleid=61

You can cycle creatine using a loading phase and four to five weeks of maintenance phase or you can simply jump to a maintenance phase and take it for a longer period of time. There is no evidence that cycling on and off creatine is actually needed, though some say that if you stay on it for longer periods of time you can build up a tolerance to it and it will become less effective. I personally cycle it simply because I don’t like the idea of using a supplement 100% of the time.

Also it is recommended to take creatine with a fast digesting carb; grape juice and apple juice are commonly used for this.

Hope that helps.

ShampooIsBetter

My statement was that both products are designed to help me (as i said) "train harder and longer with less soreness and recovery time."

That's the only link I made. The way it was presented to me was that some people use it as a safer, legal alternative to sterroids. I dont think I am fueling any myths in those statements, nor do I think I am saying anything that is factually incorrect.

RangerSteve

The ATP the body requires to perform glycolysis is produced during glycolysis. Creatine is functional only in the ATP-CP system, which will at very most, in highly trained athletes, reached up to 15 seconds before functionality dramatically decreases as glycolysis takes over.

I should have made the distinction between the immediate and anaerobic energy systems in the first place but it's hard to do with text and not drawing pictures.

Also, the link between ATP and CP is closely related anyway since ATP breaks down to ADP which is then refueled (for lack of a better word) by CP. See now, this is getting way overboard for the subject.

But yes, you are correct, I should have been more detailed on glycolysis since it uses glucose to produce ATP on its own. (although in very small amounts)

ShampooIsBetter

With my order, the supplement company included one serving of something called "Muscle Marinade". It's designed to be taken before a workout and it supposed to help you workout harder and longer. I will admit I did have a lot of energy and my muscles didnt get at all tired doing my normal workout, but it made me so bloated that I had to leave the gym before I was "good and tired". I just dont see how I will ever be able to drink that stuff (and eight ounces of water) before a workout without feeling sick. I thought I was going to throw up several times.

Any suggestions for a way to recreate that "high" without the added watery bloat?

ShampooIsBetter

Bump.

And I still feel sick. NEVER again using this Muscle Marinade stuff. Any alternatives?

kassandra1717

Bump

RangerSteve

Bump.

And I still feel sick. NEVER again using this Muscle Marinade stuff. Any alternatives?

1.3.7-trimethylxanthine;

2-amino-4-methylhexane

^----That is what's in Muscle Marinade. The first ingredient is caffeine. The second ingredient is geranium oil. The geranium oil enhances the affect of caffeine so if you're even remotely caffeine sensitive, this can play havoc on your body. Even if you aren't caffeine sensitive, maaaany people report side effects of geranium oil (also found as -1 3 dimethylamylamine- in many supplements). You should probably avoid supplements that have this ingredient and see if that works for you.

ShampooIsBetter

terrible, terrible night. i have all kinds of ideas about how to redo my bathroom now that i spent so much time in there.

BR1986FB

Any workout supplement with the word "marinade" in it just doesn't sound right to me. :happy:

Lance76

just be careful not to dehydrate yourself while taking creatine... i'm talking to extreme levels as if you were weighing in for a boxing/mma match and dropping 15 lbs of water..

it's a bad combination