Should I start using Creatine? And mini bulk question

tempest501

Hi all,

So the short story is been on a diet quite a while and weight loss stagnated so decided to go to maintenance for a couple of months maybe even a small surpluses to try go on a mini bulk as I am bored of not seeing myself grow any muscle. Now I still have some belly fat and a oil on love handle area but think some time off diet will be good to recuperate and hopefully can build muscle to help burn more fat when go back to deficit. Does this sound like sound logic?

Also, I was looking for some input about Creatine. Should I start using this and is it safe?

Thanks in advance for replys

mustgetmuscles1

You can start a bulk if you want to at anytime. Sometimes you just need a break from cutting weight especially if you have been on a calorie deficit for a long time.

Creatine is one of the most studied, safe and effective supplements out there BUT it is not necessary at all. Just go with pure creatine monohydrate from any company that you trust. It is also fairly cheap. Up to you if you take it or not but I would not expect any magical results from it.

seena511

realize too that your weight might shoot up a little more than you expect it to right away because creatine makes you retain hella water.

tempest501

You can start a bulk if you want to at anytime. Sometimes you just need a break from cutting weight especially if you have been on a calorie deficit for a long time.

Creatine is one of the most studied, safe and effective supplements out there BUT it is not necessary at all. Just go with pure creatine monohydrate from any company that you trust. It is also fairly cheap. Up to you if you take it or not but I would not expect any magical results from it.

Not expecting it to do anything spectacular but I heard helps with strength so figured would help lift heavier which will help build muscle faster. Does it have to be taken a certain way to work?

Jesse_Hunter

I'm a huge advocate of Intermittent fasting, and believe it or not I am the strongest when I lift in a fasted state.

That said, I have tried creatine and it isn't for me. I don't like feeling or looking poofy, also it's really important to keep your water intake up while cycling creatine.

This is going to come down to how you feel on it, and only you can find that out for yourself.

Lifting heavy even on a calorie surplus will do wonders for your body fat, more than you'd think, I say go for it!

tempest501

I'm a huge advocate of Intermittent fasting, and believe it or not I am the strongest when I lift in a fasted state.

That said, I have tried creatine and it isn't for me. I don't like feeling or looking poofy, also it's really important to keep your water intake up while cycling creatine.

This is going to come down to how you feel on it, and only you can find that out for yourself.

Lifting heavy even on a calorie surplus will do wonders for your body fat, more than you'd think, I say go for it!

I actually.use if too and two of my workout days are fasted and for the most part its fine. Might actually try without it first thing. A bit worried id mess up how's its done lol. I have been.lifting as heavy as I can while dieting anyway so.just hoping now going back to.maintenance or a little bit more can build some size up, specially my arms.

With a bit of luck in couple of months will make some gains that will help burn some body at. Is it ok to still do cardio? Since still have a lil cat hanging round.

P.s sorry for grammar replied on phone

ilovedeadlifts

You can start a bulk if you want to at anytime. Sometimes you just need a break from cutting weight especially if you have been on a calorie deficit for a long time.

Creatine is one of the most studied, safe and effective supplements out there BUT it is not necessary at all. Just go with pure creatine monohydrate from any company that you trust. It is also fairly cheap. Up to you if you take it or not but I would not expect any magical results from it.

All of this.

Creatine is cheap and I like taking it. It's worth a shot.

mustgetmuscles1

Not expecting it to do anything spectacular but I heard helps with strength so figured would help lift heavier which will help build muscle faster. Does it have to be taken a certain way to work?

I was going type out the answer and then I thought I would just post a video with everything I was going to say. : )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYHH0Olr_AA

tempest501

Not expecting it to do anything spectacular but I heard helps with strength so figured would help lift heavier which will help build muscle faster. Does it have to be taken a certain way to work?

I was going type out the answer and then I thought I would just post a video with everything I was going to say. : )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYHH0Olr_AA

Thank you

Jesse_Hunter

With a bit of luck in couple of months will make some gains that will help burn some body at. Is it ok to still do cardio? Since still have a lil cat hanging round.

Yeah, you can keep up the cardio. Try doing HIIT (high intensity interval training) style stuff though, things like sprints or M100's. This type of cardio will elevate your heart rate and maximize your fat burning, while helping to preserve your muscle mass in a way that endurance cardio won't. An easy example is to compare the body types of Olympic endurance runners vs. Olympic sprinters.

I've always been a pretty small guy, so it was always much harder for me to gain weight than anything else. I have to practically do zero cardio, and eat like a beast to build up the muscle. Cardio is great for your health though. Just see how it goes, if time goes by and you aren't seeing any mass gaining results and you know it's not your weight training routine, maybe drop the cardio back more. Just play around with it, that's the only way to really know for yourself.

paijing

I just started my second creatine cycle. I'm a fan of it. My lifts increased significantly during my first cycle, and I didn't gain more than a couple pounds. It must have been almost all lean mass. I'm excited to get back on it and to up my calories again, too.

I don't do much cardio anyway, mainly because I don't enjoy it. I do some casual HIIT (sprints & walking) after my lifts, but it's not an essential part of my routine. On creatine, you want to use most of your energy to really exhaust your muscles while lifting; that's where you'll see the most benefit.

My plan is to load at 15g/day for five days and then maintain for about a month at 3g/day. The first time I cycled, I was scared of bloating while loading, so I very gradually ramped up. I didn't see any adverse effects, so I'm just doing a normal loading phase now. Some skip the load entirely and go right to the maintenance dose, but it'll take longer to saturate your muscles and see an effect.

Lady_Bane

I'm a huge advocate of Intermittent fasting, and believe it or not I am the strongest when I lift in a fasted state.

That said, I have tried creatine and it isn't for me. I don't like feeling or looking poofy, also it's really important to keep your water intake up while cycling creatine.

This is going to come down to how you feel on it, and only you can find that out for yourself.

Lifting heavy even on a calorie surplus will do wonders for your body fat, more than you'd think, I say go for it!

Haha. Poofy. Such a cute word. I have a poofy tummy right now from my loading phase, but my arms look sahweet with the poof.