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Women on Creatine

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  • mandeenicoleb
    mandeenicoleb Posts: 479 Member
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    Kre-Alkalyn Creatine is supposed to give you the same results as Creatine Monohydrate without the water retention. I found it helpful but in fairness I've never tried Creatine Monohydrate.

    Nope

    Everything other than creatine mono hydrate Is either not any better or worse and usually more expensive. Pure marketing

    You actually want creatine to cause some water retention that's part of how it works

    See
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWx3qWrELzU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

    And
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi2BZ453zFE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

    ^ see link in description for full study of creatine mono v kre-alkalyn

    I have to take a look when I get home. I'm getting schooled :)
    I just wanted to add that although I've put on 5lbs since taking creatine daily, I don't look any differently. My waist is the same so I'm sure it's just water weight as it aids in muscle repair.

    I've heard a good amount of ppl don't see the water weight, which is nice. Plus I don't mind if the water is hanging with my muscles :) those are welcome to look bigger lol.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    Kre-Alkalyn Creatine is supposed to give you the same results as Creatine Monohydrate without the water retention. I found it helpful but in fairness I've never tried Creatine Monohydrate.

    Nope

    Everything other than creatine mono hydrate Is either not any better or worse and usually more expensive. Pure marketing

    You actually want creatine to cause some water retention that's part of how it works

    See
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWx3qWrELzU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

    And
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi2BZ453zFE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

    ^ see link in description for full study of creatine mono v kre-alkalyn

    Posting from my phone but I recall Helms going over this. I'm going to guess that's what one of the above links is.
    Agreed with your points though, good post.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Kre-Alkalyn Creatine is supposed to give you the same results as Creatine Monohydrate without the water retention. I found it helpful but in fairness I've never tried Creatine Monohydrate.

    I must look into it when I finish my monohydrate. I only bought a small 100g in case I didn't like it.

    Don't bother. Stick with mono.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Kre-Alkalyn Creatine is supposed to give you the same results as Creatine Monohydrate without the water retention. I found it helpful but in fairness I've never tried Creatine Monohydrate.

    Nope

    Everything other than creatine mono hydrate Is either not any better or worse and usually more expensive. Pure marketing

    You actually want creatine to cause some water retention that's part of how it works

    See
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWx3qWrELzU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

    And
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi2BZ453zFE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

    ^ see link in description for full study of creatine mono v kre-alkalyn

    I have to take a look when I get home. I'm getting schooled :)
    I just wanted to add that although I've put on 5lbs since taking creatine daily, I don't look any differently. My waist is the same so I'm sure it's just water weight as it aids in muscle repair.

    I've heard a good amount of ppl don't see the water weight, which is nice. Plus I don't mind if the water is hanging with my muscles :) those are welcome to look bigger lol.

    If you do not get a pop in water weight (and its in the muscle, not normal bloat), it is not working. Either because it's crap or because you are a non responder
  • Philllbis
    Philllbis Posts: 801 Member
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    I was taking some cheap stuff I bought at Meijer and saw some bloat with it. The Con Cret doesn't seem to cause the bloat but I do still have the water weight gain which is fine with me.
  • selinafzr
    selinafzr Posts: 19 Member
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    This is a timely post for me so am tagging - just started taking creatine on 12/08/2013, have gained on the scale considerably in just the four days... eek! Repeat mantra to self... ' forget the scale it's BF% and waist inches that matter'.

    Will report back over the next few weeks how things go....
  • mandeenicoleb
    mandeenicoleb Posts: 479 Member
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    This is a timely post for me so am tagging - just started taking creatine on 12/08/2013, have gained on the scale considerably in just the four days... eek! Repeat mantra to self... ' forget the scale it's BF% and waist inches that matter'.

    Will report back over the next few weeks how things go....

    I'm definitely interested in hearing your progress. I just started yesterday and took dose number 2 today. I still have some time before I either notice or don't notice a difference. Headed to the gym tonight!
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    This is a timely post for me so am tagging - just started taking creatine on 12/08/2013, have gained on the scale considerably in just the four days... eek! Repeat mantra to self... ' forget the scale it's BF% and waist inches that matter'.

    Will report back over the next few weeks how things go....

    I gained 4 -5 lbs - don't panic :smile:
  • selinafzr
    selinafzr Posts: 19 Member
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    mandeenicoleb - Will look forward to hearing how things go with you too - always good to compare notes.

    Sarauk2sf - that's reassuring, will see on Monday which is my 'proper' weigh in day what the damage is... (don't normally weigh myself daily, but was curious having read about the potential water gain).
  • mandeenicoleb
    mandeenicoleb Posts: 479 Member
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    @selinafzr---any updates?

    For me--I am going on 3 weeks of creatine. I did NOT load. I take in 5g a day. Twice I had 10g a day but that made me feel nauseous, so that was a good indicator that loading isn't for me anyway.

    I only started to notice the bloat a couple of days ago. I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me at all. I have an excel spreadsheet that tracks my progress with the SL 5X5 program (with some added lifts). I have consistent gains (which might not necessarily be the creatine, BUT...)

    ....I noticed a real difference a couple of days ago! This also happens to match the timing of the visible bloat. For instance, I doubled my dips, even though I left it for last. Usually if I leave dips for last, my arms are pretty shot, but I blew past my previous numbers where I did NOT leave it for last.

    Overall, I am happy with continuing. I would love more input. I have a cruise to go on in January so I was thinking of going off of it by December...when do you stop taking creatine (aside from cycling it)?
  • mandeenicoleb
    mandeenicoleb Posts: 479 Member
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    Oh, also the scale went up about 3-4 pounds and I'm actually cool with that. I know it's not fat so that's really what matters to me.
  • JustSammi
    JustSammi Posts: 79
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    I've always heard that creatine is a bit of a gimmick, though I've not really done my own research. Has someone got a non-broscience link where I can find out about the benefits/effects of it?
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    @selinafzr---any updates?

    For me--I am going on 3 weeks of creatine. I did NOT load. I take in 5g a day. Twice I had 10g a day but that made me feel nauseous, so that was a good indicator that loading isn't for me anyway.

    I only started to notice the bloat a couple of days ago. I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me at all. I have an excel spreadsheet that tracks my progress with the SL 5X5 program (with some added lifts). I have consistent gains (which might not necessarily be the creatine, BUT...)

    ....I noticed a real difference a couple of days ago! This also happens to match the timing of the visible bloat. For instance, I doubled my dips, even though I left it for last. Usually if I leave dips for last, my arms are pretty shot, but I blew past my previous numbers where I did NOT leave it for last.

    Overall, I am happy with continuing. I would love more input. I have a cruise to go on in January so I was thinking of going off of it by December...when do you stop taking creatine (aside from cycling it)?

    You do not need to cycle creatine. It usually takes a couple weeks after stopping for the water weight to subside.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    Sara - you say you don't need to do a load time but what about taking a break from it? Or can you/is it advisable to take consistently?
  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
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    Kre-alkyln has no benefit over CM, CM is actually better
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22971354


    You do not need to load it. Just take 5g a day.

    Lyle has talked about this, you dont have to load, but it will certainly saturate your body much faster than if you didnt.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/supplements-part-2.html
    20g for 5 days
    10g for 10 days
    or 5g and it will take a month to saturate
  • cmcollins001
    cmcollins001 Posts: 3,472 Member
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    I've always heard that creatine is a bit of a gimmick, though I've not really done my own research. Has someone got a non-broscience link where I can find out about the benefits/effects of it?

    Just do any Google search, read almost any article, broscience or not, and you'll find that the majority of the science shows that creatine is the only over the counter product actually proven to provide a benefit in lifting and strength training. Yes, I could post a link or two here, I know of a few good ones, but it's such an easy search...and it's always best to do your own research.
  • markink81
    markink81 Posts: 73 Member
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    Creatine Monohydrate is the gold standard. To be exact Creapure is the creatine that is made in Germany that many of the early testing was done on.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Sara - you say you don't need to do a load time but what about taking a break from it? Or can you/is it advisable to take consistently?

    You do not need to cycle it.
  • selinafzr
    selinafzr Posts: 19 Member
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    @selinafzr---any updates?

    Hi Mandeenicoleb, pleased to hear it's working out well for you :drinker: sorry for the delayed response.

    I'm still in a (seemingly eternal...) calorie deficit trying to rid myself of my spare tyre, so didn't expect a big benefit from the Creatine, but hoped a small edge would help me and then see more benefit when I can start eating at maintenance or even entertain a bulking phase perhaps.

    First week I took 10mg/day then have continued on around 4mg.

    Somewhere around 10-14 days I started to feel the difference it made. A little sceptical these were just 'good days' at first, but it continued.

    As mentioned I'm in deficit, however having been stalled at certain weight limits for a few months I have begun increasing load once more, and added in some additional exercises.

    As a cardio hater I only go on the step / eliptical / treadmill (walking) etc for 5 minutes here and there to rest between resistance sets, wait for something to become available or because I think I should. So it's with some amazement I have found myself jumping on the treadmill and RUNNING for a few minutes at the end of my session. My shaky comprehension of creatine is that it is of not beneficial for CV, so not sure why this would be.

    Side effects:

    Weighed myself daily for the first couple of weeks and saw the lbs go up 3/4 with horror. Then got a grip as the effects kicked in and stopped worrying about it. Suspect things have settled and I may be carrying a couple extra pounds of water weight as the scale hasn't gone down for quite some time. But I've shifted my focus onto waist measurement so not worrying about this.

    My wee smells funny :ohwell: Most noticeable in the morning as you'd expect, it's pale and clear so don't think it's a problem, and yes I do drink loads.

    Overall verdict:
    Makes most days good days :happy:
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    Do you take less on non-workout days?

    I am still debating whether or not I want to do the loading phase, but do you do 5g on non-workout days?

    I'm getting my creatine Wed and I was thinking 5g on workout days and 2-3g on non-workout days. Or should I just do 5g everyday, especially if I opt not to do the loading?

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