Amino acid and creatine supplements while on a diet

kevinpruitt
kevinpruitt Posts: 50 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm currently eating a calorie deficit and heavy lifting 5 days a week for weight loss. I'm curious if anyone has any experience using Amino acid supplements and creatine to help retain muscle. I know that creatine will add water weight but the extra push from the energy supposedly helps with calorie burn. I understand that I will not build muscle on a deficit but I do want to keep what I have. Currently i'm only taking a multivitamin, fish oil tablets and a post workout protein drink.

Replies

  • Red_Sparrow
    Red_Sparrow Posts: 56
    I take creatine on heavy lifting days whether I'm dieting or not - so while it helps with the lifting I can't really speak to whether it improves muscle retention or not.

    I will say I've tried BCAAs on a deficit to try and prevent muscle loss, and I haven't really noticed a difference - either in my lean mass or recovery. I'm female, though, so it may be that the amino acids don't have as great an effect. Shrug.
  • kevinpruitt
    kevinpruitt Posts: 50 Member
    Thanks for the reply, Berlin.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    Lifting heavy while in a calorie deficit is hard enough on the body, so i don't like the idea of asking it to work even harder by taking creatine.

    You might do an extra rep or two on it, so the extra calories burned is negligible. If you want to up your calorie burning.. cardio.

    One study i saw showed creatine inhibited fat loss:
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12391059

    As far as BCAAs, you probably wouldn't notice a difference if you ate regular food vs. BCAAs.. although the supplement manufacturers would disagree.
  • bobbystrongarm
    bobbystrongarm Posts: 72
    Creatine is great but it is not something you just take on lifting days. It takes awhile to fully saturate into your muscles. This is why you have probably heard of a loading phase, it is even on the back of most bottles in the directions. Plan creatine in ~12 week cycles for strength, it helps greatly with muscle recovery and has been shown to increase strength. It will eventually lose effectiveness, which is why it is good to cycle it and give your body a break from it. A typical cycle will start with 10-15mg a day, some go as high as 1mg per 10lbs of body weight, for about a week to help saturate your muscles. Then just drop down to 5-10mg daily to maintain saturation. Don't forget to also have some carbs after lifting, its actually more important than the protein itself. However, they work in synergy when it comes to getting the most out of your training.

    Here is a great article completely based in science from numerous cyclical studies on post workout nutrition.

    http://www.precisionnutrition.com/about-post-workout-nutrition

    Adding the creatine to your post workout shake is arguably the best time to take it. Make sure your shake has carbs in it. Carbs, protein, creatine in your PWO shake is a real triple treat.

    While it is true you wont be building a ton of muscle on a calorie deficit, for some one starting out lifting you can still make great strength gains on a small deficit if you keep your protein high and your macros in check. You'll see this referred a lot to as "noob gains."

    Even if you do gain some weight from water retention with creatine when you stop taking it for a couple weeks you will drop all the weight very quickly. I would personally take it, focus on building strength, then enjoy the weight loss when the retention stops. Even if you aren't building size while on the cut for a newbie you'll gain strength. Once you are leaner and stronger you can start eating for size. Strength builds muscle, so being stronger than you are now will mean you can build mass faster when your diet provides for it.
  • koing
    koing Posts: 179 Member
    Lifting heavy while in a calorie deficit is hard enough on the body, so i don't like the idea of asking it to work even harder by taking creatine.

    You might do an extra rep or two on it, so the extra calories burned is negligible. If you want to up your calorie burning.. cardio.

    One study i saw showed creatine inhibited fat loss:
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12391059

    As far as BCAAs, you probably wouldn't notice a difference if you ate regular food vs. BCAAs.. although the supplement manufacturers would disagree.

    Asking your body to work harder by taking creatine? Creatine won't do anything to you unless you PUSH YOURSELF HARD.

    Take creatine. The additional gain in water weight and the affects of creatine will help you retain more muscle mass. First ask yourself do you even notice the affects of creatine? IF you do not then don't take it. Simple as that. For myself I hammer creatine all year around.

    The only times I don't take creatine is when I'm on holiday.

    BCAA. Yes take them. I've been dieting for 17weeks. 90.5 down to 84kg.

    Koing
  • kevinpruitt
    kevinpruitt Posts: 50 Member
    Thanks so much for your responses, guys.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    Lifting heavy while in a calorie deficit is hard enough on the body, so i don't like the idea of asking it to work even harder by taking creatine.

    Asking your body to work harder by taking creatine?

    I mean working harder to recover, from the extra physical damage. A calorie deficit is not an optimal state for new adaptions to happen, so pushing beyond your body's natural abilities (by using creatine) could potentially lead to over-training, for some people.

    Any comment on the study showing it inhibits fat loss?
  • toholio
    toholio Posts: 46 Member
    There are anti-catabolics which will help prevent protein breakdown and therefore muscle loss. The one I hear of the most is β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB).

    It's actually a metabolite of leucine, which is an anabolic. If you're eating enough protein then chances are you get enough leucine and your body is producing enough HMB. It's easy to get carried away and spend lots of supplements you don't really need.

    Neither will hurt you to supplement though. Creatine won't hurt you either. You could take all three, for science.

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