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Creatine for the ladies

Mummyadams
Mummyadams Posts: 1,125 Member
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I've been doing some research on creatine and am very interested in trying it to prolong my endurance & assist my lifting. I Olympic lift & Crossfit.
I can't seem to find much info on females using it though.
Is anyone here using it?
What does it / has it done for you?
Is it worthwhile?
Thanks

Replies

  • remelign
    remelign Posts: 14 Member
    edited May 2015
    I started using creatine early on in my lifting. You have to "ramp up" on it, and have 4-5 teaspoons a day. It's gritty and grainy and pretty much sucks to drink with anything but cow/soy/almond milk. Five days of ramping, then one teaspoon a day. I think it really helped me with muscle and joint soreness after workouts. It has also been shown to help with concentration (important for lifting) and may also act as a blood thinner, which is good for lowering cholesterol.

    I'm doing a lot differently with my training than I had done in the past, so it may be the creatine, foam rolling, isolation of strength training (limited cardio work on strength days), but I think it has helped me. It's not recommended for people with diabetes or kidney/liver problems. I take it with a single ibuprofen sometimes or with coffee, but I guess that's not really recommended either.
  • remelign
    remelign Posts: 14 Member
    Also: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=creatine women
  • girlnamedsarah
    girlnamedsarah Posts: 18 Member
    There's creatine in my pre-workout - Shockd Grape from GNC.
  • BigLifter10
    BigLifter10 Posts: 1,153 Member
    I tried Concrete creatine (HCL 750) when I first started lifting (maybe within six months of lifting). I did not notice any real difference in strength or size. I used it for six weeks. I ditched it and just focused on my nutrition. People said to try the monohydrate version, but I am and was too chicken of any 'bloat' of any sort. My body tends to retain water easily if I'm not careful, so I ended up not trying that either. Some women I know have great success with it, but they also are competitive in body building so they are doing all they can to gain mass. Whether it is that that is doing it, or just their nutrition and training levels, I couldn't tell you.
  • nicoleromine
    nicoleromine Posts: 92 Member
    Based on my research, there isn't a difference between female and male use of creatine. Keep in mind that creatine isn't automatically going to make you have more muscle. It may make your muscle appear fuller or larger, which was my experience. Creatine has mostly helped me with performance - i.e. faster recovery and being able to squeeze out more reps. I'm taking creatine monohydrate which is the most researched kind. Approximately, 20 to 30% of people don't respond to creatine. There are a couple of ways to determine whether or not your responding to it. First, if you put on a few pounds in the 2-5 weeks about supplementation, its water weight, which probably means its working (this was my experience). Second, after 8 weeks of supplementation you can take a break to see if there is a negative impact on your performance. The last thing I would note is that based on my research, I did not load creatine, and it still had a positive impact.
  • Mummyadams
    Mummyadams Posts: 1,125 Member
    Thanks for the feedback - I have purchased & started using Effervescent Creatine which requires no loading . My question is .. do I take this on the days when I don't lift?
  • kasie1bear
    kasie1bear Posts: 4 Member
    I use amino acids from melaleuca and notice an increase in endurance. Love the stuff.
  • fitnurse09
    fitnurse09 Posts: 69 Member
    edited May 2015
    I did some research on Creatine. I ended up buying Creatine Ethyl Ester due to reports of decreased gastric problems/bloating and not having to load. When I had my body measured by a machine to calculate where the extra 5 pounds came from, 2 of it was pure water weight. I want to say it was from the Creatine but I also was not watching my sodium intake. Since then, I have not started back on the Creatine. Also, this type of creatine makes you very thirsty. I may restart again to see if this or diet was the issue.
  • chrisssiex23x
    chrisssiex23x Posts: 431 Member
    i was using it for about a month didnt find it worked much for me. But ive just read someone post on here saying they took 4-5 teaspoons of it. on my tub it says 1 teaspoon :S lol maybe i needed more. Im not trying something else i found on amazon and i defo feel its working. Alot more energy :)
  • fit_mama30
    fit_mama30 Posts: 178 Member
    I've noticed an increase in strength when I was taking creating. I used Con-crete & kre alkalyn. I don't remember bloating issues... I stopped when I started cutting but will be back on it once I lose the baby weight. For me, creatine = gains!

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