Creatine or nah?
k8millz
Posts: 28 Member
Newbie to creatine here. I just barely started supplementing with the stuff about a week ago. My main goal is to progress more in all of my main lifts and gain some lean muscle mass. I've read a zillion articles (okay maybe not that many but it feels like it!) about the many benefits of creatine but I've also been told by a lot of women that creatine will make you fat/bloated or whatever.. So far I haven't experienced this side effect but after all I'm still new to this particular supplement. My question is: What is your experience with creatine? Did you see your strength training progress? Did you notice results after a certain X amount of time or is it just another junk supplement?
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Replies
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No it definitely works. Take it along with beta alanine and it will really help your lifting.
It does make you retain water (I think that's actually how it works) but I don't notice it except on the scale and I know it's water so it's all good.
Don't bother with all that cycling and loading etc that's just to trick people into linking it with anabolic steroids in their mind. Just take 3-5g a day for the rest of your life lol (same with beta alanine). I don't notice any advantage on taking a higher dose although I do take an extra dose of both pre-workout just for the sake of it I guess.
For super gains add taurine too.2 -
Newbie to creatine here. I just barely started supplementing with the stuff about a week ago. My main goal is to progress more in all of my main lifts and gain some lean muscle mass. I've read a zillion articles (okay maybe not that many but it feels like it!) about the many benefits of creatine but I've also been told by a lot of women that creatine will make you fat/bloated or whatever.. So far I haven't experienced this side effect but after all I'm still new to this particular supplement. My question is: What is your experience with creatine? Did you see your strength training progress? Did you notice results after a certain X amount of time or is it just another junk supplement?
Creatine definitely works, gives me a slight boost on my workouts and retains water in muscles.1 -
When I first started taking creatine it was great for my lifts, but made me really bloated and I retained a ton of water. My boobs even hurt. It was pretty much like PMS every day. How fun. Then I realized all the dosage recommendations were probably based on the average man. (I did the loading and did 5g/day.) Now I take 3.25 g/day (I find the pills more convenient), and while I retain a couple lbs of extra water the only place I notice it is the scale- not in how I feel. I still get the lifting benefit though.1
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If you eat plenty of beef or fish you may not respond to it. Don't overdue it on dosage or you will increase the risk of side effects such as cramps and more rarely, tendon tears. Those risks can easily be minimized by making sure you completely dissolve it in water and drink plenty of water with it. And yes, it basically acts like a sponge so you will gain a little weight. My understanding is that there is also no reason to take it right before a workout. It's better to give it plenty of time to absorb into your system, so take it daily either in the morning or after your workouts.
With those caveats, I don't see why anyone who wanted to gain strength wouldn't take it. It works. Just use creatine monohydrate. It's cheap and proven effective.1 -
Awesome feedback!
Right now I'm currently taking 3 grams a day, usually first thing when I wake up to allow my body to absorb the creatine and usually I won't workout until 1-2 hours later. I've noticed a difference so far in terms of volume and endurance but I'm gonna play around with timing and see if it's better to take it after my workouts. I just want all the gains haha. 0 -
Yes0
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Another vote for creatine!0
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Personally I don't think most people here would benefit from it. It's probably more of a placebo effect more or less, but if you are a believer more "power" to you.
My doctor pulled me off of it when my kidneys were showing signs of failure or disease. I basically was having problems ridding myself of creatinine the byproduct of creatine.1 -
Personally I don't think most people here would benefit from it. It's probably more of a placebo effect more or less, but if you are a believer more "power" to you.
My doctor pulled me off of it when my kidneys were showing signs of failure or disease. I basically was having problems ridding myself of creatinine the byproduct of creatine.
Creatine is the most researched supplement there is. It's highly safe and effective. Creatine would not hurt your kidneys unless you were taking an extremely high dosage and basically drinking zero water.1 -
i use creatine periodically , when i'm in a heavy training cycle.1
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Personally I don't think most people here would benefit from it. It's probably more of a placebo effect more or less, but if you are a believer more "power" to you.
My doctor pulled me off of it when my kidneys were showing signs of failure or disease. I basically was having problems ridding myself of creatinine the byproduct of creatine.
If creatine actually damaged your kidneys, you need to contact a research facility immediately. It looks like you could be the first documented case of it ever.
From https://examine.com/faq/does-creatine-cause-kidney-problems/Does creatine cause kidney damage?
For those with healthy kidneys: No. For those with impaired kidney function, it is highly unlikely but one should still check with their medical doctor.
Please see our Creatine rubric for human clinical studies on the kidney. The net result was that even with one kidney, creatine had no negative effect on the kidneys. This is a topic that has been replicated numerous times in different populations by different researchers, and yet not a single peer-reviewed study or case report has surfaced where creatine is the causative factor behind kidney damage.
In one study, an individual with one kidney that was slightly damaged was loaded with 20g of Creatine a day and no problems were found.[1]
There is some confusion regarding the kidneys with the metabolite (waste product) of creatine, called 'creatinine', which is also a diagnostic criteria for kidney problems. This is a case of a supplement giving a 'false positive' and is in no way harmful, and can be read up more on our creatine disambiguation section.0 -
Don't forget to drink lots of water, if you do you will see a small amount of benefit from using creatine.0
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Creatine is good stuff. Because science. If you are going to read one more article about creatine, read this one.
http://www.elitefts.com/education/nutrition/the-creatine-facts-needs-formatted/0 -
Personally I don't think most people here would benefit from it. It's probably more of a placebo effect more or less, but if you are a believer more "power" to you.
My doctor pulled me off of it when my kidneys were showing signs of failure or disease. I basically was having problems ridding myself of creatinine the byproduct of creatine.
If creatine actually damaged your kidneys, you need to contact a research facility immediately. It looks like you could be the first documented case of it ever.
From https://examine.com/faq/does-creatine-cause-kidney-problems/Does creatine cause kidney damage?
For those with healthy kidneys: No. For those with impaired kidney function, it is highly unlikely but one should still check with their medical doctor.
Please see our Creatine rubric for human clinical studies on the kidney. The net result was that even with one kidney, creatine had no negative effect on the kidneys. This is a topic that has been replicated numerous times in different populations by different researchers, and yet not a single peer-reviewed study or case report has surfaced where creatine is the causative factor behind kidney damage.
In one study, an individual with one kidney that was slightly damaged was loaded with 20g of Creatine a day and no problems were found.[1]
There is some confusion regarding the kidneys with the metabolite (waste product) of creatine, called 'creatinine', which is also a diagnostic criteria for kidney problems. This is a case of a supplement giving a 'false positive' and is in no way harmful, and can be read up more on our creatine disambiguation section.
I never said creatine damaged my kidneys, I said my kidneys were showing signs of failure or disease so my doctor took me off it.
Read before you paste.1 -
DreesPerformanceTraining wrote: »Personally I don't think most people here would benefit from it. It's probably more of a placebo effect more or less, but if you are a believer more "power" to you.
My doctor pulled me off of it when my kidneys were showing signs of failure or disease. I basically was having problems ridding myself of creatinine the byproduct of creatine.
Creatine is the most researched supplement there is. It's highly safe and effective. Creatine would not hurt your kidneys unless you were taking an extremely high dosage and basically drinking zero water.
What if my kidneys had scar tissue so bad that they couldn't function properly? My oncologist and doctor seems to think it's not a good idea to take extra at least until they can hopefully treat my kidneys of the blockage of scar tissue.
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DreesPerformanceTraining wrote: »Personally I don't think most people here would benefit from it. It's probably more of a placebo effect more or less, but if you are a believer more "power" to you.
My doctor pulled me off of it when my kidneys were showing signs of failure or disease. I basically was having problems ridding myself of creatinine the byproduct of creatine.
Creatine is the most researched supplement there is. It's highly safe and effective. Creatine would not hurt your kidneys unless you were taking an extremely high dosage and basically drinking zero water.
What if my kidneys had scar tissue so bad that they couldn't function properly? My oncologist and doctor seems to think it's not a good idea to take extra at least until they can hopefully treat my kidneys of the blockage of scar tissue.
Your doctor pulling you off creatine because you have a kidney issue is much different than creatine creating that issue. Your post came off as if you were suggesting creatine caused damaged to your kidneys.1 -
For me the biggest thing I noticed was recovery. I was able to recover faster and so I on a 4 week program where week 4 was recovery week, I skipped week 4 and bumped the weight up and started week one again. Instead of getting 13 increases in the weight being lifted a year I was able to get 17.0
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DreesPerformanceTraining wrote: »DreesPerformanceTraining wrote: »Personally I don't think most people here would benefit from it. It's probably more of a placebo effect more or less, but if you are a believer more "power" to you.
My doctor pulled me off of it when my kidneys were showing signs of failure or disease. I basically was having problems ridding myself of creatinine the byproduct of creatine.
Creatine is the most researched supplement there is. It's highly safe and effective. Creatine would not hurt your kidneys unless you were taking an extremely high dosage and basically drinking zero water.
What if my kidneys had scar tissue so bad that they couldn't function properly? My oncologist and doctor seems to think it's not a good idea to take extra at least until they can hopefully treat my kidneys of the blockage of scar tissue.
Your doctor pulling you off creatine because you have a kidney issue is much different than creatine creating that issue. Your post came off as if you were suggesting creatine caused damaged to your kidneys.
Exactly.0 -
Not trying to bash creatine but I have a different view point. I am getting older and not interested in getting bigger or stronger but focused on being fit & healthy. If I was younger trying to dominate a sport or get ripped I would probably be all over this stuff. I haven't looked at the studies, and probably won't, but studies tend to support the goals of the organization funding the study. In short, be sceptical of whose study it is because they are all not gospel. Okay to the point if you are competing, or want to be, on a high level you are free to weigh taking it versus possible unknowns down the road and I am okay with that. If you are taking it because you are a gym rat or weekend warrior and there is the slightest unknown that you may have to answer for it down the road, is it worth it? I don't take any medications and have structured my diet to keep it that way as long as I can. So I am somewhat picky about what I ingest and why. I personally look at the benefit vs the risk. In this case if I don't take creatine so the risk doesn't exist. Unless the studies say it decreases the cancer risk then.....ahh why do I even go down this road, gimme a beer.0
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DreesPerformanceTraining wrote: »My doctor pulled me off of it when my kidneys were showing signs of failure or disease. I basically was having problems ridding myself of creatinine the byproduct of creatine.
Creatine is the most researched supplement there is. It's highly safe and effective. Creatine would not hurt your kidneys unless you were taking an extremely high dosage and basically drinking zero water.
Or if someone has pre-existing kidney issues. Which could be more than 10% of the population (source)
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Cherimoose wrote: »DreesPerformanceTraining wrote: »My doctor pulled me off of it when my kidneys were showing signs of failure or disease. I basically was having problems ridding myself of creatinine the byproduct of creatine.
Creatine is the most researched supplement there is. It's highly safe and effective. Creatine would not hurt your kidneys unless you were taking an extremely high dosage and basically drinking zero water.
Or if someone has pre-existing kidney issues. Which could be more than 10% of the population (source)
Of all the things that can be tough on your kidneys, 2-5 grams of creatine is not all that worrisome. If you have a kidney issue, you should consult your doctor before taking it.0 -
DreesPerformanceTraining wrote: »DreesPerformanceTraining wrote: »Personally I don't think most people here would benefit from it. It's probably more of a placebo effect more or less, but if you are a believer more "power" to you.
My doctor pulled me off of it when my kidneys were showing signs of failure or disease. I basically was having problems ridding myself of creatinine the byproduct of creatine.
Creatine is the most researched supplement there is. It's highly safe and effective. Creatine would not hurt your kidneys unless you were taking an extremely high dosage and basically drinking zero water.
What if my kidneys had scar tissue so bad that they couldn't function properly? My oncologist and doctor seems to think it's not a good idea to take extra at least until they can hopefully treat my kidneys of the blockage of scar tissue.
Your doctor pulling you off creatine because you have a kidney issue is much different than creatine creating that issue. Your post came off as if you were suggesting creatine caused damaged to your kidneys.
No, my post suggested that my opinion is it wouldn't help most people here.
My kidneys were having trouble getting rid of creatinine a by product of creatine. I never said creatine damaged my kidneys.1 -
DreesPerformanceTraining wrote: »Cherimoose wrote: »DreesPerformanceTraining wrote: »My doctor pulled me off of it when my kidneys were showing signs of failure or disease. I basically was having problems ridding myself of creatinine the byproduct of creatine.
Creatine is the most researched supplement there is. It's highly safe and effective. Creatine would not hurt your kidneys unless you were taking an extremely high dosage and basically drinking zero water.
Or if someone has pre-existing kidney issues. Which could be more than 10% of the population (source)
Of all the things that can be tough on your kidneys, 2-5 grams of creatine is not all that worrisome. If you have a kidney issue, you should consult your doctor before taking it.
True when one is aware they have kidney issues. Of course not everybody is aware before they start taking a supplements. Life isn't always ideal
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