Creatine?

Take creatine and drink a lot of water. It''s not harmful.

Anybody have any good information on Creatine? I seem to ask 10 people and get 10 different answers.

I am trying to build some muscle mass, but I don't want to put anything harmful into my body. From what I have read, it sounds like it is naturally occurring substance and just gives more energy to the muscles.

If anyone has good information out there, please let me know.

All I know is that if your levels are very high it can be a bad and a sign of problems with kidneys.

creatine =/= creatinine

Simple response to this question:

Yes, creatine is a naturally occurring substance that we already produce in our bodies, although in small amounts. Taking creatine will essentially allow your body to have more ATP, which means more energy daily, for you to be able to have those explosive moments working out, allowing you to lift heavier weights, provided you are getting enough nutrients, primarily carbohydrates in your body.

As for whether or not you should be loading creatine, my recommendation is that you do not need to load, and should simply take in 5g of creatine daily, which will allow your body to be saturated with it in a few weeks.

As for what kind of creatine you should buy, stick with the old school stuff, and pick creatine monohydrate, with creapure, which makes it micronized.

It's one of the few supplements that research continues to support as beneficial. I like the idea of just a little a day, my protein powder has it in the mix.

Creatines purpose to the muscles is to retain water in them so your muscle has more energy. Its effects are beyond that though and has many positives about it that benefit the rest of your body. Even if you didn't plan on taking it for muscle growth I would recommend this.

If your just trying to build muscle mass I wouldn't take creatin because its more of a weigh loss supplement that is a fast fat burner. If your looking to put on muscle mass I would just stick to lifting weights and taking a protein shake after workouts to recover quicker.

But good luck and enjoy

What???

Creatine has nothing to do with weight loss...

In actual fact the only thing it may have to do with weight loss is that it might make it more difficult to lose weight, if that is the primary goal. It will help with water retention and muscle development. But those things are usually associated with weight gain, not usually weight loss.

Simple response to this question:

Yes, creatine is a naturally occurring substance that we already produce in our bodies, although in small amounts. Taking creatine will essentially allow your body to have more ATP, which means more energy daily, for you to be able to have those explosive moments working out, allowing you to lift heavier weights, provided you are getting enough nutrients, primarily carbohydrates in your body.

As for whether or not you should be loading creatine, my recommendation is that you do not need to load, and should simply take in 5g of creatine daily, which will allow your body to be saturated with it in a few weeks.

As for what kind of creatine you should buy, stick with the old school stuff, and pick creatine monohydrate, with creapure, which makes it micronized.

I would highly agree with the above comments. The supplement market has come along way, even in the past 10 years. Creatine loading is a thing of the past. It used to be that you would need to take "X" amount for certain days to load....then back off after so many weeks. However, the quality of the Creatine and its effectiveness has gotten much better. Nowadays, supplements are all about taste and effectiveness, and are split into pre-workout, intra workout, and post workout..

I have tried various ones, but the ones below are what I take now on weight training days.

Pre-Workout 20-30mins
http://cellucor.com/product/m5-extreme
Cellucor M5 (essentially NO3 with C4 and Creatine blend)....no jittery feeling really good stuff.

Intra-Workout
Xtend Amino Acids (feeds the muscles during workout)
http://www.amazon.com/Scivation-Intra-Workout-Catalyst-Watermelon-Madness/dp/B005CH0DT4

Post-Workout
Dark Matter - (i call it Dark Magic, i can workout hard...and feel great the next day)
http://mhpstrong.com/MHP/products/darkmatter.php

Now, having said that ^^^, its up to you what you take. I posted the above info as an example of where thigns are now, compared to where they were 10 years ago with Creatine and Muscle Milk Shakes.

Look on this website for really good user reviews of supplements...

supplementreviews.com

The optimal amount is 3-5g. Some people have been shown to not be particularly sensitive to it and up the dose to as much as 10g a day, but this has been proven to be harmful to the liver in the long run. If your sensitivity level requires you to up the amount from the recommended 3-5g a day to see any benefit from it, then it is best not to take it at all.

Creatine is naturally manufactured by your body and is contained in meats as well. Fattier cuts of meat have a higher concentration of it. In order to get 3-5g (the recommended daily amount for active individuals engaging in a training program that implements resistance training), you would have to eat unhealthily large amounts of extremely fatty cuts of meat. Supplementation in powdered or pill form allows you to get it without consuming that much fatty meat.

What does creatine do? Essentially, creatine allows your body to convert ADP, the nucleotide the body uses to fuel slow-twitch muscle fibers (Endurance) into ATP, the nucleotide the body uses to fuel fast-twitch muscle fibers (Power). It does not go the other way, however. By increasing ATP stores (at the cost of ADP stores), a person will theoretically (and intesting) be able to power through workouts that require short bursts of high intensity more effectively and recover more quickly.

Who would benefit from creatine? Anyone who regularly performs any sort of athletic or fitness oriented activity that prioritizes short bursts of power over longer duration endurance. Examples would be people who engage in weight lifting, anaerobic training, sprinting, HIIT, or any form of high intensity strength training. People who engage in endurance-oriented activities, such as cyclists, distance runners, should avoid using creatine as it will rob them somewhat of their endurance and force them to take hydration breaks more frequently.

Things to know about creatine use:

-Creatine increases your body's water needs. Taking it means having to drink a LOT of water especially before, during, and after your workout.

-Creatine must be accompanied by a fast-absorbing carbohydrate, such as a sugar or a starch, to be delivered into the body.

-Creatine is best absorbed into the body immediately following the workout before the muscles have entered into a catabolic state when they are still primed.

-Creatine does typically lead to some water retention, which can be detrimental to weight loss if your primary measure is the scale. Hopefully however you have long since moved past the phase of giving a crap about what the scale says if you are looking into supplementation. For reference, I gained 10 lbs of mainly just water weight when I started using creatine, but then the weight started falling off again and muscle gains went up.

Myths about creatine:

-It affects hormone production. FALSE.

-It is harmful to the liver and/or kidney. There is some truth here because people who use more than the recommended 3-5g a day have been shown after years and years of use to have suffered kidney/liver health. However because most of these people were also habitual steroid abusers, it is unclear as to the real reason. In any case, there have been numerous studies done that lasted as long as 5 years on people who used no more than the recommended 5g a day and they saw no harmful effects of any kind.

Whlie creatine is naturally occuring it does come with BIG risks. Basically phosphocreatine (PCr) and the enzyme creatine kinase (CK) work together to increase the muscle’s ability to resynthesize ATP from ADP. This helps support the bodies ability to meet increased energy demands. However, remember, to build muscle, you need to break down muscle. As you push harder, you breakdown muscle faster and the muscle releases more myoglobin. Myoglobin is harmful to the kidney and can cause kidney damage. As well, the body tries to maintain balance, so when the PCr and CK levels rise it trys to flush them (and the myoglobin) out of the body.

It trys to do this by flushing it out through the kidneys (hence the need for LOTS of water - several liters a day!). If you have high levels and do not flush them out, they begin to crystalize in the kidneys and will destroy them. As the body fails to excreate them through the kidneys, the liver trys to help. since it doesn't like it either, it begins to fail........

how do I know this..............

My 18 year old daughter just spent a week in the hosptial with rhabdomyolysis from an overly intense workout....and NO she doesn't use steroids. Her kidneys and liver were struggling to cope with the CK and myoglobin levels. She had mild kidney & liver failure and required INTENSE fluids (6-12 liters a DAY) just to get the CK levels back to normal.....it's been a month and she's only now getting back to normal........and before anyone says this is a rare fluke.....the nephrologist says it's more common that you think. He indicated that most people attribute the main symptom (muscle pain) to "a really good workout" or the fact that they "probably pulled something". He indicated that he sees lots of patients who pushed themselves too hard, too many times and as a result found themselves with kidney issues. The only time he sees them is when they get the iced tea coloured urine (which my daughter had) and by then, you're well on the way to getting kidney damage.

So before adding in creatine, ask yourself why.... then if you still want to take it, talk to your doctor.......as much information as everyone here may have to share......only you and your doctor know you best.

Creatine is natural substance, but not everything natural is good for you. If you do decide to use Creatine products, heed the warnings about water. I drink 32oz of water + 16oz of herbal tea (no caffeine) before lunch, and the same after lunch. This puts me at 96oz for the day, then will drink either another 16oz, or 32oz at home in the evening. Initially you will pee a lot, but this is more your body getting rid of excess water, combined with the increased water coming in. In a few days it settles down as you adjust. Cut up some lemons...Cucumbers (Spa Water)...helps it go down easier. The key is to keep the Kidney's happy and flushed.

Do hope your daughter is OK, i'm off to Atlanta day after tomorrow, my Sister is in end stage renal failure with IGA Nephropathy, she has a transplant scheduled for this Thursday (her Son is a match)...they disqualified me, as I we both grew up in London in the 70's and 80's and their worried about Mad Cows somehow magically tainting the US Blood Supply...and no...I don't have Mad Cow.