Creatine

[respectmankind]

I have been taking it (almost 2 years) and I am not sure what to think. Has anyone here ever taken it, or know someone who has and if so could you tell me what you/they thought?

[Paul]

I use it and I think it's just swell.

[respectmankind]

Well, I was hoping for a more detailed opinion/comment. Do you find it helps alot?

[Paul]

As far as I know it has been scientifically proven to work the way they say it does.

I don't have any complaints. I'm thinking that I made some pretty big gains in regards to weightlifting like around the time that I started up on creatine. I've made some pretty good gains in weight/size over the last six months also. I realize that a couple of pounds is from water retention due to the creatine.

[straight blast]

When my brother in law did his degree in human movement his major research project was into Creatine and its studied effects. He now no longer takes Creatine. Not because it's harmful (we haven't been using it long enough to see any long term effects) but because there are simply better products out there that are cheaper and don't require "cycling".

That said I started taking Creatine about three years ago and within about a week I could lift higher weights and higher reps. The effect was phenomenal. But I got sick of having to cycle it every 30 days (as you should to get the max. effect). I started taking HMB (beta Hydroxy beta Methylbutyrate) with the Creatine and once again my performance soared. I stopped the Creatine and kept on with the HMB and my results were no different. HMB is better all round I find...though I am talking primarily in the area of strength/power, not endurance. Also HMB makes you very aggressive, and causes huge surges in.....libido :D

However I've since come across a supplement that I feel is better than all the others put together. It's called E3 and it is basically blue-green algae. it is 97% usable by the human body and it detoxes you very quickly (though the side effect of this detox can be about a week of minor headaches) and provides you with huge energy. My gains using this stuff were better than the HMB and Creatine together. BTW I use Musashi supplements...not the crappy cheapo ones.

If I could reccomend anything for anyone (from someone who shopped around for four years or so) it would be this E3 stuff, with Ionised WPI protein. Not only good for building lean muscle mass, but fantastic for improved health and energy. Give it a try!

[logic]

Thanks for the info Straight Blast.
I get sick and just don't feel right after about 3 weeks on creatine.

However, I have heard that drinking 2 - 3 glasses of grape juice a day while taking creatine or other aminos and supplements increase their effect by about 15 - 20% but that makes me sick again after about 3 week.I'll give that E3 stuff a try.

[Silumkid]

:rolleyes:

Where in the world do you guys get your information from? Anecdotal evidence doesn't cut it with me.

First of all, creatine has been on the market for over ten years now. Is that long enough to determine "long-term effect"? I would think so. Creatine does not have to be "cycled"...whoever gave you this information needs a slap in the mouth. Creatine is a naturally occuring substance, it exists in our bodies already and we ingest it every time we eat red meat! So basically, having more creatine will fuel stronger contractions in muscle tissue, and in some cases, possibly more contractions although creatine has not been shown to have marked effects on endurance.

Taking it in grape juice has been a suggestion simply because they have seen that there appears to be an assistance in the uptake when creatine is taken with a simple sugar. BUT, you only have to drink that ONE glass of grape juice with the creatine...after that, you should be drinking water! Creatine draws water into the muscle cells in order to prep for the conversion to ATP which fuels muscular contraction.

And guohuen, wherever you see creatine for that is "absurdly expensive"...you need to go to a new supp. store. GNC is the only place I know of that sells creatine at high markups. Creatine has in recent years become one of the far more affordable supplements.

Please, let's try to stick to what has been proven, unless you have some sort of other agenda like pushing pond algae.

[straight blast]

Do you even take Creatine? Have you ever looked further than "anecdotal" evidence? I think not if you don't know about cycling. You can avoid cycling (or indeed "loading" as it's called over here) by taking it once a day about 20 mins before a workout. For maximum effect bodybuilders and other people who have some idea take five teaspoons a day for five days, followed by one teaspoon a day for thirty days. Then you don't touch it for a fortnight.

Why do they do this? Because your body becomes "used" to Creatine, and a reduction in the effect is apparent. The other reason? Because once you absorb a certain amount of Creatine you just p!ss the rest out. I don't know about you, but I don't like sending money down the toilet.

The grape juice thing is called a "Creatine spike" or "insulin spike" due to the "spike" effect in peak performance if training within a certain time of absorbing the Creatine, which should be taken on an empty stomach. It can be any sugary drink, not neccesarily grape juice.

First of all, creatine has been on the market for over ten years now. Is that long enough to determine "long-term effect"? I would think so.

Now that is funny. How many years did we know the world was flat? How many years have the Chinese known that smoking is good for you? If you don't believe me, go to China. Cigarette brands like "Longevity" abound. :rolleyes:

Thanks for the laugh, SK. Do some research next time.

Logic....look into the E3. Make your own mind up by trying it. I don't reckon you'll go back. BTW, take it with apple juice, 'cos it doesn't taste too crash hot by itself!!

[guohuen]

GNC is the only game in town out here in the sticks.

[Chang Style Novice]

I can say from experience that creatine is helpful in beating urine drug tests.

Not that anyone here would be interested in such a dastardly endeavor, surely.

[IronFist]

Two years Hly fúck, I ohpe you don't mean two years non stop. Man, cycle that stuff. Oh yeah, and don't load it too.

I think Creatine works in like 90-95% of people. Some people are non-responders.

Sorry, I didn't read anyr esponces above. I'm a little wasted right now :)

IronFist

[Silumkid]

straight blast,

You idiot. Do some research? First of all, you didn't say anything that refuted anything I said. Your "logic" here seems to be at the "I know you are but what am I" level. For example I clearly stated anecdotal evidence doesn't cut it with me (read the post) and you reply "Have you ever looked past anecdotal evidence?" HELLO!?!? Is this thing on???

But you must just have your pearly pink knickers in a twist because I talked bad about your little pool growth idea.

"For maximum effect"??? And you tell me to do my research??? Moron, please...if you had done yours, you would know there is no response difference between the "loading" theory and the 5 grams a day theory. Maximum effect indeed. Pathetic.

I wrote about the grape juice in response to someone's post. I thought since I stated quite clearly in my post "simple sugars" that "any sugary drink" was understood. I'll type in smaller phrases for you next time. You didn't add or refute anything.

But I'm probably wasting my time even responding to you. You'll probably come back with little more than grade school level insults again. Hey, whatever makes you feel better about yourself.

[IronFist]

Whoever said loading creatine is bullshít is right. The only reason they want you to "load" is so you take 6 times as much and therefore go through it faster, and therefore buy more. If you load with 30g per day for the first week instead of 5g per day for the first week, chances are you used up the whole container in the first week so you have to buy more. Oh yeah, and every day you píss out that 25g of extra creatine.

But, if the Nitrotech ads tell you to load it, they can't be wrong now, can they? (note heavy sarcasm).

IronFist

[IronFist]

Silum kid, yeah it was you who said no loading.

(sorry, I just got around to reading everything now).

However, you also said:

Creatine is a naturally occuring substance, it exists in our bodies already and we ingest it every time we eat red meat!
...Implying that this is the reason why you DON'T have to cycle creatine.

Testosterone is a naturally occuring substance in our bodies, it is created by our bodies, and you better cycle steroids or you will fúck yourself up. When your body produces something, if you bring in too much of an outside source your body will detect that there is already enough of it in your body and stop production. If you carry on for too long, when you come off your body won't be able to make it again.

But, I've never been able to find a difinitive source as to whether creatine is produced in the human body naturally... so if it's not, disregard the previous paragraph :) Otherwise, you better cycle it.

IronFist

[Ryu]

Man you guys can find anything to argue about.

:)

[Silumkid]

Iron,

Thanks for pointing that out. I see how what I typed could be taken the wrong way. I forget that word emphasis doesn't exist on the typed page. :D

I'd have to look at my resources again, but I am fairly certain that phosphocreatine is produced in the human body as the precursor to ATP, but at fairly low levels, ie enough to genetically "function". In fact, from what I can recall from prior studies, a person would have to eat approximately ten pounds of red meat to equal one serving of creatine in powder form.

For the record, this is how I meant: Creatine does not HAVE to be cycled. I took it for a year in a proprioceptive protein combination and the only reason I stopped is because I felt like I was getting too heavy.

Ryu,

I really do try not to argue. Really. :D

[Wongsifu]

i looked around for info on creatine , and from what i saw everyone was using the phrase "not been on market loong enough" and "no side effets"
Unfortunately i have come to think of it as a marketing ploy , as i have read a couple of articles from separate places that talks about kidney shrinkage from creatine.

Look into it see what you can find