Yet another creatine question

[zen_celt]

I've been thinking of using Creatine to give me a boost in adding some size and strength fast, but I only want to use it for a short while to give my body a boost. The problem is, I heard that after you stop using creatine, all your gains go away. Is there truth to this, and if so, how do I counteract it?
-ZC

[Ford Prefect]

Some of the immediately visible gains from creatine supplementation is that more water is drawn into the muscle, thus you may look bigger. You should even drink more water than usual because of this. Creatine's main effect though is that it gives you more energy to lift weights with.

The reason is simple. You're bodies cells use ATP for energy. This includes your muscle's cells. Muscles have a small ATP resevoir available for immediate energy needs. The by-product of using ATP for energy is ADP. This ADP then interacts with the creatine phosphate in your muscles to convert back to ATP. This is where creatine comes in. Theoretically, the more creatine in your system, the longer this energy system should hold out. Once this system runs out, your muscles convert stored glycogen (sugar) to ATP in a prosess called glycosis. The by-product of this is lactic acid and that pleasant burning feeling in your muscles.

So strength gains made because you could lift more weight for longer will not be lost. However you may notice a decrease in energy while lifting, thus reversing some gains.

[Starchaser107]

whats amino complex? is it easily available
and what do b vitamins do in the whole process?
would a good multi-vitamin suffice?

[KungFuFighting]

after you stop using creatine you have a drop in you natural level, so you might lose some mass, strength shouldnt change to much. You just have to workout with intensity. also try taking glutamine with creating. My friend who is a power lifter recommended some stuff to me, but i forget what brands he told me to get. I think one is called V12, but creatine is a great supplement.

[Viper555]

If you want to add some size and strength fast use NO2 instead of creatine(or with creatine). Get the book for it too and read the entire thing to help you maximize your gains. Also make sure that if you take it with creatine that you cycle off the creatine for 10 days. If you have any questions about the NO2 just ask.

[Cheese Dog]

Viper555, what a coincidence. I was just thinking about starting a cycle of NO2 next month. Have you tried it? And is it worth the money?

[Viper555]

Yeah i'll have been on it for 3 weeks this saturday and so far it has been worth the money. See I lift the first week that I was on it so i've been lifting while taking it for almost 2 weeks now instead of 3. I haven't tried to max out in anything yet but I have had to increase the weight that I use during a normal routine. I have also lost a lot of fat off my muscles and they have gotten a LOT harder then they were before. But yeah, if you have enough extra money to get it then do it, you wont regret it(i can barely do it). One other thing, when you get it get the book that comes with it and read the whole thing. To get the best results follow the nutrition plan they lay out for you and do the four month weight lifting cycle they lay out for you too. Oh yeah, don't forget to drink a lot of water too and if you can't find the book just let me know and ill post the important parts for you if you want.

cya

[zen_celt]

Viper555-
What is NO2?
-ZC

[Cheese Dog]

Thanks Viper555.

[Viper555]

The best way that I now how to explain is that it's almost like a steroid. See, it does the same job(without the side effects) but in a different way. I also think that it is a little slower working than a steroid. When I started it my max(bench) was 170, 3 weeks into it(2 weeks of hypertrophy lifting)I'm at 175, at least I think I am. Me and my friend maxed out today and he said he didn't help me with it but I'm kinda wondering if he really didn't. Anyway it's from the guy that made creatine and he likes to think it is the "completed" creatine or something like that(he talks about creatine being his first shot at it and NO2 being the perfection of it).

No problem CD.

cya

[IronFist]

Viper555 said:
The best way that I now how to explain is that it's almost like a steroid. See, it does the same job(without the side effects) but in a different way. I also think that it is a little slower working than a steroid.

Steroids increase testosterone, creatine does not. I wouldn't say they do the same job, but I would say they have similar results.

Sorta.

IronFist

[fa_jing]

5 lbs increase over three weeks in BP = NBD. I could have gotten you there with much less fuss. We'll see how it works in the long run, though.

[Ford Prefect]

All NO2 claims to do is increase blood flow to muscle. You know that feeling you get after a big set of bench or push-ups... how you "feel" jacked or bigger? That's because of increase blood flow to the muscle because it was working. This is referred to in bodybuilding circles as "pump".

NO2 claims to give you longer pumps (as in hours rather than minutes), so their claim is that this increased blood flow will aid in recovery since the muscle will be recieving more nutrients. Whether it works or not is up to debate, but try it yourself if you want.

BTW, the guy that "made" creatine and NO2 is Bill Philips. He is 100% BS artist.

[Viper555]

Iron Fist: Thats pretty much what I meant and I was talking about the NO2 not the creatine. I've been trying to get my bench press up for about 3 months and couldn't get it to go anywhere so it was nice to creep up just a bit there. I'm hoping it will increase more once I start strength training. BTW, the recoveries after my workouts have been faster and both of my arms have grown half an inch and my abs are starting to get bigger and harder too. So right now I have no gripes with it. I'm going to give it three months to see how much I increase as far as size and max weight I can bench press. I'll be sure to keep you guys posted though if you want.

cya

[IronFist]

Yeah keep us posted.

Is three months a long time to stay on Creatine? I forgot how long you're supposed to stay on it. I thought it was 30-40 days or something.

IronFist

[Samurai Jack]

Is three months a long time to stay on Creatine? I forgot how long you're supposed to stay on it. I thought it was 30-40 days or something.

Nah, creatine is just an amino acid that's naturally produced in the body. It's converted to ATP during anerobic exercise which provides short term energy for intense muscular contractions. The so called volumizing effect comes about when water is stored in the muscle tissue along with the creatine in order to facilitate the above mentioned conversion.

I'm a vegetarian so I supplement with about five grams a day. Meat eaters supposedly get enough for weight training through thier diets.

An interesting note: The "clinical research" initially conducted on creatine involved supplementing the diets of strict vegetarians who were already deficient in this essential (for strength training) nutrient.

Theoretically, if you're already getting enough creatine in your diet, there really isn't any reason to supplement. 'Course I'm also a total hypocrite since I'm consuming about three times what is normally eaten in a meat eater's diet! Guess I'm just making sure!

[IronFist]

Yeah, meat eaters get some, but I heard it's nowhere near the 5g dosage you get in a serving of it.

IronFist