CREATINE.. Good or Bad???????

[Ford Prefect]

Serpent,

Creatine is naturally in your body and is a much needed part of the energy system of the muscle. ATP is the immediate energy source for activities like sprinting and weight training. Thus a small amount of ATP is stored in skeletal muscle. When that ATP is used, it breaks down into ADP. This ADP then interects with creatine phosphate to create more ATP. This means creatine supplementation will add to the existing creatine in the muscle and allow you to work a bit harder. Harder work = more adaption = more gains. After this ADP-CP resevoir runs dry, your body then metabolizes sugar (glucose/glycogen) in the muscle for energy. The waste product of this conversion is lactic acid... There is a good amount of creatine in red meat, so it is a naturally occuring product; much like protein.

Guys,

I've had decent results with Cell-Tech in weight gaining, but I believe that's because of the 30-40g of carbs it has in every serving as well. This helps with the afore mentioned insulin spike. Any consumption of a good amount of simple carbs will cause an insulin spike.

[morbicid]

One well known problem with creatine is that your gains in size and strength tend to quickly go away when you stop taking it. My opinion is that this is partially because the muscles simply let go of all that excess water they've been retaining while taking creatine.

[Kempo Guy]

Ford,
I couldn't have said it better myself... actually you said it better than I ever could have.

morbicid,
You are right that you may lose some mass, however (on the 2 cycles I've done of Creatine) I have never really lost my strength gains (as I continue to train consistently and cycle my workouts/exercises every 2-4 weeks). Even in terms of mass, I would say I only lost about 20% of my overall gain during each cycle. I believe this amount of loss is consistent with most research you find on creatine.

KG

[rubthebuddha]

i on with kempo -- you may lose a little bit of the water mass, but as long as you continue to work the muscles when off creatine as hard you did when you took creatine, there should be no lose in strength. i consider creatine just a little tool to help me reach a goal. once i'm there, i maintain that and set my next goal. if i feel that creatine would help, i continue with it. if i don't, i don't worry about it.

[IronFist]

I added 827593.5738lbs to my bench in only 2 weeks with Cell-Tech creatine.



IronFist

[JADE ROSE]

The sheeet I started with is Balance.. Rapid Absorbtion Effervescent Creatine. Basically it's a fizzy powder that you add to water. 25% of it is actuall Creatine god knows what the rest is.

I feel pumped during the exercise (my high) as I can lift more and go longer but I am afraid that the after affects are bad for me no matter how much watter I drink I get badly dehydrated. This might only apply to me as I do have a tendancy to get dehydrated at a drop of a hat.

So I am in two worlds to continue or not.

[Silumkid]

Thanks for the anecdotes about Cell-Tech all. I'll let you know how it goes.

Iron,

I saw one of those ads after I got the tub...a buddy of mine was using it but didn't like the taste so i bought it from him and saw the ad afterwards. Gotta love Cytodyne's marketing approach, huh?

Kinda reminds me of that joke about the Russian female bodybuilder.

[TaoBoy]

I would like to suggest that you do all you can to ensure you buy a high quality product. The first brand of creatine I used gave me some mad stomach cramps - consequently I stopped using it before I saw any benefits. Just recently I was told that the brand I used has a poor quality product. It may be BS but the one I am on now costs the same and does not give me any aches or pains. Yet to see gains but am still just getting back into training.

[IronFist]

Did I mention I can now deadlift 9482.58374 times my own bodyweight after using CELL-TECH creatine?

Oh wait. No I can't. Sorry I mentioned deadlift. What's a deadlift? There are only two exercises you can do with weights: Bench press and bicep curls. Nothing else is important. I heard some big guy say "deadlift" once and so I felt cool saying it just now. He was probably talking about biceps curls.

Silumkid: what joke? I want to hear it!

IronFist

[iron thread]

You are right that you may lose some mass, however (on the 2 cycles I've done of Creatine) I have never really lost my strength gains (as I continue to train consistently and cycle my workouts/exercises every 2-4 weeks). Even in terms of mass, I would say I only lost about 20% of my overall gain during each cycle. I believe this amount of loss is consistent with most research you find on creatine.

How do you cycle out of creatine?

[Silumkid]

Alrighty then, here goes Iron...

A Russian female bodybuilder goes to the doctor after a cycle of steroids. She tells the doctor, "I am wery wery concerned about side effect of steroid I take."

Doctor says, "OK, what is problem?"

Bodybuilder says, "Well, you see, ever since I start taking steroids I have hair growth on chest."

Doctor says, "OK, may I look at chest?"

She agrees and the doctor looks down her top and sure enough, he sees some sporadic hair growth on her chest. So he asks, "Yes, I see. Very disturbing. How far does hair go down?"

Bodybuilder replies, "All the way to my balls."

[IronFist]

lol. You could use the same joke with the East German Women's weightlifting team, too, I hear.

IronFist

[IronFist]

Originally posted by iron thread


How do you cycle out of creatine?

You just stop taking it.

IronFist

[rubthebuddha]

not sure i'd call it an urban legend, because the source of that story may have been a gym in some boondock town.

either way, it's a bunch of poopies. ignore it.

[IronFist]

Originally posted by BatesMotel
I read an article about how this weight lifter was using it all the time as the other lifters at his gym. One day he is on the treadmill and passes out. He ends up at the hospital because he almost dies and the doctors have to do emergency brain surgery because of creatine!

That was called Ultimate Orange. I believe it's like an ECA stack. I don't think it's got creatine in it.

IronFist