Creatine Use?

[DeSotoStang24]

honestly, who all has tried it?

pros and cons towards it, plus any advice for people considering it.

also what dosage do you take? i heard 3 grams is safest bet, while others take 20g.

[02QuinnGT]

3g a day is fine. but 20g.... DAMN! too much! your body will produce 2g a day eating the correct foods. Taking too much will give you kidney problems. If you are thinking about taking creatine i would be careful about it because kidney paine is not the greatest thing in the world...
I take products produced by a company called Advocare. Good stuff. I put on 31lbs last year. I was a little scrawney guy that weighed a whole 141lbs.
anyways, if you want to know more or have anymore questions about anything, feel free to send me a pm and i'll tell you anything you want to know man. :)

- Jacob

[cool cat]

When I used to work out years ago, I had good results with creatine. In the first 2 weeks I went from 135 give or take to 145. I could have put on more but I didn't have the best diet or take any othere supplements.

I reccommend getting the pure powdered form, not the juice or cocktail versions.

[Head Hunter]

I've used it... had great results first cycle... no results 2nd cycle... I put about 40lbs on my max bench over the summer on creatine and a healthy diet... no protein shakes or anything... I'd recommend it but only 5g/day maybe 10-15 during loading if you're into that bullshit

[DeSotoStang24]

thanks guys..

yea ive been working out for a while over at 24 hr in arl and now i wanna put on more of a bulk look and a little more strength...

i wanna know everything about creatine before i get it... im guessing takin 3 gm daily for 3 wks, then stop a week and continue that cycle, then maybe take a month off every 4th mth or so.. does that sound reasonable?..

i just heard that after u stop using it, your muscles "water down" and your strength suffers too... plus side effects like depression/anxiety attacks/etc.

[lilgeezy]

<-- added 25 pounds to max bench in the course of a month and a half... not bad by my standards. I used ANSI creatine. it had potassium and taurine in it. Now i use AFTER MAX after every workout, it has 5 grams of creatine including a helluva lot more good recovery ingredients, and tastes great! (if made in a blender... if just stirred its like drinking pebbles...) heres a link, check it out... 20 servings to a bottle (its one BBIIGG bottle) for about 25 dollars... not cheap, but not too bad.
Whatever you DO buy, buy it online, its WAY too expensive at any place like GNC or vitamin world.

http://www.optimumnutrition.com/products/product_detail.asp?Inventory=214 <-- i love this stuff.

[mikeb]

I used powered creatine from mass quantities. I did notice an ability to squeak out more reps but it also made me bloated and I would get muscle cramps easily toward the end of the cycle. Not to mention that a mistake in the old diet would lead to creatine shits.

I decided that it wasn't worth the trouble.

[cool cat]

make sure to stay hydrated if you do partake

[lilgeezy]

Originally posted by cool cat
make sure to stay hydrated if you do partake

thats part of the reason for the cramping - not drinking enough water. also with creatine, if you take too much it will give you the shits but if you take the recommended amount, you should be fine... unless you do the loading week (i did, but not w/ the recommended 25 g/day or whatever) i did 15g/day and then kept going with only 5g/day.

[podman152]

I used it and saw nothing. I might not have used it right though. I say go natural. If you get big naturally, it's in your genes... if not, just face it.

[lilgeezy]

Originally posted by podman152
I used it and saw nothing. I might not have used it right though. I say go natural. If you get big naturally, it's in your genes... if not, just face it.

i dont even consider creatine 'un-natural'. correct me if i'm wrong, but creatine is a naturally occuring... 'substance' (couldn't think of a word here). its all over any meat or fish, like a steak has about 2 grams of creatine in it. now sure you would have to eat alot to get as much as in the supplement (5-10g/day), but its not like steriods or anything... i dont know how to finish this, someone help me out here haha

[01WhiteCobra]

Originally posted by lilgeezy
i dont even consider creatine 'un-natural'. correct me if i'm wrong, but creatine is a naturally occuring... 'substance' (couldn't think of a word here). its all over any meat or fish, like a steak has about 2 grams of creatine in it. now sure you would have to eat alot to get as much as in the supplement (5-10g/day), but its not like steriods or anything... i dont know how to finish this, someone help me out here haha

Creatine is a compound that is produced naturally by the liver and transported to muscle cells via the blood stream and converted into creatine phosphate.

Your body produces about 2 grams of creatine per day.

By supplementing creatine you are using your body's ability to store creatine over time. Creatine Monohydrate (the stuff you buy) is used because it is readily converted into creatine phosphate (what your muscle cells use).

For every 1 part creatine, 3 parts water is stored in the muscle cells. This is the reason why you muscles are "full" when supplementing with creatine. It also goes away when you stop using it.

Main effects are increased strength and better recovery time.