Best creatine?

[BadNewsBears]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Munchies
I hit a wall at 205 for a few days here so I want to try creatine. Whats the best one out there?

Hit a wall at 205 for a few days? What does this mean, that you are benching 205 daily and it hasn't gone up?

First, you shouldn't be benching more than once a week. Over training is as bad as not training at all. Secondly, the gains you see as a newbie (dramatic gains in how much you can lift on a weekly basis) slow WAY down as you become more experienced.

Creatine works, but it wont make up for poor training or unreasonable goals.

MY dads quite beastly too, he played colledge ball for MI S, and he said they were just going at it one day in the weight room and he repped 485 4 times. I was like DAMNM!
I weigh 135 and rep 205 like 5 times, I dont know what I max.

 

[BadNewsBears]

My weight instructor who happened to be the sports medicine guy for the red wings, taught me in my ways of lifting, every 2 days every muscle. NO problems so far, its just that it seems I can't hit anything higher, I would be at 210 by now.

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Originally posted by: MainFramed
It's medically proven that it's NOT good for you, be a real guy, get some serious determination, eat right and work out. You didin't see guys 20 years ago using creatine all the time before they work out (let alone half the dumb ass machines made today) and there just as ripped, if not more than most people that work out.

You are a freakin' moron. The jury is still out if Creatine has any negative side effects. There is some speculation but that is it. Given that Creative has been out for years, and there still isn't any proof, I'd say that is a good sign.

As far as which Creatine is better, just get the big ass jug that says 100% Creatine. But whatever you do, stay away from EAS stuff. That is some grossly overprices sh!t.

As for me, I haven't taken Creatine in years (4+ yrs). I just eat alot. Luckily for me, my metabolism is good and I don't get fat. Anyway, I'm up to 400lbs on flat bench, and I'll start taking Creatine here shortly. Hopefully it will push me to 420lbs at least. (I weigh 213lbs)

420...?

Lovely...

Jack what size dumbells would you throw on a flat bench..?

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: bjc112

Originally posted by: JackBurton

Originally posted by: MainFramed
It's medically proven that it's NOT good for you, be a real guy, get some serious determination, eat right and work out. You didin't see guys 20 years ago using creatine all the time before they work out (let alone half the dumb ass machines made today) and there just as ripped, if not more than most people that work out.

You are a freakin' moron. The jury is still out if Creatine has any negative side effects. There is some speculation but that is it. Given that Creative has been out for years, and there still isn't any proof, I'd say that is a good sign.

As far as which Creatine is better, just get the big ass jug that says 100% Creatine. But whatever you do, stay away from EAS stuff. That is some grossly overprices sh!t.

As for me, I haven't taken Creatine in years (4+ yrs). I just eat alot. Luckily for me, my metabolism is good and I don't get fat. Anyway, I'm up to 400lbs on flat bench, and I'll start taking Creatine here shortly. Hopefully it will push me to 420lbs at least. (I weigh 213lbs)

420...?

Lovely...

Jack what size dumbells would you throw on a flat bench..?

I haven't done dumbell presses in awhile. What I do is, flat bench (straight bar) consisting of 7 sets (8,6,4,3,2,1,4 <reps), then I burn out doing flies with 80-90lbs dumbells (3 sets of 8-10reps). After that I go home and eat. 🙂

 

[MainFramed]

Allright my bad, allow me to clairify somethings, my apoligies about the real guy comment, didint mean to piss some of you folks off. jeeze is right, all i was trying to say is why not do it without creatine, can you not get ripped without it? 😕 . As for articles on it being medically proven, let me look. I've only talked to over 20+ doctors and weight trainers about it and they've ALL had the same thing to say minus 1 or 2.

And for saying it wasent used 20 years ago, yeah i figured it wasent, but being my 15 year old self i just said that. 🙂

 

[MainFramed]

All the articles i've found show no BAD medical evidence, however couple of the teen weight lifting sites say its not good for those between ages 12-18, im just going to assume real quick everything i've been told, has been told protaining to my age...

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Munchies
My weight instructor who happened to be the sports medicine guy for the red wings, taught me in my ways of lifting, every 2 days every muscle. NO problems so far, its just that it seems I can't hit anything higher, I would be at 210 by now.

A little advice:

Train each muscle group just once a week. Train with maximum intensity and with every set to failure.

Training a muscle group every two days is overtraining. You're not going to see any prolonged gains with a routine like that.

 

[Balt]

I hit a wall at 205 for a few days here so I want to try creatine. Whats the best one out there?

You've hit a wall for a few days? Just wait until you hit one for a few weeks/months. A few days may not even be enough recovery time in some cases. I'd recommend staying off the creatine as long as you can make gains with working out + protein.

You will want to cycle creatine anyway, so I've never seen a point in taking it before you are sure you even need it.

 

[MainFramed]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Munchies
My weight instructor who happened to be the sports medicine guy for the red wings, taught me in my ways of lifting, every 2 days every muscle. NO problems so far, its just that it seems I can't hit anything higher, I would be at 210 by now.

A little advice:

Train each muscle group just once a week. Train with maximum intensity and with every set to failure.

Training a muscle group every two days is overtraining. You're not going to see any prolonged gains with a routine like that.

So your saying dont do curls monday and then wednesday to? Can you work out like upper body monday, lower body wendesday, upper body firday?

 

[Balt]

Originally posted by: MainFramed

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Munchies
My weight instructor who happened to be the sports medicine guy for the red wings, taught me in my ways of lifting, every 2 days every muscle. NO problems so far, its just that it seems I can't hit anything higher, I would be at 210 by now.

A little advice:

Train each muscle group just once a week. Train with maximum intensity and with every set to failure.

Training a muscle group every two days is overtraining. You're not going to see any prolonged gains with a routine like that.

So your saying dont do curls monday and then wednesday to? Can you work out like upper body monday, lower body wendesday, upper body firday?

In my experience, working out the entire upper body in one workout is not the best way to go. Try to split up your upper body into at least two days. I usually do chest + tri's one day, then shoulders + bi's + upper back a few days later. Stick your leg/lower back workout day somewhere in the middle.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: MainFramed

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Munchies
My weight instructor who happened to be the sports medicine guy for the red wings, taught me in my ways of lifting, every 2 days every muscle. NO problems so far, its just that it seems I can't hit anything higher, I would be at 210 by now.

A little advice:

Train each muscle group just once a week. Train with maximum intensity and with every set to failure.

Training a muscle group every two days is overtraining. You're not going to see any prolonged gains with a routine like that.

So your saying dont do curls monday and then wednesday to? Can you work out like upper body monday, lower body wendesday, upper body firday?

No, something like this is better and allows you to give maximum intensity to all your workouts:

Mon: chest and tris
Wed: back and bis
Fri: legs

or

Mon: Chest and tris
Tue: Back and bis
Thr: Shoulders
Fri: Legs

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: MainFramed
Allright my bad, allow me to clairify somethings, my apoligies about the real guy comment, didint mean to piss some of you folks off. jeeze is right, all i was trying to say is why not do it without creatine, can you not get ripped without it? 😕 . As for articles on it being medically proven, let me look. I've only talked to over 20+ doctors and weight trainers about it and they've ALL had the same thing to say minus 1 or 2.

And for saying it wasent used 20 years ago, yeah i figured it wasent, but being my 15 year old self i just said that. 🙂

I find it odd you spoke to 20+ people about it...but anyways most doctors do not keep up with supplements, they will tell you usually either 1) they will have to research that or 2) see a pharmacist/specialist (sports medicine or the like).

Doctors also promote rumors....they are human like everyone else, they hear something that sounds plausable and go with it. Giving a recommendation against something is a lot safer medically than for it, esp in lawsuit happy times.

 

[cchen]

Swole V2 didn't do anything for me. I used Nitrotech/Celltech last summer (yea, overpriced) but I made really good gains. This summer I'm just using regular prolab creatine and dextrose.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: MainFramed

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Munchies
My weight instructor who happened to be the sports medicine guy for the red wings, taught me in my ways of lifting, every 2 days every muscle. NO problems so far, its just that it seems I can't hit anything higher, I would be at 210 by now.

A little advice:

Train each muscle group just once a week. Train with maximum intensity and with every set to failure.

Training a muscle group every two days is overtraining. You're not going to see any prolonged gains with a routine like that.

So your saying dont do curls monday and then wednesday to? Can you work out like upper body monday, lower body wendesday, upper body firday?

No, something like this is better and allows you to give maximum intensity to all your workouts:

Mon: chest and tris
Wed: back and bis
Fri: legs

or

Mon: Chest and tris
Tue: Back and bis
Thr: Shoulders
Fri: Legs

I've been going at it pretty hard since last December working out specific muscle groups twice a week and have had reallly good gains. But lately I've been having some problems with tendinitis in both my forearms and my shoulders. Obviously I've been overtraining (wasn't a problem at first because I wasn't lifting heavy weights) I'm going to give the once a week routine a try and see if it works.
It should also shorten up my routines considerably which will give me more time to do Cardio while I'm at the gym.

I know lift to failure. Not a problem as I always do that anyways.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: MainFramed
It's medically proven that it's NOT good for you, be a real guy, get some serious determination, eat right and work out. You didin't see guys 20 years ago using creatine all the time before they work out (let alone half the dumb ass machines made today) and there just as ripped, if not more than most people that work out.

Really?

Arch Latinoam Nutr. 2002 Jun;52(2):117-27. Related Articles, Links

[Creatine: the nutritional supplement for exercise - current concepts]

[Article in Portuguese]

Mendes RR, Tirapegui J.

Departamento de Alimentos e Nutricao Experimental, Laboratorio de Nutricao, Faculdade de Ciencias Farmaceuticas Universidade de Sao Paulo, SP, Brasil.

Creatine, a natural nutrient found in animal foods, is alleged to be an effective nutritional ergogenic aid to enhance sport or exercise performance. It may be formed in kidney and liver from arginina and glicina. Creatine may be delivered to the muscle, where it may combine readily with phosphate to form creatine phosphate, a high-energy phosphagen in the ATP-CP system, and is stored. The ATP-CP energy system is important for rapid energy production, such as in speed and power events. Approximately 120 g of creatine is found in a 70 kg male, 95% in the skeletal muscle. Total creatine exists in muscle as both free creatine (40%) and phosphocreatine (60%). It is only recently that a concerted effort has been undertaken to investigate its potential ergogenic effect relative to sport or exercise performance. It does appear that oral creatine monohydrate may increase muscle total creatine, including both free and phosphocreatine. Many, but not all studies suggest that creatine supplementation may enhance performance in high intensity, short-term exercise task that are dependent primarily on the ATP-CP energy system, particularly on laboratory test involving repeated exercise bouts with limited recovery time between repetitions. Short-term creatine supplementation appears to increase body mass, although the initial increase is most likely water associated with the osmotic effect of increased intramuscular total creatine. Chronic creatine supplementation in conjunction with physical training involving resistance exercise may increase muscle mass. However, confirmatory research data are needed. Creatine supplementation up to 8 weeks, with high doses, has not been associated with major health risks; with low doses, it was demonstrated that in 5 years period supplementation, there are no adverse effects. The decision to use creatine as a mean to enhance sport performance is left to the description to the individual athlete.

Publication Types:
Review
Review, Tutorial

PMID: 12184144 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Sports Med. 2000 Sep;30(3):155-70. Related Articles, Links

Adverse effects of creatine supplementation: fact or fiction?

Poortmans JR, Francaux M.

Physiological Chemistry, Higher Institute of Physical Education and Readaptation, Free University of Brussels, Bruxelles, Belgium. jrpoortm@ulb.ac.be

The consumption of oral creatine monohydrate has become increasingly common among professional and amateur athletes. Despite numerous publications on the ergogenic effects of this naturally occurring substance, there is little information on the possible adverse effects of this supplement. The objectives of this review are to identify the scientific facts and contrast them with reports in the news media, which have repeatedly emphasised the health risks of creatine supplementation and do not hesitate to draw broad conclusions from individual case reports. Exogenous creatine supplements are often consumed by athletes in amounts of up to 20 g/day for a few days, followed by 1 to 10 g/day for weeks, months and even years. Usually, consumers do not report any adverse effects, but body mass increases. There are few reports that creatine supplementation has protective effects in heart, muscle and neurological diseases. Gastrointestinal disturbances and muscle cramps have been reported occasionally in healthy individuals, but the effects are anecdotal. Liver and kidney dysfunction have also been suggested on the basis of small changes in markers of organ function and of occasional case reports, but well controlled studies on the adverse effects of exogenous creatine supplementation are almost nonexistent. We have investigated liver changes during medium term (4 weeks) creatine supplementation in young athletes. None showed any evidence of dysfunction on the basis of serum enzymes and urea production. Short term (5 days), medium term (9 weeks) and long term (up to 5 years) oral creatine supplementation has been studied in small cohorts of athletes whose kidney function was monitored by clearance methods and urine protein excretion rate. We did not find any adverse effects on renal function. The present review is not intended to reach conclusions on the effect of creatine supplementation on sport performance, but we believe that there is no evidence for deleterious effects in healthy individuals. Nevertheless, idiosyncratic effects may occur when large amounts of an exogenous substance containing an amino group are consumed, with the consequent increased load on the liver and kidneys. Regular monitoring is compulsory to avoid any abnormal reactions during oral creatine supplementation.

Publication Types:
Review
Review, Tutorial

PMID: 10999421 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Curr Sports Med Rep. 2002 Apr;1(2):103-6. Related Articles, Links

Effects of creatine use on the athlete's kidney.

Farquhar WB, Zambraski EJ.

HRCA Research and Training Institute, Harvard Division on Aging, 1200 Centre Street, Boston, MA 02131, USA. farquhar@mail.hrca.harvard.edu

With regard to athletes attempting to improve their performance, at the present time creatine monohydrate is clearly the most widely used dietary supplement or ergogenic aid. Loading doses as high as 20 g/d are typical among athletes. The majority (> 90%) of the creatine ingested is removed from the plasma by the kidney and excreted in the urine. Despite relatively few isolated reports of renal dysfunction in persons taking creatine, the studies completed to date suggest that in normal healthy individuals the kidneys are able to excrete creatine, and its end product creatinine, in a manner that does not adversely alter renal function. This situation would be predicted to be different in persons with impaired glomerular filtration or inherent renal disease. The question of whether long-term creatine supplementation (ie, months to years) has any deleterious affects on renal structure or function can not be answered at this time. The limited number of studies that have addressed the issue of the chronic use of creatine have not seen remarkable changes in renal function. However, physicians should be aware that the safety of long-term creatine supplementation, in regard to the effects on the kidneys, cannot be guaranteed. More information is needed on possible changes in blood pressure, protein/albumin excretion, and glomerular filtration in athletes who are habitual users of this compound.

Publication Types:
Case Reports
Review
Review, Tutorial

PMID: 12831718 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Br J Sports Med. 2000 Aug;34(4):284-8. Related Articles, Links

Dietary creatine supplementation does not affect some haematological indices, or indices of muscle damage and hepatic and renal function.

Robinson TM, Sewell DA, Casey A, Steenge G, Greenhaff PL.

School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Nottingham Medical School, Queen's Medical Centre, United Kingdom.

BACKGROUND: The use of creatine (Cr) as a nutritional supplement to aid athletic performance has gained widespread popularity among athletes. However, concerns have recently been expressed over potentially harmful effects of short and long term Cr supplementation on health. METHODS: Forty eight young healthy subjects were randomly allocated to three experimental protocols aimed at elucidating any potential health risks associated with five days (20 g/day) to nine weeks (3 g/day) of Cr supplementation. Venous blood samples were collected before and after periods of Cr supplementation and were analysed for some haematological indices, and for indices of hepatic, muscular, and renal dysfunction. FINDINGS: All measured indices were well within their respective normal range at all times. Serum creatinine concentration tended to be increased the day after Cr supplementation. However, values had returned to baseline six weeks after the cessation of supplementation. These increases were probably attributable to increased creatinine production rather than renal dysfunction. No indication of impairment to the haematological indices measured, hepatic function, or muscle damage was apparent after Cr supplementation. INTERPRETATION: These data provide evidence that there are no obvious adverse effects of acute or more chronic Cr supplementation on the haematological indices measured, nor on hepatic, muscle, and renal function. Therefore there is no apparent health risk associated with Cr supplementation to healthy people when it is ingested in quantities that have been scientifically proven to increase muscle Cr stores.

Publication Types:
Clinical Trial
Randomized Controlled Trial

PMID: 10953902 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Swole V2

I second this. Creatine itself works decently for me, but i get way too much water retention, especially in my face. Swole works much better for me, and i get less water retention. Unfortunately it's a bit more expensive, but still cheap compared to other supplements (if you're serious about working out, you should be spending easily 4-5x as much on protein a month).

If you have limited funds, then i suggest you should focus on your diet and supplement with protein (1.5g/pound of weight per day). Then a good multivitamin. Then creatine. But protein is MUCH more important than creatine.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: MainFramed
It's medically proven that it's NOT good for you, be a real guy, get some serious determination, eat right and work out. You didin't see guys 20 years ago using creatine all the time before they work out (let alone half the dumb ass machines made today) and there just as ripped, if not more than most people that work out.

Yeah you did - bodybuilders have been using it for decades.

Er, wait. No they haven't - because it was hardly around 20 years ago! Creatine supplementing first hit the market in a "big way" about a decade ago (maybe people were playing with it in small amounts before then, but prior to a decade ago it was mostly unheard of). Also, bodybuilders today put the ones from a few decades ago to shame. Arnold would be laughed off stage today. Of course that's mostly because of drugs, but they are bigger and thinner now (and a lot closer to death 😀).

Anyway, you can't find an article saying it's proven bad for you, because it's not, and there are no articles.

The OP, if he wants creatine, should first take a break and get some rest before hitting the weights again. It's possible that he's overtraining, though I only briefly read the thread.

In regards to which creatine, just go in to any supplement store and any of the namebrand stuff should be fine. I'd just buy the cheap pure stuff, and save the money spent on the combo creatine mixtures (simple carbs and the creatine mixed in the same tub).

You can get 300 grams creatine for $10 easily and if you just take 5 grams of that a day (maybe you load with more, maybe you don't), then that's only $5/month. It's very inexpensive, but a waste of time if your diet/routine isn't in good shape 🙂

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Munchies
My weight instructor who happened to be the sports medicine guy for the red wings, taught me in my ways of lifting, every 2 days every muscle. NO problems so far, its just that it seems I can't hit anything higher, I would be at 210 by now.

A little advice:

Train each muscle group just once a week. Train with maximum intensity and with every set to failure.

Training a muscle group every two days is overtraining. You're not going to see any prolonged gains with a routine like that.

Not necessarily true. It's not the number of times you train a week, but total volume. There are MANY workout methods/regiments out there, and people just need to find the one that's best suited for their body/lifestyle/time. Some people like hitting a bodypart once a day, each week. Others like hitting a two bodyparts a day, and in a week, getting each bodypart twice. Others like full body workouts every other days... so they hit each bodypart 3x a week... these people who do full bodies aren't hitting each bodypart as hard as they would if they were to concentrate on a single body part each day, so recovery is quicker.

The one body part a week is a decent method, and popular... but it's not the only one (and i doubt even the best... it's just popular because it was introduced by Weider). Personally i don't think a muscle takes 6 days to recover... i think it does it in 3 just fine, and if you hit a body part twice a week... you have the chance of muscle growing twice as often (not necessarily twice as fast)... since the only time the muscle grows, is after it's been stressed (the more often you stress the muscle then, the more chances it gets to grow... as long as you don't run into overtraining).

 

[StageLeft]

The one body part a week is a decent method, and popular... but it's not the only one (and i doubt even the best... it's just popular because it was introduced by Weider). Personally i don't think a muscle takes 6 days to recover... i think it does it in 3 just fine, and if you hit a body part twice a week... you have the chance of muscle growing twice as often (not necessarily twice as fast)... since the only time the muscle grows, is after it's been stressed (the more often you stress the muscle then, the more chances it gets to grow... as long as you don't run into overtraining).

If it takes 3 days as you say, then yeah you're setting yourself up for twice the growth. But if it takes 6 days, then you're just ambushing growth. Unfortunately it depends upon a person's genetics and routine and what not, but you're right that different routines work differently on different people!

 

[StageLeft]

Red Dawn Take it easy on those old bones. You're not 35 anymore :evil: 😛 :Q 😉

 

[Looney]

I'll be trying this workout REAL soon (starting tomorrow, was suppose to be today, but it's a Canadian holiday)... the foundation of this is that when you hit the larger muscle groups, your body becomes more anabolic and produces more testosterone... large muslce groups are the legs and back. My splits with be

Day 1: Squats and Biceps and Triceps
Day 2: Back and Chest
Day 3: Quads, Hams and Shoulder
Day 4: cardio

I'm not sure how my body will respond to that, but it looks like a good program to me.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: MainFramed

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Munchies
My weight instructor who happened to be the sports medicine guy for the red wings, taught me in my ways of lifting, every 2 days every muscle. NO problems so far, its just that it seems I can't hit anything higher, I would be at 210 by now.

A little advice:

Train each muscle group just once a week. Train with maximum intensity and with every set to failure.

Training a muscle group every two days is overtraining. You're not going to see any prolonged gains with a routine like that.

So your saying dont do curls monday and then wednesday to? Can you work out like upper body monday, lower body wendesday, upper body firday?

No, something like this is better and allows you to give maximum intensity to all your workouts:

Mon: chest and tris
Wed: back and bis
Fri: legs

or

Mon: Chest and tris
Tue: Back and bis
Thr: Shoulders
Fri: Legs

I've been going at it pretty hard since last December working out specific muscle groups twice a week and have had reallly good gains. But lately I've been having some problems with tendinitis in both my forearms and my shoulders. Obviously I've been overtraining (wasn't a problem at first because I wasn't lifting heavy weights) I'm going to give the once a week routine a try and see if it works.
It should also shorten up my routines considerably which will give me more time to do Cardio while I'm at the gym.

I know lift to failure. Not a problem as I always do that anyways.

For joint pains, try MSM and Glucosamine.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: Hardcore

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: MainFramed

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Munchies
My weight instructor who happened to be the sports medicine guy for the red wings, taught me in my ways of lifting, every 2 days every muscle. NO problems so far, its just that it seems I can't hit anything higher, I would be at 210 by now.

A little advice:

Train each muscle group just once a week. Train with maximum intensity and with every set to failure.

Training a muscle group every two days is overtraining. You're not going to see any prolonged gains with a routine like that.

So your saying dont do curls monday and then wednesday to? Can you work out like upper body monday, lower body wendesday, upper body firday?

No, something like this is better and allows you to give maximum intensity to all your workouts:

Mon: chest and tris
Wed: back and bis
Fri: legs

or

Mon: Chest and tris
Tue: Back and bis
Thr: Shoulders
Fri: Legs

I've been going at it pretty hard since last December working out specific muscle groups twice a week and have had reallly good gains. But lately I've been having some problems with tendinitis in both my forearms and my shoulders. Obviously I've been overtraining (wasn't a problem at first because I wasn't lifting heavy weights) I'm going to give the once a week routine a try and see if it works.
It should also shorten up my routines considerably which will give me more time to do Cardio while I'm at the gym.

I know lift to failure. Not a problem as I always do that anyways.

For joint pains, try MSM and Glucosamine.

It's not my joints, they feel fine, it's the tendons, especially in my right forearm. My shoulder was bothering me somewhat because I incorporated Cable flys into my routine. I worked them today and they seem to be ok (I was also using improper form before)

I also got a brace/strap thing for tendinitis for my arm and it seems to be helping a lot.

 

[Bolvangar]

red dawn can you give me a link to the brace thing you got? I've been having a lot of problems with tendinitis in my forearm as well, i stopped working out for about 2 weeks and still having problems with it!

 

[Looney]

It's not my joints, they feel fine, it's the tendons, especially in my right forearm. My shoulder was bothering me somewhat because I incorporated Cable flys into my routine. I worked them today and they seem to be ok (I was also using improper form before)

I also got a brace/strap thing for tendinitis for my arm and it seems to be helping a lot.

Well, tendonitis and joint pains are both caused by inflammation of the tissues around those areas... and MSM and Glucosamine both have anti-inflammatory properties and will help.

EDIT: forgot to mention, also helps to repair connective tissues as well.