does CREATINE (and other legal sports supplements) work?

[TravisBickle]

I picked up creatine at the health store last week. I've used it before but didn't get very far with it due to illness. I was about 11 stone and swelled up with 5lbs extra water on it BTW, yes really...
for those of you who don't know, creatine phosphate is one of the energy sources for fast twitch muscle fibres in particular along with ATP and it's supposed to help you train harder and get more power out of yourself.

it would be nice to hear from anyone who has a success story with this stuff, or whatever...

 

[stonythug]

Yo yo, I haven't used it but I had a couple of friends using it last year. It seemed to work pretty well for them, but I don't think it is something you wanna mess with unless you know what you're doing. You're supposed to have a very rigid diet and excersise plan laid out because you're only supposed to be on it for short periods of time or your body will slow down on producing it naturally. One of the guys had been taking it for months and he looked great, but so do people who take steroids, so who knows.

 

[Spamela]

creatine works for most, but not all people. some people get muscle cramps or intestinal discomfort when using it. it helps me squeeze out a few extra reps
when weightlifting or doing situps.

 

[JayPatel]

yes creatine works.....u have to be careful with creatine...cause the more your body gets used to it..the lesser the effect it has on you....you just have to follow the cycle really well....creatine is produced naturally in the body though in minute amounts...take it till you feel that its not having an effect on you...then stop it cold turkey..let your body get back to its original phase of having no outside creatine and then start back up again...btw Monohydrate is the best....creatine citrate is pure junk...dont buy the hype if its available where u live..

 

[jsm]

I agree that cycling it is the key. There was a point where I was taking sooo much that I could do sets of dips for hours and I would never feel a pump. I would get tired after a large amount of reps, but never pumped like I would normally.

Then again, I was taking at least 3 times the amount I was supposed.

There are a couple problems with taking creatine in my opinion. One: I got some pretty serious gas. I thought it was a lot of fun - pretty much farting on a whim, but my girlfriend didn't appreciate it or find the humour in it that I did. 2. I had to drink water constantly .. this is good and bad, in my opinion. I like flushing out my system, but I gained some weight from the water and 3. I had to piss CONSTANTLY. Every couple minutes, off to the bathroom I went. Now, I don't know how many people think that peeing on a regular basis is cool, but if they exist, then capture them - they are not from this planet.

 

[cyclistca]

I've never used it but I've read several threads on it in various cycling forums. What come up again and again is the cramping thing. Every seem to recommend that you drink lots of water when taking it.

Personally I'll stick to steroids .

 

[StageLeft]

It works, don't forget that! My brother swears by it and when I first tried it about 4 years ago I put on 40 pounds onto my benchpress (from 210-250) and 12lb body weight in 40 days. I ate a lot, worked out a lot, slept a lot, but no way that creatine didn't have a big influence on that.

When you stop taking it your bodyweight will go down a bit, your strength may suffer a tiny bit - but you'll still be better than you otherwise would have been. So far it "seems" pretty safe. Its a good supplement.

I don't take it now because I don't really see the benefits in long-term use of supplements. Something feels wrong about it, in that it can't be excellent for your health or body or whatever...who knows. I know the studies show its quite safe. If you're desperate for some muscle quickly take it; you can rest assured it is definitely safer than some illegal substances available.

 

[madthumbs]

Caffeine adversely affects it's benefits, sugars seem to aid it's absorbtion into muscle, and it works differently on different people. Immediately it should gain you 3-5lbs of water weight that you will lose when you quit.

 

[billandopus]

yes, it does work ... for the majority of people out there to varying degrees. If you're gonna try supplements after you have your house in order (diet, training, sleeping, low stress lifestyle) then i'd suggest trying out the creatine and glutamine with a good multivite and possibly a protein powder for you to ingest more kcals and protein that you can't otherwise with food alone.

 

[BlueScreenVW]

Cretine phospate is only used for a very brief period of time during a fast race. For example, a 400 m runner could benefit somewhat from using it, but it's hardly useful for longer distances. To help gain muscle mass when lifting weights you'd have to eat it constantly during a session.

 

[fir3wir3]

just take some ephidrine (sp?) before the big game

note: do not do this as you may die...I used to do this and would not recommend it to anyone

 

[beer]

Is it true that the Creatine serum is much better than the creatine powder? Let me know please.

 

[djbacklash]

Creatine Serum (all brands) is PURE JUNK!! Creatine monohydrate has proven to be unstable in liquid form. Also, a test showed it had barely ANY creatine in it at all. Head over to the forums at MuscleMag.com to get more info on creatine, ephedra, and everything else

 

[Antisocial Virge]

Serum is garbage. I tried it and I actually went backwards. Person at a GNC told me it was for more "aerobic" type exercises. Creatin is by far the best supplement. It works and is cheap as dirt.

Ephedrine(sp) is great also but use very very carefully.

 

[djbacklash]

I was such an idiot..I used the serum for 6 months and the whole time I made very little progress. Since I discovered all the online bodybuilding forums, I've made significant gains. For creatine, I recommended either taking pure creatine monohydrate, or taking a creatine transport (which provide the insulin shock needed to get the creatine into your system) like MuscleTech Cell-Tech, EAS Phosphagen HP, or EAS SyntheVol. Personally I use the SyntheVol because it contains low sugar/carbs and also glutamine (I also supplement with glutamine 3x a day though).

For ephedra, I recommend thermogenics like HydroxyCut and Xenadrine. I take 2 caps of Xenadrine prior to each workout purely as an energy boost/performance enhancer (don't really need them for their fat burning abilities). ALWAYS start with the minimum or half the recommended dosages, and don't take it if you're under 18 (unless your doc says it's ok).

 

[dcdomain]

Really depends on the person. For a bunch of my friends on the football team, they used to be twigs, yeah they were atheletic, but they didn't have much meat. After a year of using creatine, they bulked up to almost twice their original size. For others though, like me, no matter how much you lift or exercise while using creatine, that stuff will have no effect or just make you fatter. I spoke to a retired pitcher for the Phillies once, and he had the same problem, so it's not for everyone. If it works within a year, then you know it works, but if not, I say drop it quick, waste of money...

 

[Antisocial Virge]

dcdomain

don't think Creatine was responsible for making you fatter. Don't think it works that way. Might make yea hold more water.

 

[TravisBickle]

thankyou all. I had particular fun reading jsm's comments. his kind of self medication is not at all unusual among recreational sportsmen with regard to taking chemicals in far more than the directed dosage. when I used creatine (monohydrate powder) I not only appeared to swell up with 5lbs water but once or twice I was woken up by a leg cramp. all in all though, it's fairly harmless stuff I guess. I am not sure about its use in long distance cycling though. is it really worth carrying 3-5lbs of weight for a couple of extra percent in a sprint?

what was wrong with elemental007's post?

 

[djbacklash]

It's true that you'll gain about 5lbs of water weight your first week (during the loading period, which many agree isn't even necessary), but any athlete or weightlifter will lose those lbs after a few weeks of training, since doing cardio 2+ times a week is a necessary component of any workout regimen. As for cramps, just make sure you drink enough water (I take in at least a gallon a day) and you'll be fine.

 

[waytoomuchcoffee]

For good info on creatine look here

This site is pretty good for accurate info. Before I take any supplements I always do a Medline or GratefulMed search for a few years back to see what actually medical articles have been published. This site usually hits most of them, and gives references too. It might be a year or so out of date for the newer articles, so you should also do the Medline search to be safe.

 

[dcdomain]

Antisocial-Virge Sorry, bad wording... creatine really bulks you up from the water retention, so it makes you less cut I guess...

 

[BlueScreenVW]

This is a good abstract of a study on creatine phosphate: abstract. Note a couple of things:

1. It doesn't say more 20-30 g/d will be useful.
2. Should be taken together with glucose (to get insulin response). Note that pure sugar is way better than, say, fruit sugar in giving this response.

 

[TravisBickle]

a little update: I have gone through the loading phase and been on Creatine for 8 days now, and gone up 5-6lbs from what was a very stable weight. this is all water of course. it seems that drinking creatine in the typical disaccharide solution works. of course I'm not saying it's the most efficient for uptake, but I was actually quite mean with the loading phase, only one day did I take the prescribed 4x teaspoonful, for four days either two or three only.

 

[Gibson486]

OK, here is what creatine really does. It builds muscle mass by supplimenting it with more water. That is all. So you really do gain weight, and your muscles tend to swell up, but you do not have an increase in power.

 

[billandopus]

<< OK, here is what creatine really does. It builds muscle mass by supplimenting it with more water. That is all. So you really do gain weight, and your muscles tend to swell up, but you do not have an increase in power. >>



You really need to educate yourself before you make inaccurate statements like this. Especially the last part. You've totally confused yourself.

Water, water, everywhere. You've confused yourself with the role H2O plays in the Creatine/ATP cycle. It's true that water is retained intracellularly, which is where most of the initial size comes from.

However, anerobic power is increased, substantially in some people, allowing you to perform better in the gym, lifting weights and so forth. Through this one can increase the poundage used for a given exercise and for a given amount of repetitions thus allowing for greater cellular microtrauma thus allowing for greater repair. Given rest and nutrition your muscles will become bigger and stronger thus able to resist the possible trauma of the next workout.

It's the fight or flight reaction. You've succeeded in affecting the inertia that is homeostasis. IE: the predispostion for the body to stay at the status quo. By using Creatine judiciously as a possible addition to one's exercise regimen intelligently you can affect changes that would have been more difficult to reach pre-Creatine.

C'mon, do you seriously think that Nebraska Cornhuskers think that Creatine &quot;does not increase your power?&quot;

Check out the Husker Power website. Do you know that every football player on the Nebraska roster is put on a vitamin/supplement regimen that includes, front and center, Creatine? Among others of course - and not including illicit substances. This is in practice everywhere at every major university. Go to any gym, ask anyone who's been in a gym &quot;Does Creatine work?&quot;

The answer will be &quot;yes, to varying degrees.&quot;

Man, the amount of misinformation here can be really shocking.