Creatine..?.?.

[BlackBlur]

Can someone tell me some adverse effects of creatine? I know there not known long term. But things such as high blood pressure, dramatic mood swings, loss of sleep? Im thinking about trying a cycle or two. Just want to see what it will do to ya... Thanks

[ViperJ]

I was reading an article about it in the Seattle Times. I guess this guy started to have black urine because he took so much and he got so sick his muscles started to rot. But fo those who take the recommended amount it works very well, it gives you more energy to work out longer.

[BlackBlur]

ohh lord, well ill take the directed amount

[96Civ]

Note that the first time you use it will be the best time. After that... 'neh', seems less effective.

Lets say you do 40 pushups on creatine and you stop because your muscles are really tired now. Within seconds you will recover and you can go back to working out.

[BlackBlur]

Sweet, sounds like the stuff for me. Ill post back whenever I get some and try it out. It doesnt do anything like steriods and shrink your nuts/wang will it?

[96Civ]

Creatine is nothing like steriods. Don't worry about side effects if you only take 20g a day for no more than 2 weeks I would say.

Your body makes natural creatine from meat but very little. you probably get 1g of creatine from eating steak I think. I might be wrong though. Alone the lines of 1 or 2...

[BlackBlur]

Civ, i know i could research this, but you seem knowledgeable(sp). So what is the
"schedule" when taking it? You say dont worry 'bout s/e blahblah for more than 2 weeks. Are there certain periods that you take it, then you dont take it for a while?

[96Civ]

This might help you bud. Be sure eat lots of calcium as well like egg whites.

http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/cr...eatine-use.htm

[BlackBlur]

Thanks man, that will help, but i have a question. Where is says "after a few weeks, their gains taper off an almost disappear" ,does that mean that they dont gain anymore, or what the have already gained diminished as well?

[96Civ]

It doesn't mean what you built disapears. It only means you get use to the creatine and its less effective then on out. What you got to do is just use creatine for a month, then quit and just work without it until you can use it again which in my experience is use creatine for a month, then take a month off and then get back on it.

What you gained won't go away unless you just quit working out completely. Just keep pumping iron and you will keep what you got.

[YogsVR4]

I suggest you read http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/1999/05_99/juhn.htm and take a look at what creatine is actually doing. Its the most unbiased article I've come across on the topic.

There was a thread on the topic a couple months back. http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=201812 you might want to pan through it as well.

[ViperJ]

Hey does anyone know how old you have to be to buy creatine. Does they have age restrictions? I am 16 and was wondering can i go to GNC and buy some?

[replicant_008]

I've used creatine monohydrate as a supplement during training and to be absolutely honest the jury is out whether it helped or not...

I did the full loading, maintenance dosage regime while doing my pre-season cardio and strength training (which takes 6-8 weeks) for skiing. My observations are...

- Dehydration is an issue. I consumed a lot of water during the training and had to be careful that I didn't hit the wall during the longer bike sessions - in the end I flagged the creative because I had started having dizzy spells at the end of the longer resistance training sessions because I couldn't seem to hydrate enough. However, this has as much to do with being on a bike mag trainer as you struggle to stay cool enough

- Combined with a high protein diet my digestive system had some problems. Occasional nausea during the initial loading was something I wasn't expecting or desired

I gained a fair bit of muscle weight (quicker than without creatine) initially but after about the 3rd week things tapered off. I suspect that the creatine seemed to make me retain fluid in the muscles but didn't really help with building real muscle mass...

The skiing I do is the equivalent of interval training. I hit the run, scoot it and then jump on a lift back up - so it seemed to help with the muscle mass and to get through a full day without having to stop for a proper break (ie 8am to 4pm). But then again I spent 5 weeks @ altitude so the cardio was happening anyway.

The overall verdict was that it was a reasonably expensive exercise for what are some good initial gains but not in the longer term. The dehydration was an issue as was the nausea - I don't think I'll bother again, I simply don't need to do that sort of training anymore as I don't need to bulk up for the activities I do currently so cardio and maintenance is more important so creatine is not really helpful.

[BlackBlur]

Originally Posted by ViperJ

Hey does anyone know how old you have to be to buy creatine. Does they have age restrictions? I am 16 and was wondering can i go to GNC and buy some?

Man, dont just go buy it, discuss it with your parental units. Because if something freak does happen theyll know. Im almost 18 and i still asked my Dad if its a good thing to do and whatnot. So make it clear.

[Diesel2NR]

I've been usin Creatine for a while now. First and foremost, I'd get the pills. The powder is nasty as hell (I ended up finishin off the bottle by puttin in it Peanut Butter sandwiches throughout the day). My schedule goes as follows: 1 week loading period (25 grams/day), 2 weeks of maintainence (5 grams/day), 1 week loading period (25 grams/day), then 1 month without use. Using creatine, I can easily work out twice as long as I can without it.

Creatine's major gains in the beginning of a cycle are caused by water retention. Your muscles will look a lot bigger because of this. The TRUE gain is from being able to work out longer than you could without taking supplementary creatine. HTH