Facts On Creatine

[NiteHawk]

Originally Posted by ReD_WingS

how many years is creatine good for? (PURPLE-K)

As with all nutritional supplements they will deteriorate over time. This is because of time, heat, etc. The expiration dates are usually for a long time so you shouldnt have a problem with finishing the product before the date.
As with any supplement past the expiration date, you should look for any strange odors, colors, consistency, etc.

And when in doubt, just buy a new one.

[Traps]

Excellent information about creatine taken from here

Save the Transporters!

I was thinking about starting a new fanatical group called "save the transporters" to fight against excessive creatine use. We’d have rallies and T-Shirts and everything! Unfortunately, club president John Berardi’s T-shirt didn’t have those fake muscles painted on the way he likes, so the whole club folded. Now all I’m left with are two things: 1) memories of JB ranting about people finding out his "skinny secret," and 2) the main reason for not "abusing" creatine. This lies in the fact that using less creatine means that our bodies have less excess to deal with. While I am not-for-one-second suggesting that creatine is hard on our body (in fact, a recent study supports the lack of toxicity—Kreider, 2003), why throw in excess if it’s not going to have any benefit?

I will, however, state for the record that perpetually hammering our bodies with excess creatine may have one unfortunate side effect: creatine transporter downregulation. Creatine transporters are the proteins that allow creatine to enter into muscle. They bind creatine on the outside of the muscle cell and carry it across the cell membrane to the intracellular space.

Now we’ve all heard that these creatine transporter proteins would decrease in number with our creatine use (Guerrero-Ontiveros and Wallimann, 1998). In essence, this could occur because our body detects that we already have too much creatine in our muscle and it wants to minimize further transport—almost the same way our bodies drop our natural T levels while using steroids. This would result in less creatine in the muscles and subsequently less cell hydration, as well as a reduction in performance enhancement.

Well, it’s time for some GOOD NEWS: a recently published study showed that there was no change in the number of creatine transporters when people used typical creatine dosages for up to 2 months (Tarnopolsky et al., 2003). The earlier study showing the transporter downregulation (Guerrero-Ontiveros and Wallimann, 1998) used rats consuming roughly 1g/kg/day, and using our 100kg athlete, that would mean consuming 100g of creatine a day!

So this means that as long as we don’t go through a kilo of creatine a week then we’re home free, right? Well, maybe not. As great as this is for us, we have to be aware of the limitations of the research. The study in question only examined a maximum of 10g/day, 6 days a week, for 2 months. This means that several months after loading, we may still be susceptible to transporter downregulation—we just don’t know.

Logically speaking however, the less excess we have, the better the chance of staving off any reduction in transporters and keeping the benefits of creatine supplementation.

[sharpervikings]

I just bought Cell-Tech, and am going to start taking it. I just had a question about your routine while using Cell-Tech.
--Do you lift with the same muscle groups every other day, or do you at least have 2 days off in between. Example: Would you flat bench Monday then Wednesday then Friday, or would you do Monday then Thursday??

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[NiteHawk]

Here is the routine Im doing now...

Monday -Workout 1 (upper body)

Barbell Decline Press - 4 x 10
Dumbbell Incline Press - 3 x 8-10
Barbell Rows - 5 x 5
Incline Lateral Raise 2 x 8-10
Upright Rows 2 x 8-10
Reverse Grip Bench Press - 3 x 8-10
Barbell Curls - 3-4 x 8-10

Tuesday - Workout 1 (Lower Body)

Squats - 5 x 5
Good Mornings - 3 x 5
Pull-Throughs - 4 x 10-12
Leg Press 4 x 10
Calves - 5 x 12-20
Abs ( leg raises & cable crunches)

Wednesday - Off

Thursday - Workout 2 (Upper Body)

Incline Barbell Press - 5 x 5
Flat Dumbbell Bench Press - 5 x5
Dips - 3 sets
Barbell Shoulder Press 4 x 8-10
Rack Chins 3 x 8-10
Cable Rows or T-Bar Rows - 2 x 8
Skull Krusher 3 x8-10
Incline Curls - 3 x 8-10

Friday - Workout 2 (Lower Body)

Front Squats 4 x 8-10
Deadlifts 3 x 5
Pull-Throughs - 4 x10-12
Stiff-Leg or Sumo Press 4 x 8-10
Hyperextensions 2 x 10
Calves 5 x 12-20
Abs

Sat & Sun - Off

This will be all out heavy for 2-3 weeks and then I will do a week of less volume by less sets/ lower weight , etc.

[Zing9000]

Heya folks. I've been taking creatine monohydrate (CreaPure) on a nonconsistant basis for a couple months now, tried with sugar, without sugar, and naturally since I'm diabetic I tried with insulin and without. I didn't seem to really notice a difference. Is there any clear signs I can look for to know that my creatine is absorbing well? I always seem to have an iron stomach, so I never get cramps or bloating. I've always seemed to crap just fine, creatine or no. It's rather confusing as to whether my suppliment is working or not. I can't really tell in the gym either. I just seem to perform as usual.

[NiteHawk]

Well you should notice a strength increase with the creatine.

[dannyboy9]

Originally Posted by NiteHawk

Well you should notice a strength increase with the creatine.

Also a bit more endurance in the gym. This of course you will only notice if you have trained w/o it prior to taking it...

[Fonz]

Originally Posted by Zing9000

Heya folks. I've been taking creatine monohydrate (CreaPure) on a nonconsistant basis.....

there's a reason why supps have directions. follow them

[Zing9000]

Nonconsistant basis does not imply that I wasn't following the dosage directions. It means that I have used it for a few weeks, then stopped using it. I believe this is what one might call a "cycle".

Anyhow, recently I've bought a bunch of Kre-Alkalyn, I'm gonna see how that works for me.

[NiteHawk]

Originally Posted by Zing9000

Nonconsistant basis does not imply that I wasn't following the dosage directions. It means that I have used it for a few weeks, then stopped using it. I believe this is what one might call a "cycle".

Anyhow, recently I've bought a bunch of Kre-Alkalyn, I'm gonna see how that works for me.

Let us know how it goes for you.

[blueboy22]

The label for Purple K says there is no loading necessary. In ths case, how should I take this Kre-Alkalyn? What I mean is, once I start taking it, what type of cycle should I run? Or should I just consistently take it until I decide to quit?

[Zing9000]

As far as all the research I've done regarding Kre-Alkalyn, there's no need to cycle it at all, and you can just keep on taking it until you feel like stopping. In fact, when it comes to taking creatine in general, I've read that there's really no use in cycling it. It makes sense; why would you want to let the creatine levels fall back to normal again, when you can continually take advantage of the benefit of the increased creatine levels your body supports? It's not like that number goes down... as far as I know.

Obviously if I'm totally wrong about this, somebody better correct me. Means that I should be purposefully cycling myself, then. Which is something I didn't intend to do.

[NiteHawk]

Originally Posted by blueboy22

The label for Purple K says there is no loading necessary. In ths case, how should I take this Kre-Alkalyn? What I mean is, once I start taking it, what type of cycle should I run? Or should I just consistently take it until I decide to quit?

Start off by taking 1 capsule pre-workout and 1 capsule post workout. As for a cycle, the debate is still out. Some say to cycle for 8 weeks and stop for 4 weeks and repeat. Other studies say cycling offers no benefit and there are no problems continually running creatine.

I personally do cycle off of it for about 2-4 weeks and start again. My cycle length will vary.

[dannyboy9]

Have their been any long term studies done on creatine with subjects continually using it for a period of time?

[Traps]

What is long term?

[NiteHawk]

Originally Posted by dannyboy9

Have their been any long term studies done on creatine with subjects continually using it for a period of time?

Yes, creatine is the most studied supplement probably ever. Since 1993, there has been studies done on about every scenario with it. Long term use, short term use.

[dannyboy9]

Originally Posted by NiteHawk

Yes, creatine is the most studied supplement probably ever. Since 1993, there has been studies done on about every scenario with it. Long term use, short term use.

Have the studies been published?

[NiteHawk]

Originally Posted by dannyboy9

Have the studies been published?

Oh yeah, just do some google searches on it.