Facts On Creatine

[T-rav]

I thought you take creatine before you work out to give you the energy, but on here it says to take it after your work out. I read in a muscle fitness magazine that you should take it before and after. I was just wondering...Thanks

[Cammo]

I take mine before & after but I use Kre-Alk.

[Megadeth]

how much is a scoop of creatine? Say I wanted to take 20grams at once after my work out, how do I measure that?

[hmoti69]

Creatine is one of very few performance enhancers that is backed by scientific research published in peer reviewed journals... lots of research! It is also the most popular sports supplement in the world, with sales exceeding $400 million (according to a recent report by the American College of Sports Medicine).

The primary benefits are strength and anaerobic power-related. Creatine is not beneficial for increasing endurance. Creatine is NOT a fat loss supplement, although it may help maintain strength and lean body mass during fat loss programs when loss of lean mass is an issue.

After using creatine, you often notice an increase in your strength, or more repetitions in a low to medium rep set with the same weight

Creatine is a safe supplement. The claims about creatine causing health problems and severe side effects have been laid to rest by numerous peer reviewed studies.
(If you have any pre-existing health issues, naturally you should check with your doctor before making any changes to your diet or starting on any supplements such as creatine).

Side effects are minor and few and the only ones that have been verified through research are occasional complaints such as GI distress and a gain in bodyweight (and the latter is usually a good thing, because it's lean tissue).

I'd recommend sticking with creatine monohydrate powder form, as that is the form most often researched and proven effective. Capsules are fine but not as cost effective.

Creatine can be mixed into a protein shake, or put in water/liquid, but then you should drink it immediately.

Liquid creatine is a scam; creatine is untstable if left in liquid for any prolonged period of time and that's why you dont see creatine drinks in the gym cooler (except for a few unscrupulous companies who claim they have stabilized it)

Creatine and sugar (dextrose/grape juice) has been shown to increase uptake of creatine due to the insulin spike. This is worth trying on weight gain/muscle gain programs, although it may not be wise on fat loss programs to add extra refined sugar (even in post workout feeding), because of the extra calories.

Creatine may be taken with meals or on an empty stomach, although if you are one of the few people who experience any GI distress, its better to take it with a meal. Creatine may be taken throughout the day and many people recommend making one of those servings be taken during your post workout period.

There is some debate about whether a "loading phase"
is necessary, but based on the research, most experts still recommend the loading phase simply because loading saturates your tissues sooner. Creatine will work without loading, but it will take longer for you to start reaping the benefits.

Here is the recommended dosage:
4-5 tsp (20-25 g)/ day for 6 days for loading,
1-2 tsp (5-10 g per day thereafter for maintenance)

Experts also argue about whether you should "cycle" creatine (go on and off it). The research is mixed on this subject, but common sense dicatates that the body habituates to anything and it may increase results to use it in a cyclical fashion. For example;
12 weeks on, then go off for a month before going back on.

The vast majority of users report noticeable gains in strength and often subsequent increaes in lean body mass and body weight after using creatine, especially the first time. That was my experience -- a very noticeable strength gain with a minor lean weight gain-- but I never got quite the same resutls again as I did the first time.

All things considered, creatine is not only an effective supplement, it is an outstanding anti-aging supplement because it can help maintain your strength and fight "sarcopenia", the muscle loss that naturally occurs with age ... unless you do something about it.

[hmoti69]

mega u dun wanna take that kind of dosage at 1ce. you want to take it in scoops of 5 g at a time. you dont you try splitting the 20 g over 4 doses. before and after and 2ice during the day

[Steve4king]

If it is straight creatine mono, 5g is the recommended dose, which is one heaping teaspoon. If it is kre-alk, 1-2g is the recommended dose.

[Megadeth]

I took 1/2 teaspoon of mono before breakfast and lunch, and I gonna put 2 teaspoon into some oj, drink half before and half my work out. Sound good?

[Adrian7]

Originally Posted by Megadeth

I took 1/2 teaspoon of mono before breakfast and lunch, and I gonna put 2 teaspoon into some oj, drink half before and half my work out. Sound good?

No. Dont use OJ.

[Megadeth]

I mean...water?

[NiteHawk]

Originally Posted by Megadeth

I mean...water?

Just spoon a teaspoon in your mouth and chase it with a glass of grape juice and then drink a glass of water afterwards.

[Mighty Mouse]

I loved apple juice for its spike. ;-)

that was with mono though, or any other powder really.

the new stuff really is irrelevant when you take it.

[NiteHawk]

We already have a creatine sticky. Moving this to the creatine sticky.

[Mighty Mouse]

Creatine? What's that? Is that a supplement? I've never heard of it.

[Dman916]

What's CEE?

[NiteHawk]

Originally Posted by Dman916

What's CEE?

Creatine Ethyl Ester.

[adrenaline]

asum post..learnt heaps from it

[Rickster]

I plan on doing 10g of mono for 7 days then after that it would just be 5 grams maintence is that fine?

[NiteHawk]

Originally Posted by Rickster

I plan on doing 10g of mono for 7 days then after that it would just be 5 grams maintence is that fine?

Yes, that is fine.

[dannyboy9]

You put all of this information together based on your own knowledge and research you did yourself Nite?

[NiteHawk]

Originally Posted by dannyboy9

You put all of this information together based on your own knowledge and research you did yourself Nite?

As I stated early in the post, its information I gathered and put together. The first part of the post was from a little supplement book I used to have, I may still have it lying around, Im not sure.

Other information was gathered from doing research on-line at various sites. I put this information up because there were a lot of questions on creatine and we needed a place for answers, experience, feedback, and other information.

However, the part of CEE and monohydrate usage, especially the grape juice method was my own experience and was my own words. I even made the comment that I was using Cell-Tech at the time and I was. I even mentioned to Poobah shortly after the post that I recommended it.

I know what you are getting at. I saw your post at Iron Arena and the link you had to the boxing forum. That looks like a cut and paste from this post. They even included how I use monohydrate with grape juice and where I stated I was using Cell-Tech at this time. I thought that was kind of funny and flattering actually.

So, unless the guy was using the exact same books and sites I was and did the grape juice method and was using Cell-Tech at that time, then we both had a coincedence of a post but you and I know that is highly unlikely.
I dont care if someone cuts and pastes any of this material. There is no money being made on any of it.

Also, I put this post in back on October of 2005, that post in that link was February of 2006.

I hope this answers your question and clears it up.