Nutritional Supplement Reviews by Real People Like You

Fact: The body has developed over millions of years into the physiological wonder that it is today. The unnecessary has been deselected.

Fact: The quantity of creatine introduced by artificial means is not natural. If you do introduce an unnatural amount, you must take unnatural steps to deal with the influx. Eg. drink great and unnatural amounts of water.

Fact: Creatine is creatine. DO NOT SPEND BIG BUCKS ON HYPE.

I have trained some of the top athletes in the world and I did it for free. Exercise is like a religion for me. The gym has the sanctity of a church. Watch for the people that what to whore my religion. Supplement companies make an unconscionable profit on a lot of stuff you don't need. Trader Joe's sells pure Creatine for $10.00 if you want it. I doesn't dissolve well, so you might try putting it into serum by using hot water. Yum. Drink a bunch of water. I tore in half one of the muscles in my calf. I feel that it was my not drinking enough water while using creatine that contributed to the tear. IF you feel better spending a great deal of money though, go get that Creatine mixed with Kool-Aid. Be good. Respect the sanctity of the gym. Wipe off your equipment after use. Use the 76 station if you have to. Most of all, have fun.

My coaches are mad because, even though I lost 35 pounds and went from 205-215 on my max bench press, they think I'm lazy and don't work hard. However, the shortest true workout I ever completed was 3 hours long. Anything under that and it's not a very good workout. My friends say I'm getting weak and look small. My friend Mike recently started taking creatine. He's been taking it for over 2 months. He jumped 30 pounds on his max to around 200 pounds and his arms grew from 14 to 15 inches. I'm starting to get frustrated with my lack of gains and I know I'm working hard enough. My coach which I work out with says I've reached a plateau. My friends say I do to much cardio. I think I don't eat enough. I want to loose fat and gain muscle and I can't find the right diet.

My friend Mike offered me creatine today and I'm seriously thinking about taking it. I've heard the gains are from water build up. Some say you lose all the muscle when you stop taking it, and some say you just get flabby. My questions are: What does it do when you stop taking it? Do you think I should take it? If not or even if yes, could you please post a diet plan for muscle gain and fat loss?

I'm trusting you for your honest option Sir. And I won't take it until I hear from you.

Sincerely,
Mark

It looks to me like you are in a classic phase of over training. Doing as much cardio as you are can be detrimental to your ability to recover. The kind of workout you are following reminds a little of basic training ion the military.

Now, your body needs to recover from stresses you place on it. Working out 6 times a week is too much of a strain to place on your body, no matter how much protein you supplement your diet with. Cut it down to 4 times a week of heavy training, with high intensity principles, completed in a max of 1 hour, with an aim of completing the workout in 45 minutes. Do not exceed 20 sets in a workout session. Ensure that you leave your body at least a day to recover, regardless of whether you are splitting your routine.

Diet and sleep are the next most important step in your workout. A minimum of 8 hours a night must be observed when you are working out. Ensure that you have 5 meals a day...not especially large, but filling meals. Each meal must have a maximum of 20%-25% protein during periods of elevated physical activity (immediately before and after games for a day), otherwise maintain a meal composition of 15% protein, 75% carbohydrates and 10% fat. Remember that you require a healthy amount of fat in your body too. Lack of fat in the body will cause your body to stop metabolizing fat for energy in high intensity periods of physical activity and will cause catabolism (break down) of muscle cells. The reason for the high carb content is that the carbs in various forms are what are stored in the liver, muscles in various forms (glucagon) and as fat and are then the main fuel for any physical activity. Judging from the physical activity you are performing, the recommended diet will suit you fine with minor changes that you can make as time goes by.

The composition of your workout is also essential. If you follow most of the advice that you see in health mags or online you will only burn yourself out. NEVER exceed 20 sets a workout session. NEVER cheat on reps. Three sets a body part in any session is usually the max at 80% of the weight that you can perform one perfect repetition at. Go heavy, and give yourself the time to recover (i.e. 3 to 4 workouts a week at max). The routines that you see floating around now-a-days have been put up by people who are on some form of juice or on some supplement or another. No one workout will work for everyone. Be patient and find the best conditions for yourself.

Lastly, cut down your cardio sessions to three a week with a max of 35 minutes per session at medium exertion, and one out of the three sessions at high (not maximum) exertion, ensuring your cardio sessions never cross 45 minutes.

Shocking your body is also an essential part of growth. Change your workout, shuffle exercises, move from machines to cables...confuse your body every so often. Also, every alternate month, incorporate a week of MAXIMUM intensity workout (i.e. crank up the weights to close to 90% of your one repetition max.).

Eating and rest are essential if your body is to grow. If you notice fat building up, increase cardio, cut down a little on the carbs, etc. Stay off creatine or any other stuff on the market. The muscle you put on naturally will give much better results in terms of both endurance, strength and eventually size. A year down the road you will outsize most of the juice heads. Good luck.


L8R,
Echo