Creatine
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| I am a college student and lifting is how I get my stress out and it has become a big part of my life. I just have a couple of comments about creatine and how I took it and how it helped me. First, no matter how much you take, always drink a lot of water. I mean a lot, at least 2 gallons a day. I think a lot of people have problems with creatine because they don't drink enough water. Another thing, if you're in college and consume a lot of alcohol or just consume a lot of alcohol, don't use creatine.
Second, get a good brand of creatine. Try 99.9% pure German grade creatine with no additives. Don't you want to really know how much you are taking? Third, mix it with warm or hot water so it fully dissolves. You don't want to see any of it. It will totally dissolve. That is why you get diarrhea when it is not dissolved totally. Make sure you work out hard and eat right. That is the most important thing.
I gained 15 pounds of muscle during the summer taking creatine and working out hard and eating right and my lifts improved by incredible amounts, 50 lbs on bench and 100 lbs on squats over 3 months. When I came back to school, I went off creatine. I didn't lose any weight or strength, but the weights didn't seem as light as they did when on creatine and I didn't have as much energy in the gym, but it feels good to come out of the gym all natural.
So, just some advice on what worked for me, but all bodies are different and different people respond to different things, just look at workouts for example. Wel,l thanks for reading and I hope the warm/hot water trick works. I read that in Muscle and Fitness, so it is a reliable source. And it is your body and you only get one so take care of it. Don't by cheap supplements.
Regards,
Matt L.
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| Glad to see someone is having positive effects with creatine and training after reading all of the anecdotal 'urban myths' relating to creatine supplementation. I have carried out research for an MSc in exercise physiology and I am just about to start a PhD relating to creatine and body building.
Unfortunately, I have to inform you that you never gained 15
pounds of muscle after taking creatine. Rather, you gained a lot
of total body water. It would be impossible to gain 15 pounds
of muscle in a couple of months. After taking creatine (loading
phase) it is possible to gain approx. 6-8 pounds in one week.
This increase in weight is not muscle, but still a beneficial
adaptation. It is an increase in intracellular water retention
caused by taking creatine. A good adaptation, because it represents
an increase in fat free mass. The creatine is absorbed into the
muscle cell along with water, both of which have a cell volumising
effect, making the muscle larger.
At a later stage in creatine supplementation, it may allow you to make greater gains in muscle mass by enabling you to make training more intense, recovery faster and stimulating amino acid uptake and myofibrillar protein synthesis. But not at the rates that you believe you have achieved.
One more tip...if you are just taking pure creatine monohydrate, try taking a medium glass of grape juice just before your dissolved creatine. The high glycemic index of the grape juice will mediate an insulin response which results in much more creatine being absorbed by the body (up to 60%) and less lost to the sewage system. This is a much cheaper alternative to buying the ready mixed carbohydrate and creatine supplements and produces similar results. Hope this info is of some use to you.
W. Moore
Belfast
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| I have taken creatine on 3 different occasions. I didn't get the results I'd anticipated the first two times. You know, the dramatic strength gains and increased recuperation. What I did notice was my pants fitting tighter and my feet swelling so much they could hardly fit into my shoes. I was taking creatine on both occasions, but chalked it up to getting older and lack of adequate rest during that time as my job required long hours.
It's been a year since I've taken any creatine. In talking with an enthusiastic body builder at the health food store last week, I mentioned creatine never seemed to work for me. He lit up and said it never worked for him either until he tried the product from Cell-Tech. Told me he's packed on 30 lbs of muscle since he started taking it 6 months ago. Well, I grabbed a canister and said, "maybe this will be the last creatine supplement I'll ever try." To which he responded, "Trust me. This stuff works." Well, today is day five and yes, he was right. I notice an incredible increase in power since my last workout 2 days ago. After increasing the poundages I still blasted through the workout, recuperating with more energy within a half hour than I'm used to experiencing.
But what I also noticed is the coincidental swelling is even more pronounced than the other two times I added it to my supplementation regimen. My loosest pants are barely fitting, as my waist is bloated by at least 2 if not 3 inches, and my feet will not fit in my shoes at this time. Visually, they appear fat and puffy, and you can press on the tops of them and I can see the indentation my finger makes. You can be sure I'm beefing up the ab routine, going to multiple sets with lower reps as opposed to the 400 sit-ups I usually do in an effort to counteract this.
Every article I see attributes the increased size to the muscles swelling and pushing against the fat on the surface. Believe me, my abs have not grown 2-3 inches in 5 days, and the tops of my feet I do not work out. I'm now adding some herbs with diuretic properties to my regimen to try to eliminate some of this subcuticular fluid. It would be great if only my muscles got bigger, but the water being retained under under my skin is threatening my ability to go out in public and go to work. I don't really want to have to buy a second wardrobe for when I take creatine.
G.M. Eades
Massachusetts, USA
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