Creatine
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| I'm a 47-year old male; 5' 10", 142 lbs. I began working out almost 4 years ago. I've gained strength and muscle mass, but because of fat loss, I'm not sure how much. I've had a difficult time upping the amount of weight I was lifting over the past year. The weights for each of the exercises have remained about the same. It seems that I need a long recovery time, since I'm one of those people who experiences severe muscle soreness about 24 hours after a workout.
About a month ago I began loading with creatine monohydrate, 4 level teaspoons 4 times per day for 4 days. I then followed it with one level teaspoon per day for 3 weeks. This is slightly less than was called for on the label, but I usually react to slightly reduced dosages of meds and such. So I thought I'd give it a try at these levels.
During the time using creatine, I was able to up the resistance on each of the exercises that I perform by about 8-25% of the weight that I was lifting. The most remarkable result was that I experienced almost no muscle soreness over that time. Only once, when I worked the rear delts extra hard did I get a mild soreness. The creatine seemed to allow me to work harder the next day. I never felt that I needed a day or two or three off, just to recoup my energy and to let the general soreness abate.
I gained about 5 lbs. over that time (to 147), though I'm not sure how much of it is lean muscle mass. I plan to begin the creatine again in two weeks, when my vacation is over and I get back into the gym.
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I submitted the above review. At the gym today, I saw an article from Ironman (Sept. 1997) on muscle soreness. It was attributed to the presence of the Calcium (Ca++) ion. I wonder if creatine screws up the calcium balance (at least in me) to the extent that it eliminated the soreness. Isn't calcium what you're supposed to take to prevent muscle cramps (of the type that one gets while using creatine). Maybe the absence of soreness is not a good thing. Anyway...just a thought here.
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Actually, Potassium is what is needed if you want to avoid cramps. Ask anyone at your local supplement store and that's what they'll probably say.
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