Yes. I credit it to helping me break a plateau. That may have been a placebo effect though. Who knows. Some people get more usefulness from it than others. It's cheap and harmless, so just try it.

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creatine si really for putting on sieze, and helping strength in a more minimal way. if you want more energy increase your carb in take before hand either by a powder or by eating the right carbs.

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I'm sure a scientific nerd will step up with a real explanation, however you will notice a size increase because it makes your muscles hold more water.

Its important to stack at first, ie take about double the recommended intake for the first 2 weeks, and then take normal amounts, with a break every 4 weeks.

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just don't take it then not work out . . because creatine will make you BIG, but muscly

I lift with creatine all the time. While there are certainly benefits, be sure to follow all the instructions on the label. Im not 100% sure, but I dont believe that creatine is supposed to increase your energy. **EDIT, line removed due to incorectness. ** When I started using creatine, I doubled my bench weight at about 80% of the rate I was able to do so without it. But that may have been the result of numerous factors, in addition to (or perhaps in spite of) creatine.

If youre going to use it, I recommend using it on and on and off basis (perhaps in 6 week cycles). But this could be completely useless info. This is just what Ive always done. Im sure one of the other TA's here can be a bit more helpful than I have been.

Last edited by on Dec-02-2004 at 03:58

as mentioned above, creatine will hold water in your body. when you finally come of creatine for good, you WILL lose size (unless your start doing something else instead)

i wouldnt bother with creatine unless your a particularly skinny, or need it to gain those few extra inches for competitive purposes.

its better to do it in a more natural way imo. lots of carbs, lots of proteain, lots of training, lots of rest.

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I wouldnt recommend creatin..I've been working out for a year now, eating well...takin protein shakes only....gained 9-10 kgs..mostly muscular weight ofcourse...amazing results!
u gotta be patient...
with creatin, it comes fast, and goes away fast..

thanks guys

K basically i want to loose body fat and retain the muscle. Thats basically my goal. Loosing muscle mass was not fun, especially when trying to bench the sname weights 2 months after stopping working out. Before i stopped working out, i could only bench 50 pounds on each side and felt that i was hard to get past that point. Currently i do the 45's, but the day i went back to working out, i could do only 25/35's on each side, which sucked.

i dont think ill be taking in too much carbs though.

quote:

If youre going to use it, I recommend using it on and on and off basis (perhaps in 6 week cycles).

im not sure what you mean by that, hopefully the instructions should be a good guide.

quote:

its better to do it in a more natural way imo. lots of carbs, lots of proteain, lots of training, lots of rest

thing is, i would if i had a lot of time

I won't use it in my workouts but I never used diets or supplements for my workout

quote:

Originally posted by Dmatrox thanks guys K basically i want to loose body fat and retain the muscle. Thats basically my goal.

If this is your goal, I dont recommend creatine and strength training. Your best bet is to hit the cardio, and hit it hard. Ideal is to get your heart beating at an active rate for an hour total, per day. Most people are unable to do this at first, thus you should advance with a progression (start by aiming for 10 minutes and gradually work your way to a full 60). Your active rate (theres an actual phrase for this, I believe its THR, or Target Heart Rate?) can be described as your heart beating hard, but you can still talk in a relatively normal voice. If youre breathing hard, youre working too much; slow it down a little bit.

Dont negelct your strength training, but if you want to burn fat, cardio, not weightlifting, is the way to go.

To keep you motivated, I recommend varying your cardio routines. Try biking one day, swimming the next...that sort of thing. Other arguably fun cardio workouts includ joggin, rowing, stair climbing, dancing, kickboxing/taebo, and other repetitious movement exercises.



*What I said about using creatine in cycles, I meant that you should use it for 6 weeks, then avoid it for 6 weeks. repeat. (someone else mentioned the same thing, but with 4 week intervals)

quote:

Originally posted by Dmatrox thanks guys K basically i want to loose body fat and retain the muscle. Thats basically my goal. Loosing muscle mass was not fun, especially when trying to bench the sname weights 2 months after stopping working out. Before i stopped working out, i could only bench 50 pounds on each side and felt that i was hard to get past that point. Currently i do the 45's, but the day i went back to working out, i could do only 25/35's on each side, which sucked. i dont think ill be taking in too much carbs though. im not sure what you mean by that, hopefully the instructions should be a good guide. thing is, i would if i had a lot of time

you're gonna have to do alot of cardio exercises if you have a lot of body fat to lose...
carrying weights only wont help

yeah, carrying less weight than u used to when bench pressing is depressing enough!
right now im on 80lbs each side...my plan was to reach 90(2 plates) by the end of the year...but it doesnt that its happening soon....univ work load fks up ur whole schedule sometimes!