Rudel73

I've heard all sorts of arguements for and against using it and etc, but i never could understand what exactly it does? Everyone in the weight room says it adds water packets to muscles or something? I dont know anyone want to answer this for me?

rockzilla

Creatine is a chemical made out of amino acids in your body. It does occur naturally, but not in the quantities you can get from a supplement. Basically, what it does is it provides a very short burst of strength to your muscles when they've become fatigued. This is why it's popular among weightlifters, it'll give you that last little burst of strength you need to finish those last couple of reps.

stevie667

Creatine does two things:

firstly, it increases the water saturation of your muscles, making them look bigger to a degree, and moves water into the skeletal tissues, making you gain weight.

Secondly: without going into too much science, creatine acts as a quick fuel source, so that when your body burns through it's own fuel, it quickly converts creatine into more fuel, so you can train harder and longer.

Rudel73

What are the downsides of creatine? It sounds so good but there has to be downsides to it?

stevie667

You drink more and piss more, some people also notice stomach discomfort immediatly after consuming it.

Creatine is something found naturally in meats and your own body, it's all natural. By taking it as a suppliment, you merely increase levels of things that you normally consume without problem, and therefor it's more effective.

However, long term effects arn't known as the suppliment has only been on markets a relativly short amount of time.

cliche

There's been all sorts of discussion about the negative effects of creatine - as far as I'm aware a lot of it stems from the fact that it raises your creatinine (a breakdown chemical - it's different, check out the extra letters ) levels. In medicine creatinine levels are used to measure how well your kidneys are working (high = bad) so creatine use can cause doctors to think your kidneys aren't working properly.
The other problem is that creatine use can lead to dehydration (one of its effects is to make your muscles suck up water), so especially when you first use it you'll find you need a lot of water to go with it. Sadly dehydration can mess up your kidney tests, and in some circumstances can mess up your kidneys - or make any kidney problems worse.
Lastly, to put things into perspective, the 'relatively short amount of time' creatine's been tested for is into the decades. Yes, noone's sure what will happen if you take it all your life - but for months/even a few years you'll probably be OK. Some people advise taking a few weeks/months off every now and again to let everything get back to normal though - if you're using creatine for the 'lets you train harder' benefit then that shouldn't lose you too much muscle.

So: stay off it if you have kidney trouble, drink lots of water with it, and make sure you tell your doctor you're using it if they ever take a blood test.

And yes, it appears to work - at least according to a good number of studies I've read and experiences from myself and various teams I've been on. Nothing magical but that extra few percent you're looking for. But you still have to train!

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giantpizzaman

creatine is fine, as long as you A: limit your intake, exessive amounts cause unnecesarry stress on your kidneys which can lead to problems.

B: start slow and discontinue use if your stomach/body does not agree with it, and dont use at all if you have kidney problems.

without getting into all the details and a big pro/con arguement, however, i will just say that creatine supplements are not necessary among the average person, in my opinion creatine supplements should only be utalized by proffesional athletes looking for anything to give them that extra edge/ burst of energy to compliment their workouts.

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stevie667

What creatine does:

When ingested into the body, creatine joins with a phosphate molecule to be phospho-creatine.

Your uses energy in the form of ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate). When for instance you want to contract a muslce cell, the body will use ATP to make it do that.
When ATP is 'used', it releases a phosphate molecule, and becomes ADP (adenosine di-phosphate). To be useful as an energy molecule again, it needs to gain another phosphate molcule.
The ADP borrows the phosphate molecule from the creatine stored in your cells, and reverts back to ATP much quicker than it would with supplimentation.
This allows you to get that little bit more energy at the end of your sets to get one or two more reps in.

Also, because your body can quickly build back up it's energy reserves, your recovery times drop.

jhericurl21

didnt feel lke makin a new thread so ill jack this one


Can you take a fatburner(hydroxicut) along with a protein supplement(Whey powders,shakes etc)?

Fatburner to burn stomach fat, and protein shakes for building chest and arms?

Cowman

......
are you serious?

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Kazic

Creatine occurs naturally in the body. but is found in Red meats and Fish. The thing with it is if not taken properly ie with an abundance of water can cause an unessacary stress on kindeys. Be carefull if you decide to do it and start with a "loading phase" which is more or less to saturate you sys with it.

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