thinking about taking creatine
 

well, i have been thinking about it for a little while now...
i have been reading some information about it, but im not really sure yet.
im really, really skinny and i work out a fair amount, but i cant put any weight on at all....

personal experiences/advice?

well, i've heard and seen various results. I am pretty lean and muscley, and found that i gained a little bit of mass when i took creatine. I tried to overload the first week on it, but i didnt notice the weight gain (water) and definitive increase in muscle size. The gains were more gradual for me. Some of my friends who were about the same size as me gained a significant amount of weight taking creatine, with some losing their abs during the transition.

I haven't had nor heard of any horror stories, locally anyways, and i would recommend giving creatine a shot if you are concerned about gaining some weight/muscle.

I just finished 2 months of creatine this week.

There was a definite increase in size- about 3/4- 1 inch in arms, noticeably larger back and chest.. But the my strength grew the most. Probably mostly psychological, but my maxes went up quite a bit, from being mostly stagnant over the summer. For me, it was a good investment, but results can and probably will vary.. Don't take my word for it. Research yourself and decide if it fits in your plan!

I've taken creatine for three - 4 week cycles over the past couple years with good results. I typically would work out hard for two weeks before starting the creatine intake, load up for 5 days, then stay on a maintenance dose for 3 weeks. My strength on many exercise increased by 20% and muscle recovery was good. I put on some good size, a lot of it is water weight though. After I was done with a cycle, the water weight woud go away quickly but I was left with some good extra muscle mass.

There is some psychology playing into this, however. I worked out consistently and with more intensity for a total of 6 weeks because of the supplementation. By Loading up and then taking the maintenace dosage, you get into a workout mindset that dictates eating better, drinking less alcohol and working out more. If your going to spend the money on creatine, you need to have it pay off.

I really dont see the point in taking creatine myself. All it really does is boats your muscles up with water. It doesent make you stronger, shit, it might even give you streach marks but I'm not sure. If I were you I'd stick with a regular work-out and a good protien intake.

im on it now...do a search on these forums you will find really great information....

http://www.absolute-creatine.com/

someone on here gave me this link......best info i have found on it so far....


i have gained over 20 pounds since i have started taking it....im on my 2nd 8 week cycle.....

but i stick to the suggestion religiously i drink plenty of water and work out with weights 3 times a week.....but i do no cardio....

id have to check my journal but i believe i was around 180-185 when i started my first cycle and now im about 205-208.....

At my college i attended a weight lifting class. While i did not take creatine myself, i did have a classmate who took it. While everyone in the class progressed nicely, the student who took it seemed to perform alot better then the rest of us. Maybe it was the creatine, or maybe he had more drive then the rest of us...

Sad part is he developed really nasty looking purple stretchmarks all over his body, maybe he took the wrong amount of the drug, but it just looked really unhealthy. All i can say is that if someone decides to use it, you should probably try to avoid taking it over a long period of time.

My opinion is to stay away from Creatine. The main purpose of creatine is to increase energy, which means you have more energy during your workouts. If it's mass you want then I would concentrate on a higher protein intake and working out your largest muscle groups at the beginning of your routine to release the most testosterone. Nothing replaces good form in the gym and good nutrition out of it. As long as you are eating adequate (not too much) amounts of carbs you should have all the energy you need for the gym.
I have tried creatine myself and for me the added energy was not enough to justify the risks and effects on your body. Having said that, I am an advocate to do what works best for you, as long as you are well informed and you look at the entire "picture". Good luck.

I've used creatine on several cycles now, and i did notice large energy increases towards the ends of sets comparitive to not taking it.
However, as someone who has a very high water content in his body, the extra water that was stored in my cells caused me to sweat like a pig whenever i did anything more than watching tv, it sucked having sweaty patches whatever i was doing, so i stopped taking it.
As for mass gains, i never noticed anything particulary good, it was all energy related for me.

More good information about Creatine can be found here:

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/creat...0and_facts.php
(I just love this site. Last week they completely rehauled and added all the cool graphics and pretty formatting..)

Creatine helps produce better results in the gym by allowing you to stress your muscles harder and longer, by giving your muscles more energy to work with. So.. more energy does = more mass. It's worth trying, anyway...

Use weight gainers like Nlarge 2, basically you need to stuff your face with alot of food and lift heavy weights and low reps

Lift 3 days a week, kinda hard, don't blow yourself out like someone said earlier, or you won't
be able to move the next day, besides, this is a gradual process. Eat alot, but eat HEALTHY,
this is definately key, if you have a little extra money, get yourself some Whey Protein as a
SUPPLEMENT, not as a replacement for real protein in foods, but it is a tremendous help.

Alot of lifters I've seen use Dextrose also, but I have no idea why, not that they're wrong
in taking it, I'm just clueless on what it does for you.

Someone also said to do no cardio, this probably isn't the wisest thing to do (although he
did mention that), if you do do cardio, keep it to 3 times a week also, on NON-LIFTING days
if you're looking for maximum results, also keep it under 21 minutes, and not pushing
yourself too too hard.

And like someone else also said, work your biggest muscles, but never on the same day.
IE: Work your legs hard on one day, back-biceps-shoulders on another day, and
chest-triceps-whatever else is left on another day. DON"T FORGET LEGS, since they
are the largest muscles in your body, you'll get the most release, but you'll also be
pooped out like nobody's business, I'm sure cardio helps with this after a while.

Once you progress, after about week 8, goto 4 days a week, and whatever group of
muscles you worked on Monday, you should work on Friday. ie: in M/T/R/F workouts.
Just stay dedicated, and you'll see NOTICEABLE results in 4-6 months, easy.

-PL