is creatine worth it?

[liztic]

is creatine all that it's stacked up to be? also, has anyone every tried Pinnacles Alpha Dopa Poppers or anything like it?

[saboudian]

Never heard of Poppers, but that is an odd name, my guess is that it is probably junk.

As far as creatine, there's a ton of ppl here usin it and have had incredible results. Then there might be a couple ppl like me who really haven't noticed anything.

[superman1975]

when "on" creatine will solidify gains and tighten you up nicely

[Warrior]

Like 10 percent of the population will not react to supplemental Creatine. Not sure why but it seems to be their ability to uptake it because when using different forms of a transport - many finally got results. Different forms of transports include taking it with a high glycemic carb, taking it with alka seltzer, and so on... or a combination of methods. But those liquid sublinguals rarely work because Creatine has a very short life in liquid. Glycerol or MCT's might suspend it - but a dry form is best to mix only when you will immediatly take it.

saboudian - next time you give Creatine a try - drop a couple Alka Seltzers in the glass and take it with that. Chase it with a fruit drink. The Sodium Bicarbonate neutralizes the stomach PH so the Creatine has a better chance of making it into the muscles. If you try this - let me know how your results differ from how you have taken it before. Creatine should raise bodyweight and strength quite noticably if your body is processing it in supplemental form correctly.

[saboudian]

Thats a pretty interesting tip warrior. Now, i'm dying to know whether it will work or not. I just finished up a big jug of cell-tech and have just started to cut. Being that it is nearly useless to try to gain muscle and cut at the same time(Assuming you do it natural of course.), and the fact that cell-tech is so expensive, i've dropped it from my diet. So its gonna be a long time before i bulk again, and now its gonna bug me to find out if it really works.

So if i was to take creatine, whats happening is that the acid in my stomach immediately breaks it down. So what u're saying is that by using the alka's, i'd be neutralizing the acid in my stomach a bit(acid-base reaction) and therefore the creatine would not get broken down by the acid and would make its way to muscles eventually.

So if i was using cell-tech, would i still need the chaser? (since cell-tech already has the simple carbs)

[Warrior]

Exactly... you can get a high stmoach PH from many reasons. Eating a lot, eating acidic foods, excerising a lot... many athletes can benefit from sodium bicarbonate... and few realize it. Baking soda is the cheapest way to do it - but if you swallow an undissolved clump, that would be bad. So Alka Seltzer works well to fully dissolve it. I believe Cell Tech would add to your problem if stomach acidity was the issue. So I would say... take the Alka Seltzer alone in water - then chase it with the Cell Tech. This would neutralize your stomach before the Cell Tech is taken - and would increase absorbtion and limit breakdown. Creatine is a very sensitive supplement... it can break down to a useless form of Creatinine by just sitting in water for more than 15 minutes. And an acidic stomach will tear it up...

I always have Alka Seltzers around and take a few now and then... more when I am using Creatine. Try it - let's see if it helps. With in 7 days you should know if it is working. Just beware many Alka Seltzer have added Asprin in it - nothing big (asprin does have application for bodybuilder as well), just don't over do it if Asprin is an ingredient.

[liztic]

thanks for the advice guys. i'm assuming that cell-tech is the top level product, but say i'm on a limited budget, AS I CERTAINLY AM! does brand name make a difference? also, how does glutamine assist?