Creatine Cycling

[DreamingBig]

Hey yo, I know this should b in the supplement forum but I figure I'll get a faster response here. Regarding creatine, is there really any major benefit to cycling it? I take a teaspoon in the morning, before and after my workout. Thanks.

[NATE0406]

aaaaaaa no. you can take creatine as long as you want. i dont really see what you mean by cycling it?? i havent used creatine in a long time but the last time used it i took a lot more than 3 teaspoons a day.

[pumpd4lif]

aaaaaaa no. you can take creatine as long as you want. i dont really see what you mean by cycling it?? i havent used creatine in a long time but the last time used it i took a lot more than 3 teaspoons a day.

You do not need to cycle it,it will do you better to just take it as long as you want...or just eat alot of meat

[FREAK]

this might help u out
Probably the most common question asked about creatine is “how do I take creatine?”. Today I’m going to show you the best way of taking creatine monohydrate.

There are so many myths about taking creatine monohydrate, most of these myths lead to lifters taking too much creatine. With creatine less is more, once you saturate your muscles with creatine the rest is literally wasted.


Do you need to load creatine?
This is the 69,000 dollar question! Since creatine monohydrate first came onto the market the manufacturers have been saying that you must load creatine in order to saturate your muscles creatine in the shortest possible time. New scientific research is now suggesting that you don’t have to load creatine in order to get the maximum effect. These studies are still not conclusive.

Do I load creatine? Yes. From my own research on creatine I’ve found too many conflicting studies saying, yes load it, or no, don’t load it. So to be on the safe side, I load it. The worst that’s going to happen is that your body excretes the excess creatine. Plus, you’re only loading for 5 days so taking excess creatine for 5 days only is not going to harm the body in any way. And finally, creatine monohydrate is very cheap these days so it’s not wasting too much money.

Taking creatine daily.
Once you’ve gone through the first 5 days (or loading phase) all you need to do is maintain the levels of creatine in your muscles. Some people think that you need to load creatine before your workout, but I believe this is a myth. The reason being is that once you’ve loaded creatine it’s just a matter of keeping the levels up. Creatine levels in your muscles will not get depleted unless you train. So really, there is no reason to take ti before you train, but all the more reason to take it after training.

After training is the best time to take creatine. Why? Because your creatine levels are down and if you’re taking the right ingredients in your post workout shake, you’ll get excellent creatine uptake. By the right ingredients, I really mean dextrose. Dextrose causes an insulin spike which moves nutrients in and out of muscle tissue much faster. In this case, the insulin spike with move creatine, protein and amino acids into your muscle right after your workout.

How much to take.
Studies have shown that 5g of creatine per day is sufficient for most people. If you’re very muscular and large (only pro bodybuilders fit into this category) you may want to increase the daily dose to 10g.

Summary:

The loading phase is not essential, but my advice is to do it.
Take creatine post workout with simple carbs.
Take only 5g of creatine a day, the rest is wasted.

[CSAR]

This belongs in the supplement forum.