Want to lose weight, not muscle. Can creatine help?

[snowfox]

I'm very concerned losing muscle mass while dieting. I know diet and exercise is the key and I do 1 hour of cardio every morning on an empty stomach 5 days a week, don't eat too much carbs (100gr) and upped my protein intake (150gr).

I'm not worried about water retention as that will go away when I drop the creatine or I'll just use CEE. My question...will creatine do any good if I do too much cardio, too little calories and I'm in a state of muscle wasting catabolism?

[Phate]

post your diet and stats(age, weight, height, bf%)

60minutes of cardio on an empty stomach is too much, and bcaas are gonna be your best friend in this case, read this article

How to Keep from Losing Muscle During Empty Stomach Cardio
http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=355743

[snowfox]

I'm 31, 253 pounds, 6.4 feet and I don't know my bf%...I just look in the mirror. I spread my carbs over the day, usually at noon and late afternoon (mostly bread with some lean protein) and a variety protein meals and shakes 5 times a day.

I take a whey shake right after doing cardio. My question is though...would creatine be benneficial when losing fat and especially muscle wasting catabolism overdoing cardio and too little calories?

[Phate]

read the article i showed you then tell me why taking a protein shake AFTER cardio is not effective?

btw, how many shakes do you have per day

[AdamGH]

I'm 31, 253 pounds, 6.4 feet and I don't know my bf%...I just look in the mirror. I spread my carbs over the day, usually at noon and late afternoon (mostly bread with some lean protein) and a variety protein meals and shakes 5 times a day.

I take a whey shake right after doing cardio. My question is though...would creatine be benneficial when losing fat and especially muscle wasting catabolism overdoing cardio and too little calories?

think you misunderstand what creatine does. here's a generic answer:

Creatine monohydrate, is a dietary supplement that athletes and many bodybuilders use to increase high intensity exercise performance, increased strength, have fuller looking muscles, increase body mass and faster post workout muscle recovery.

common side effect:

Since creatine supplementation causes the muscles to retain water, some people may experience a weight gain of as many as five pounds in the first few weeks, and may also become dehydrated.




additional article:

Creatine is a naturally formed nutrient in the human body. It is an amino acid-based compound that is produced in the body from existing amino acids and food. Creatine content is found in foods like fish and red meat. The Creatine produced in the body is converted into a molecule known as “phosphocreatine”. Phosphocreatine stores energy in muscular tissues, especially in voluntary muscles and in the nervous system as these require large bouts of energy suddenly. There are also other benefits from Creatine such as promoting lean-muscle mass and reducing muscle wasting in post-surgical patients. It is also believed to help heart patients by increasing their exercise capacity, reducing heart spasms and thus increasing heart function. Some studies have also indicated its usefulness in treating neuromuscular disorders, though tests are still being conducted. Creatine is categorized as a food supplement by the FDA.

Creatine is said to be the “most legitimate sports supplement” today. Creatine is essentially used by sportspersons who participate in heavy sports like weightlifting, wrestling and sprinting. This is because these sports require sudden bursts of energy for a short period of time. Creatine also helps the athlete to recover sooner even after using up all the energy. Taking too much Creatine is also not very harmful as the body can absorb only a certain quantity and the rest is expelled from the body through the kidneys.

Creatine is also found to be useful for people suffering from neuromuscular disorders like ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease), a degenerative neural disease, when tested in mice. It was found to be twice as effective in extending the life of mice as compared to the existing prescription drug – riluzole. This may be due to the increase in the availability of energy to damaged nerve cells. Or it can be because of a blocking to a chemical pathway that causes cell death.

The best thing about Creatine is its almost negligible side effects. Creatine supplements are available in the form of capsules, chewable tablets as well as powder. There are several manufacturers of Creatine supplements. There are also several websites on the Internet that provide information about Creatine supplements.

[snowfox]

That's exactly what I don't understand. If I would drink a protein shake before doing cardio, wouldn't the protein (bcaa's and others) be used for energy instead of fat? I used to do cardio with an ECA stack but I ran out of ephedrine so I'll just have to make do with caffeine.

And btw, I drink about 2 to 3 shakes of whey isolate depending on how much I eat. But my protein intake more or less amounts to 150gr a day.

[MuscleScience]

That's exactly what I don't understand. If I would drink a protein shake before doing cardio, wouldn't the protein (bcaa's and others) be used for energy instead of fat? I used to do cardio with an ECA stack but I ran out of ephedrine so I'll just have to make do with caffeine.

And btw, I drink about 2 to 3 shakes of whey isolate depending on how much I eat. But my protein intake more or less amounts to 150gr a day.

Under normal conditions protein is not used as a fuel source unless your in severe caloric deficit. Creatine even though it will cause some weight gain due to water. It has been shown to help increase fat free mass and reduce body fat.

[Phate]

That's exactly what I don't understand. If I would drink a protein shake before doing cardio, wouldn't the protein (bcaa's and others) be used for energy instead of fat? I used to do cardio with an ECA stack but I ran out of ephedrine so I'll just have to make do with caffeine.
No, protein will not be used as an energy source unless you do High Intensity cardio on an empty stomach, if you keep the intensity low for 30-40minutes then you'll be fine. Here's a simplistic reason why, to use protein for energy your body needs to go through several steps, first it has to break down muscle fiber into it's constitute amino acids, then transport the AAs to the liver where they are converted to alanine, then through gluconeogenesis then are converted to glycogen and burned for energy, this process is very inefficient because of the amount of energy required vs. energy gained.

Another thing to consider is that your body will only burn muscle if it's amino acid pool is empty, but by drinking a protein shake with bcaas you are filling up that AA pool, which means the bcaas will be used first before muscle, though this shouldn't even be a factor unless you are doing high intensity

Also, caffeine has been shown to have slightly anti-catabolic properties, meaning it shifts your body away from using muscle for energy

And btw, I drink about 2 to 3 shakes of whey isolate depending on how much I eat. But my protein intake more or less amounts to 150gr a day.

post your diet, i don't use shakes at all and my protein intake is almost double yours, eating whole foods is much better for fat burning due to the thermogenic effect(google it), though a shake post workout is a good idea

[snowfox]

I'm not worried about water retention as that will go away. Since I'm not bulking and just want to lose bf (not muscle) through diet and cardio creatine would be of some kind of benefit then?

And why a whey shake before morning cardio?

[TRA]

painful...