Creatine

[Micki]

Deleted

[Arian]

Seriously? You don't "cycle" creatine. Just keep taking it. It's something your body needs that you get naturally from food like steak.

[Nooomoto]

Yeah dude...just take it. No need to cycle. It's naturally occuring within your body.

[jypoll]

you only need to cycle drugs because you will grow a tolerance to them, creatine is not a drug its a protein so it is pointless to stop taking it

[TheKylund]

i nevr took that crap but a friend recommeded it to me but no i just will stick to the regular routine by eating fish,steak, and yogart and of course plently of milk and protein powder

[endus]

Did it work for anyone? I remember taking it for couple of months long ago and I think it just made me feel bloated. But it was long ago so my memory might not be correct.

[jypoll]

It works 60% of the time, Every Time! It may make you feel bloated by it definitly will help build muscle and aid recovery

[shortybrolick]

"Creatine: More than a sports nutrition supplement"

Although creatine offers an array of benefits, most people think of it simply as a supplement that bodybuilders and other athletes use to gain strength and muscle mass. Nothing could be further from the truth.

A substantial body of research has found that creatine may have a wide variety of uses. In fact, creatine is being studied as a supplement that may help with diseases affecting the neuromuscular system, such as muscular dystrophy (MD). Recent studies suggest creatine may have therapeutic applications in aging populations for wasting syndromes, muscle atrophy, fatigue, gyrate atrophy, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and other brain pathologies. Several studies have shown creatine can reduce cholesterol by up to 15% and it has been used to correct certain inborn errors of metabolism, such as in people born without the enzyme(s) responsible for making creatine. Some studies have found that creatine may increase growth hormone production.

What is creatine?

Creatine is formed in the human body from the amino acids methionine, glycine and arginine. The average person's body contains approximately 120 grams of creatine stored as creatine phosphate. Certain foods such as beef, herring and salmon, are fairly high in creatine. However, a person would have to eat pounds of these foods daily to equal what can be obtained in one teaspoon of powdered creatine.

Creatine is directly related to adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is formed in the powerhouses of the cell, the mitochondria. ATP is often referred to as the "universal energy molecule" used by every cell in our bodies. An increase in oxidative stress coupled with a cell's inability to produce essential energy molecules such as ATP, is a hallmark of the aging cell and is found in many disease states. Key factors in maintaining health are the ability to: (a) prevent mitochondrial damage to DNA caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) and (b) prevent the decline in ATP synthesis, which reduces whole body ATP levels. It would appear that maintaining antioxidant status (in particular intra-cellular glutathione) and ATP levels are essential in fighting the aging process.

It is interesting to note that many of the most promising anti-aging nutrients such as CoQ10, NAD, acetyl-l-carnitine and lipoic acid are all taken to maintain the ability of the mitochondria to produce high energy compounds such as ATP and reduce oxidative stress. The ability of a cell to do work is directly related to its ATP status and the health of the mitochondria. Heart tissue, neurons in the brain and other highly active tissues are very sensitive to this system. Even small changes in ATP can have profound effects on the tissues' ability to function properly. Of all the nutritional supplements available to us currently, creatine appears to be the most effective for maintaining or raising ATP levels.

How does creatine work?

In a nutshell, creatine works to help generate energy. When ATP loses a phosphate molecule and becomes adenosine diphosphate (ADP), it must be converted back to ATP to produce energy. Creatine is stored in the human body as creatine phosphate (CP) also called phosphocreatine. When ATP is depleted, it can be recharged by CP. That is, CP donates a phosphate molecule to the ADP, making it ATP again. An increased pool of CP means faster and greater recharging of ATP, which means more work can be performed. This is why creatine has been so successful for athletes. For short-duration explosive sports, such as sprinting, weight lifting and other anaerobic endeavors, ATP is the energy system used.

To date, research has shown that ingesting creatine can increase the total body pool of CP which leads to greater generation of energy for anaerobic forms of exercise, such as weight training and sprinting. Other effects of creatine may be increases in protein synthesis and increased cell hydration.

Creatine has had spotty results in affecting performance in endurance sports such as swimming, rowing and long distance running, with some studies showing no positive effects on performance in endurance athletes. Whether or not the failure of creatine to improve performance in endurance athletes was due to the nature of the sport or the design of the studies is still being debated.

Creatine can be found in the form of creatine monohydrate, creatine citrate, creatine phosphate, creatine-magnesium chelate and even liquid versions. However, the vast majority of research to date showing creatine to have positive effects on pathologies, muscle mass and performance used the monohydrate form. Creatine monohydrate is over 90% absorbable. What follows is a review of some of the more interesting and promising research studies with creatine.

http://www.buildingbodies.ca/Nutriti...pplement.shtml

^^ more on that article there ^^

[M302_Imola]

It works 60% of the time, Every Time! It may make you feel bloated by it definitly will help build muscle and aid recovery

sex panther! "I'm not going to lie, that smells like pure gasoline"! lol

[Andro9]

creatine does not directly stimulate muscle growth.. it just allows you to do more, so your provide stimulus for muscle growth

[Colts18]

sorry, kinda off topic but at the bottom of the OP's post its talking about citrate, does anyone know what ever happened it? I used it for years and I really liked it, and then it vanished ( I mean you can still find it, but its so rare ) . I know that most people prefer mono, so maybe it was just a supply/demand thing?

[yannick35]

Has anyone cycled creatine? Is 3 weeks on, three off then three on again a good cycle? Will I see much muslce mass gain?

This really is old news and old thinking, i did that for a lot of years you remember the 30g a day for 5-7 days loading cycle followed by 5-10g a day for the remainder of the cycle usually 8 weeks.

Then they found out that the loading phase was just so you wouldn't shoot yourself in the foot and get the saturation from creatine.

Then they found out that taking 5g per day for the whole 8 weeks was better then loading and had the same effect.

Well i am here to tell you about Kre-Alkalyn, i have been using it for a month now and its the best, the PH level is set at 12 so the creatine is absorb 100%, you don't bloat. Its really simple you don't even need to cycle because you are taking around 1g per day that is replacing most of what was lost during your workout. No loading.

I can say that my strength is up and that is really nice, but for the results it all depends on the effect that creatine as on your body. For me i never gained any weight from creatine, i got bigger shoulders and bigger arms, some strength and that's about it.

Other people can gain weight and more, but remember that it all depends on your diet.