Creatine some facts

[Billy Boy]

What Is Creatine?

Creatine is not a steroid (although it's effects have been described as "steroid-like"), nor is it a herb, vitamin or mineral. Creatine is a natural nutrient found in the human body and that of most animals. The highest concentrations of creatine are found in skeletal muscle (around 95%), and the remainder in cardiac and smooth muscle, the brain, kidneys and spermatozoa, respectively.
The average individual gets enough creatine from their diet. However, if dietary intake is insufficient, the human body can synthesize a limited supply of creatine from the three amino acids arginine, glycine and methionine. This occurs in the liver, pancreas and kidneys.

How Does Creatine Work?

When muscles contract, a substance known as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the primary energy source used. In simple terms, ATP is broken down to adenosine diphosphate (ADP) by the release of one of its phosphate molecules. However, there is only enough ATP stored to provide energy for about 10 seconds of intense exercise and for muscle contraction to continue longer than this additional ATP must be produced by the body. It is at this point that creatine phosphate plays a critical role.
Creatine exists in the body primarily in the form of creatine phosphate (two-thirds of total creatine stores), with the remainder as "free" or "chemically unbound" creatine. When all the body's ATP stores are exhausted through intense or strenuous exercise, creatine phosphate can be used to produce more ATP by "lending" a phosphate molecule to ADP to form more ATP, which in turn is used for energy production.

What Is Creatine Monohydrate?

Creatine Monohydrate is a precursor to creatine phosphate, which we now know is used by the body to form ATP. It is a white, colourless, odorless crystalline material which dissolves easily in water.
Supplementation with creatine monohydrate appears to work in several ways. Firstly, it can maximise the stores of creatine phosphate in the body and therefore allow more muscle contraction to occur as a result of greater stored energy reserves available for use to form ATP. As such, supplementation with creatine monohydrate has been one of the most talked about topics among the sporting fraternity for many years now. The benefits of supplementation have even been likened to using anabolic steroids . Secondly, it has a major role to play in "cell volumisation" or increasing cellular fluid (water) retention in skeletal muscle. This can significantly increase the leverage a muscle has by requiring it to move less, thus a heavier weight can be lifted. This is also thought to be one way in which anabolic steroids work and it is for that reason that the effects of creatine supplemention are often referred to as "steroid-like".

Which Creatine Monohydrate Is The Best?

There are two main producers of quality creatine monohydate worldwide. They are Pfanstiehl Laboratories Inc. in the United States and SKW Trostberg in Germany. Both Pfanstiehl and SKW Trostberg share a joint patent (#5719319), for the manufacture of creatine. Both companies have their own quality assurance labels: Pfanstiehl uses the "Pfanstiehl Quality" logo while SKW in Germany use the "Creapure" logo. Both companies produce creatine which is consistently of the highest quality available. The reason for the introduction of these "quality assurance logos" is that substantial quantities of low grade Chinese creatine is now marketed worldwide, usually through American distributors and then sold as "American Creatine."
Both Pfanstiehl and SKW provide HPLC test results on each batch of creatine produced. We are not aware of any Chinese manufacturers who do this. This guarantees that creatine which bears either the "Pfanstiehl Quality" or "Creapure" quality logos is pure and free of potentially dangerous chemical impurities such as dicyandiamide (a derivative of one of the starting chemicals used in creatine production) and dihydrotriazine (a by-product of non-optimised creatine production).

How Should I Use Creatine Monohydrate?

One of the most respected researchers into the use of creatine monohydrate supplementation is Dr. Michael Colgan. The following dosages are suggested:

Loading phase - Day 1 take 30 grams per day divided into six servings of five grams.
Day 2 - Day 7 take 15 grams divided into three servings of five grams with dextrose (increase to 20 grams per day if bodyweight over 90kg).
Maintenance phase - Day 8 onwards take a daily dose of five grams per day. The suggested cycle is 6-8 weeks on with 4-6 weeks off before beginning the cycle again.

Important Points To Remember:
Creatine monohydrate (creatine) should not be taken with fruit juices, as these can neutralise the activity of creatine turning it into the waste product known as creatinine. It is far better to dissolve creatine in water and take with dextrose or glucose, which helps provide an "insulin -spike" to aid in the absorbtion of the creatine. Consuming caffeine and creatine may be disadvantageous, as creatine has a water retaining action while caffeine has the opposite effect. One may negate the other, or certainly taking caffeine with creatine may reduce the benefit of your creatine supplementation programme.
It is essential that you drink adequate water (at least 8 glasses a day) while supplementing with creatine, to avoid dehydration and to allow the kidneys to process waste products properly. While there is little no evidence to suggest that damage is done to the kidneys at recommended dosages, there is some anectdotal evidence that damage may occur at very high levels of use for prolonged periods of time.

Scientific References:
Balsom, P.D., et al. Skeletal muscle metabolism during short duration high-intensity exercise: influence of creatine supplementation. Acta-Physiol-Scand. (1995) July; 154(3): 303-310.
Balsom, P.D., et al. Creatine in humans with special reference to creatine supplementation. Sports-Med. (1994) Oct; 18(4): 268-280.
Birch, R., et al. The influence of dietary creatine supplementation on performance during repeated bouts of maximal isokinetic cycling in man. European Journal of Applied Physiology (1994) 69(3): 268-276.
Cooke, W.H., et al. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on power output and fatigue during bicycle ergometry. Journal of Apllied Physiology (1995) Feb; 78(2); 670-673.
Dept. Physical Education, Illinois University. International Journal Sports Nutrition (1997): 185-196, Joel Mitchell, Daniel Cavender.
Greenhaff, P.L., et al. Influence of oral creatine supplementation of muscle torque during repeated bouts of maximal voluntary exercise in man. Clinical Science (1993) 84; 565-571.
Greenhaff, P.L., et al. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on skeletal muscle phosphocreatine resynthesis. American Journal of Physiology (1994) May; 266 (5 Pt 1): E725-730.
Greenhaff, P.L., Creatine and its application as an ergogenic aid. International Journal of Sport Nutrition (1995) 5:S100-110.
Harris, R.C., et al. Elevation of creatine in resting and exercised muscle of normal subjects by creatine supplementation. Clinical Science (1992) 83: 367-374.
Maughan, R.J. Creatine supplementation and exercise performance. International Journal of Sport Nutrition (1995) Jun; 5(2): 94-101.
Stroud, M.A., et al. Effect of oral creatine supplementation on respiratory gas exchange and blood lactate accumulation during steady-state incremental treadmill exercise and recovery in man. Clinical Science Colch. (1994) Dec; 87(6): 707-710.
Walker, J.B. Creatine: Biosynthesis, regulation and function. Advances in Enzymology and Related Areas of Molecular Biology (1979) 50: 177-242.

[EXCESS]

Good post! That should answer some questions.

[sprinter]

That was a great post. It was very informative and I enjoyed reading it. However, I believe that there is one discrepency in it. In regards to the "load phase". The load phase it is not needed. I'm sure Dr. Colgan knows his stuff about creatine, but anyone that says you need to load creatince like that has got to be in some manufatures pocket. Maybe Dr. Colgan is not, but I am very skeptical. If you take exessive ammounts of creatine, it basically goes unused whether it is durring the "load phase" or not. There are many other findings that agree with creatine being benificial, but deam loading unnecissary.

[Billy Boy]

Welcome to the board Sprinter

Other posts on this board go into loading phases and all that sort of info and I personally never bother to load and sometimes I will not cycle it either depends on what I think my body needs.I usally run with 5g a day.

Billy

[sprinter]

Thanks Billy,
Yeah, I am the same as you with creatine and it seems to be working well. Just trying to save people some money for other things they might also be buying. . . whatever that might be. hehe

[unclemoney]

Hi, I'm 16 and I just picked up some Creatine Monohydrate and I have been working out for over a year and barley any reasults, so I did some research on it and bought a bottle I'm going to start my loading phase tomarrow but I have 1 question that no sites had up in the faq's. What will happen if I take it, I can lift more and get bigger muscles and I all of assuden decide to stop? If I ever stop will I keep the muscles or will they shrink or what? And I know my energy would go back down but would I still be able to bench as much? Well thanks for any advice/answers.

Chris.

[nj123]

hey uncle.. i have picked up quit a few things on this site since ive been here.. if you havent seen any results after workin out for a year then post up your routine because there must be somethin wrong with it..theres alot of people on this site that know what there talkin about and will help you

[hoss827]

Good read. I don't load with THAT much though...But that's just me.

[Cmah9]

Good read. I don't load with THAT much though...But that's just me.

Great post, however I have been taking cell tech for about 6 months. I have found that by taking one scoop instead of the recomended two, I get the same results with half of the cost. I have reasearched that your body can only retain about 5gs of creatine at a time. Making the loading phase not necessary. All and all, great post and Creatine can be effective, but do not over do it. Can become a waste of money.

[detroit]

That was a great post. It was very informative and I enjoyed reading it. However, I believe that there is one discrepency in it. In regards to the "load phase". The load phase it is not needed. I'm sure Dr. Colgan knows his stuff about creatine, but anyone that says you need to load creatince like that has got to be in some manufatures pocket. Maybe Dr. Colgan is not, but I am very skeptical. If you take exessive ammounts of creatine, it basically goes unused whether it is durring the "load phase" or not. There are many other findings that agree with creatine being benificial, but deam loading unnecissary.

I always hear that loading is not needed. But if it is just a scam then why dont nutrition companines tell you to load all their products. For example Glutamine. Glutamine is much more expansive that creatine, so why dont these companies recomend that you do a loading phase on glutamine to then?

A 600gr tub of Optimum Creatine cost $16 on the internet thats 130 servings or 12 cents a serving. It would only costs about $2.40 to load.

[unclemoney]

hey uncle.. i have picked up quit a few things on this site since ive been here.. if you havent seen any results after workin out for a year then post up your routine because there must be somethin wrong with it..theres alot of people on this site that know what there talkin about and will help you

Well, I'm 15, 5ft 8", I only way 105 pounds(very sad), I bench 80#'s 25 reps, I do curls 15 reps, I do overheads 10 reps, and resistance crunches 10 times. I do this every day. I have seen some results but compared to my friends it's barley nothing. And I have started taking creatine just today and will finish up some time in february. When do you think I will see results from creatine? I know to drink 8-10 (8oz) glasses of water a day, workout, avoid citrus juice and caffine while taking it. Well any advice would be very helpfull ie. changing my workout routine or something else........

[956Vette]

Well, I'm 15, 5ft 8", I only way 105 pounds(very sad), I bench 80#'s 25 reps, I do curls 15 reps, I do overheads 10 reps, and resistance crunches 10 times. I do this every day. I have seen some results but compared to my friends it's barley nothing. And I have started taking creatine just today and will finish up some time in february. When do you think I will see results from creatine? I know to drink 8-10 (8oz) glasses of water a day, workout, avoid citrus juice and caffine while taking it. Well any advice would be very helpfull ie. changing my workout routine or something else........

Umm... werent you 16 a few posts above?

[unclemoney]

Umm... werent you 16 a few posts above?

Ahh damit I always do this almost every year, my b-day is the 17th of december and sometimes i accidently do that. And one more question, what's the deal with taking sugar with creatine?

[nj123]

hey uncle.. search the workout forum.. you gotta get a real routine goin

[IronAdam]

Uncle, You haven't gained anything because your routine is terrible, and I am assuming your diet isn't much better. If your diet isn't in check the creatine will basically do nothing for you, and you want to lower your reps ALOT, being that your a twig already, you should avoid doing 25 rep sets. Your situation is to complicated to adress fully in one post, but you should hang out on the forum more often and check out the diet section more.

Goodluck

[unclemoney]

I got a new routine it's 1 and a half hours and a good one, my cousins gym's owner showed me a whole bunch of **** to do and it works good as **** for me last week gained 7#'s and so far this week I've gained 5#'s so I think I got a good routine now. Plus I've goten a 6pack and my pecks are more developed. Most of my exercises are 4 sets 10 reps and some of them are 3 sets 10 reps.

[IronAdam]

I got a new routine it's 1 and a half hours and a good one, my cousins gym's owner showed me a whole bunch of **** to do and it works good as **** for me last week gained 7#'s and so far this week I've gained 5#'s so I think I got a good routine now. Plus I've goten a 6pack and my pecks are more developed. Most of my exercises are 4 sets 10 reps and some of them are 3 sets 10 reps.

That's good to hear man! What's your diet look like?

[unclemoney]

Well, I take creatine/nox2/whey protien and every now and then I'll have a swig of weight gainer for the extra calories. I eat about 5 cans of tuna/salmon a day with crackers and for dinner/lunch I have alot of different stuff ranging from pasta to bean burieto's to almost anything. I think I'm getting good gains since this is my first time on creatine/nox2/whey and because of the new routine.

[Brazy]

the loading phase is absolute BS

[KBZ]

hey what's nox2? And also, will apple juice mess up the effects of creatine? It's not acidic but it was just said that any fruit beverage isn't good?
And what are some good dextrose/glucose transports? I heard Smarties are a good one, but I don't even know where to buy them hehe.

[BULKING_N]

I was about to ask the saem, I like to drink my creatine in apple juice.No good is it?

[prolangtum]

I got a new routine it's 1 and a half hours and a good one, my cousins gym's owner showed me a whole bunch of **** to do and it works good as **** for me last week gained 7#'s and so far this week I've gained 5#'s so I think I got a good routine now. Plus I've goten a 6pack and my pecks are more developed. Most of my exercises are 4 sets 10 reps and some of them are 3 sets 10 reps.

7 lbs and 5 lbs a week? Your dreaming.

[rampin]

bumping an old post because i think its a good read about creatine