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Anonymous
Hey /fit/, what's the general consensus on creatine supplements? A friend of mine thinks I should get on them. Is there anything I need to know about them before buying? If I do end up getting them, how effective are they? I just want to know more about them before I start fucking myself up.
>> Anonymous
Expensive as fuck, but they give you a LITTLE performance boost.

Use if you got the money. If you're poor, dont bother.
>> Anonymous
>>72821

Where can I find the right kind? I'm seeing all these internet sites with a pound of it for 10 dollars, but that seems retardedly cheap and probably a scam. What should I expect to pay for it?
>> Anonymous
At stores and shit I see it for $40 a tub. I don't buy it though.

Just go by serving sizes vs cost. I'm pretty sure its all practically the same shit.
>> Anonymous
well it comes liquid powder and pills i think, i believe the liquid is the most expensive and also the best to get, i'm not sure about powder vs pills, i got the powder and noticed a little bit of a boost in how many reps i could get but nothing severe.

i paid about 40 bucks for 2.5lbs which has seemed to last me FOREVER. i got it an GNC, the only problem i've encountered with the powder is it does not fucking mix AT ALL, its like drinking sandy water. and if you let it sit for a minute it'll all settle at the bottom of whatever its in.
>> Anonymous
>>72836

I don't think you're supposed to drink it with fruit juice either, it neutralizes the effect or something
>> Anonymous
creatine can be a very effective supplement, if used correctly.
cannot stress used correctly, enough though.
it needs to be used in cylces, loaded, maintained, and dropped. google is your friend, there is more than ample creatine info.
>> Anonymous
>>72885
my creatine had NO instructions on it at all, it just has serving size 1 teaspoon lol
>> Anonymous
I was gonna write a bunch of shit but i decided to just pasta this link:
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=768093

look for creatine labeled as Creapure SKW.
cheapest I've found it:
http://www.dpsnutrition.net/search.asp?p=1&w=&c=creapure&t=s

people who say creatine is expensive are GNC faggots.

1000 grams will last you over half a year.
>> Anonymous
>>72885
BULLSHIT. loading is a waste of money.
>> Anonymous
>>72891
its a widely used method with sucess.
sorry if you didn't load enough pal
>> Anonymous
>>72821
It's not expensive at all. Go to The Vitamin Shoppe and you can get a tub of it with 180 servings for $20.
>> Anonymous
>>72892
show me ONE study where loading/maintenance/cycling has shown any benefit compared to fixed daily intake.
>> Anonymous
In during a fucking shitstorm of fagfucks who don't know shit about creatine
>> Moo !XBOXgikTFw
Loading is nearly useless because after 1-2 weeks the concentration in the muscles will be the same as if you didn't load. All it does is speed things up a little bit in the beginning, but at the same time it obviously creates more excess creatine that goes unabsorbed to your kidneys. It also costs you more!

I'd stay away from the liquid forms, because creatine is very likely to break down in solutions. Powder (3g/day), quickly stirred in a glass of lukewarm water seems to be the best form, imo. BUT WHAT DO I KNOW
>> Anonymous
Get the cheap mono-Creatine from online stores it does the job well. Also another thing to remember is that it's best to cycle every 3 months when you're on it.

I only use it when I hit long plateaus
>> Anonymous
>>73121

Its best to take creatine with simple sugars, or just take it with your protein shake.

And its 5g, not 3g.
>> Anonymous
Creatine is the cheapest supplement out there, and at minimum harmless. Put a spoonful in your green tea every morning (you are drinking green tea every morning, I hope) and don't give it any more thought.

I have no idea why you would 'cycle' it, that is something you do with hormones. Creatine is just part of your muscular energy system that you get (in smaller quantities) from food anyway.
>> Anonymous
>>72891
Dumb fuck,

the phases go LOADING, MAINTENANCE, and then OFF creatine. the loading phase is about 2 to three weeks of 20g a day, maintenance is 10g a day and off is obviously 0g a day. Most people just take 10g a day constantly. the whole idea of different phases is so the body doesn't adapt to the amount of creatine. if you do the math, the amount in the OFF phase equals out the two weeks of the loading phase.

tldr: you fail
>> Anonymous
>>73164

how long does each phase last? I've been on 10g a solid month and it doesn't feel like anythings happening anymore
>> Anonymous
>>73164
about 8 weeks

Weeks 1 to 2
Loading phase: 20g a day, 5g servings four times a day

Weeks 3 to 5
Maintenance phase: 10g a day, 5g servings twice a day

Weeks 5 to 8
No creatine

Repeat

the times when you take creatine also help. For the loading phase, take it once in the morning, once before the workout, once after the workout, and once before bed. for the maintenance phase take it before you work out with juice, and before bed.

Drink lots of water.
>> Anonymous
I really don't like creatine, because it doesn't help you at all strength-wise, it just causes the muscles to retain water (hence you having to drink more of it), giving you a temporary boost in size.

The reason why most people will tell you to cycle it is because it stops affecting your body in a meaningful way, so cycling it on and off will allow you to still gain some benefit from it instead of plateauing
>> Anonymous
>>73931
It helps you get more reps, meaning you can up the weight for the same set\rep range.
Meaning you'll add more weight to the bar faster.

Meaning it makes you stronger.

Just because it doesn't increase your 1rm by like 20%, doesn't mean it's useless.
>> Anonymous
>>73938

Ok, so it'll help you get more reps, which is the key for getting more size and whatnot, but it still wont help a lot. You might get a little bit stronger, but the way bodybuilder's lift, what they lift doesn't really matter, as long as they are inducing hypertrophy.

There are pro bodybuilders who curl 35 pound dumbbells.

If you want to get stronger, then taking something that will help you gt better at high rep stuff isn't too helpful, because you'll be doing mainly low weights.

I'm not saying don't try it, go ahead, it may work for you, but it
>> Anonymous
Hmmm, sorry about that, I let my post cut off at the end

I meant to finish with "it probably wont help you that much"
>> Anonymous
>>73958
Depends on your style of training.

Creatine's like taking something you have to go:
10 reps - 9 reps - 9 reps - 8 reps - 8 reps

And being able to go:
10x5

For me, who trains for acrobatics\strength feats aswell as total body strength (yes, it's super counter productive, big thick legs make shit like planches\flares\airflares fucking HARD work, but it's worth it)

It's perfect.

It turns 5x5 into 5x6\7
sometimes 3x8 becomes 3x10

Which is really good, because for the triples, especially, it means I can get more in a day, which means I stimulate the central nervous system, which is what triples are about, not size, and that means at the end of the day, my gains are greater.

It also means you can do shit like hold planches longer, to really build up the neural pathways, or tevs that brain-muscle bullshit, muscle memory is called.

I just noticed alot of allround improvements after a 4x5g loading phase.

I personally have mine in a warm (read: not boiling hot) tea, alongside my 500g cottage cheese for breakfast, but I have alot of sugar, because aside from being a sweet tooth, it's a good insulin spike to make sure the body takes as much of the shit into the muscles as possible.

Personally, I'd reccomend buying like a 1lb or smaller size creatine monohydrate, trying it, if you get benefits, keep it up, if not, obviously don't.
>> Anonymous
>>73960

Hmmm, acrobatics, eh? I actually wouldn't know how to train for that, but lifting like you do (Bodybuilding) would be really counter-productive, considering bodybuilding doesn't create functional muscle, just size.

I would actually look into olympic lifting, because that would be your best bet to become really, really athletic (Olympic lifters are nutty athletic, many are under 5'6 and snap a 10 foot basketball rim)

but what you do DOES give you some muscular endurance, so I guess it does have some benefits.

And yeah, I agree with the last part, if it works for ya, keep it up, if not, fuck it
>> Anonymous
>>73966
functional is a relative term.

However, bodybuilding style training actually builds some very good muscular endurance under high tension, which is really useful for me, for training stuff like my cross\maltese on the rings etc it would be alot harder if my muscles got tired 2 seconds into a hold.

I dislike the word functional, personally, because a bodybuilders job is to look good, so mass = function, however because of my huge mix, which is basically size, alot of power\speed and enough isometric endurance to not lose strength 2 seconds into a hold, is damned effective, only issue is that some muscles (whole posterior chain, which is very heavy, legs etc) aren't really used, so if I was to avoid shit like my deads\squats\good mornings\cleans I'd probably have alot more ease doing the acrobatics, but my physique\attitude would fail for it. Nothing trains the character like squats, you gotta get squashed, let it squash you, then fight back against it.

and 3x8 isn't a size protocol, it's all power\strength.

Just, thought I'd clarify a bit, especially the functional thing, beacuse for me, large muscle mass is functional because the large muscles have good endurance in the 10-15 second range, which is perfect for training planches, crosses, L sits, 1 arm chin eccentrics etc. However I pay for them because of added weight, which requires more strength.

Fact of the matter is, I can move my body in ways most "functional" (read: wimpy, scared to lift heavy) trainers didn't know is possible, and I'm still aiming to be considered a grain of sand on the beach in terms of bodyweight feats.
>> Anonymous
>>73969

hey man, I'm glad it works for you, but 8 rep stuff is definitely bodybuilding territory, I powrlift, and on my max effort days, it's either going for 4-5 sets of one rep, or maybe a 3 rep max, but I'm lifting 80-90% of my max, which I could NOT do for 8 reps. For like a supplementary, I might do something near that, but usually no more.

I ain't sayin' what you do doesn't work, it obviously does, heh.
>> Anonymous
>>73977
Sorry, I didn't type it very clear.

The only bodybuilding one was the 10 - 9 -9 -8 -8 becoming 5 sets of 10 reps.

I was actually talking about doing 5 reps x 6\7 instead of 5x5 with creatine.

and doing 8 sets of triples without creatine, becoming 10 sets of triples with.

Probably should've been clearer.

Personally, I haven't gone over 6 reps in about 4 months and fuck is it good, not packing on as much size, but the plates keep comin on the bar.