Creatine

Has anyone used this product? How has it worked for you? Would you recommend it? Is it a gimmick?

im not familiar with it, but whats wrong with good old straight up creatine? effective, cheap and if you are a low/non responder, this or no other bell and whistle product will work any better.

anyone else tried it?

I’ve been taking creatine with Glucose lately, is that o.k? Does it turn the creatine in to creatinine or whatever?

If you want details on creatine, this article is good:

Clinical Pharmacology of the Dietary Supplement Creatine … - [ Diese Seite übersetzen ]
Creatine has a long history as a safe and effective sports supplement.
Creatine is … supplementation. G. Use of Creatine Analogs. Analogs …

hdlighthouse.org/see/diet/supplements/ creatine/creatine13.htm

I have downloaded it, printed it, read most of it, but today when I tried to access it, I couldn´t get on to the hdlighthouse.org website. Maybe you guys will have better luck.

goose:

you shold be ok, most creatine transport systems come with dextrose, but glucose should be fine. this transport systems can be really effective if you use them post workout and you dont normally (or you substitute) use a carb based recovery drink.

the one i reccommend is the champion creatine extreme. good value and it comes with dextrose and ribose mixed with the creatine and has add ons of glutamine and taurine and since its by champion you can be sure its prohormone free.

Thanks Herb!
I saw and read the copyright date, but didn´t let it register! Dumb.

I know that you work in the industry. Impurities are no longer a problem? What are there for checks and measures? Sorry if I sound skeptical, I guess that I am. I have heard again and again that there is not alot of difference in various creatine products (the basics, not the liquid stuff, or fancy preparations) but why do I read or hear people describing the benefits of certain companies vs. others when discussing vitamins and other supplements (eg. ZMA).

I just looked at the reference you cited from Pharmacological Reviews, and in the section VII. Products, they mention things such as Dicyandiamide, Creatinine, Dihydrotriazines and that the FDA does NOT regulate QUALITY. And the date of publication is 2001.

Who should I believe?

Before I read the article…what is he selling? :slight_smile:

This is nothing new. In fact, much of this is outdated. Read when the article was copyrighted…1996! Most creatine is good to go nowadays. I would be more concerned with pro-hormone contamination than with impurities.

I just saw this article by Will Brink about creatine. He has copyrighted it, so I won´t post excerpts, but have a look at the URL. He claims that creatine is NOT creatine, as many have. He recommends German creatine. Anyone know WHO manufactures it, or distributes the German stuff?

Any thoughts or rebuttals?

http://www.brinkzone.com/creatine.html

also, creatine ingested with glucose will increase the rate of obsorption into the system therefore more creatine being used instead of wasted. I tend to follow the following: 5g of glucose for every 1g of creatine.

And, as charlie has said, I stay away from the stuff in competition phases, simply because of the increased risk of injury due to the amount of excess fluid within the cells.

When i first started using creatine i had no idea about the stuff and ended up badly tearing a hamstring as I was shoveling the stuff into my mouth as much as i could!!! I was really strong and put on about 5kg in 4 weeks!! Racing really fast (actually ran a PB!! first time i used it) and then smashed my hamstring!!

Cheers,
Justin:o

Ok, has anyone noticed the amount of positive drug tests coming up for nandrolone in the last few years? AND in almost all of the cases where the athlete has been involved at high levels of competition for numerous years, they alomost all say they were supplementing with creatine!! Apparently there is some anticdotal evidence that suggests creatine lifts the natural occuring levels of nadrolone within the body, therefore increasing the risk of a positive drug test. Just thought i’d throw a cat amoungst the pigeons. Apparently some well credentialled sports scientists are running research studies into this area as we speak, will be interesting to see the results.

Personally, I am also a believer in creatine. I generally load for a week with 5grams 4-5 times a day and then maintainance of 5grams/day for approximately 4 weeks. You should discontinue using creatine when you notice a plateau in your strength training. This normally means your body is producing less creatine naturally due to the supplementation. Then i stay off it for the same time period that i was on it for and start the cycle again. I’ve found this to be very sucessful. Secondly, I find that using only in a strength phase of training decreases the chance of muscle and ligament tears and strains that have occured with some athletes using creatine in high intensity training. And thirdly, vegetarians will have the largest gains in strength supplementing with creatine for obvious reasons, creatine is found in all meat products!! and not in vegetarian foods. So advice to vegeans GET STUCK INTO IT!!

Cheers,
Justin :sing::clap:

There is an injectable version of creatine called neoton. It used for cardiac patients in Europe.

when i’ve had peopel use Creatine… that’s been the company i’ve stuck with. very high quality, somewhat pricey

Check out:

http://www.c10world.com/

The Truth about Creatine

Creatine is found in three forms, pill form or chewable form, powder form and liquid form. And also injectable form “neoton” which is found in europe for cardiac arrest patients. I believe that liquid form is the least effiecient and the least absorbed. Also as soon as creatine touches water it turns into creatinine. Therefore not as much is absorbed. So what do we do then. I dont really know. Anyone else know??? There is a company called LSN which makes creatine in a chewable form which is combined with dextrose sugar. According to the stats creatine is more effiently absorbed (60% more) with dextrose while some might disagree that other types of sugar such as fractose and sucharides might be effiecient also. I would stick with dextrose. To sum this whole thing up. All creatine is not the same. Even the companys which claim to have 99% creatine don’t always have since creatine is imported from other countries such as china and germany, austria or anywhere. Usually the bigger name brands will have better products do to the fact they are under more scrutiny. Such as eas which makes the best creatine as far as Im concerned…products such as celltech and other creatines are too expensive and just a waste of money unless you lower the dose they recomend.

:afro:

Tim,

have you tried following Dcw’s advice? Spoon the Creatine directly into your mouth and wash down with whatever you were going to mix it with (I believe just water was recommended)

You should discontinue using creatine when you notice a plateau in your strength training. This normally means your body is producing less creatine naturally due to the supplementation.

Your body does produce less creatine when supplementing, however, this amount is only about a gram per day. For most people a 5g maintenance phase is plenty adequate to prevent creatine levels from falling even when naturally producing less. If strength levels have reached a plateux, it is probably just time to change the weights programme. However, when coming off creatine for a month, if strength are able to be maintained (if this has been possible), when supplementing again strength levels are bound to rise. The placebo effect could also contribute when restarting a supplement.

Originally posted by Richard Hand

[quote]
For most people a 5g maintenance phase is plenty adequate to prevent creatine levels from falling even when naturally producing less.

Even 2gms is adequate according to some reports posted here recently

I agree 5g is probably more than enough. For the example I was just keeping the amount consistent with Justins usage. I use 3g.

Hey everyone, thought I would jump in and start posting here. I am a college decathlete (6775), I usually take a half serving of phosphagen HP for maintenence which amounts to about 2½ grams/day. My body does not like going off it at all(soreness + slow recovery), so I try to go off for at least 2 weeks during times which are not critical for my training.

What are some of the better brands of creatine available in the US and Canada?

What would be the best type of drink to have with (natural grape juice? something else?) it and would you have 2 grams of baking soda with each serving of creatine?

What about pre-meet supplementation?

I am going to be running my first 100 on June 14-15 since starting training again. When would be a good time to start taking creatine/baking soda combination?

thanks!
Chris