Yes i have looked at other threads and some did help answer one or two questions, but i have a couple regarding me personally.
for those who do not know me, i’m 18yo, 110lbs and about 5’6". my 100m pb is 12.95s (which is slow, i’m a beginner) and my long jump is 5.36m. and hopefully being coached in October/November.
my questions are…
1/ In relation to my bodyweight, and seeing how sprinting requires strength, power and mass, should i take creatine to gain size and mass on my frame?
2/ Water, water, water! in Litres, how much water a day taking creatine?
3/ When do i take it? after weights sessions? after sprint sessions?
thats it for now, thanks in advance
[as i said above, i am a beginner. started seriously in about May this year, and i only started playing sports about 3-4years ago. if that helps at all]
1… No - you take it to improve strength
2… 2 litres a day … ok I just pulled that figure outa my ass… but just make sure you’re being well hydrated so yeh 1.5 - 2 litres through the day of water should be plenty. (I’m sure someone has worked out a fancy LBM*Air temp * Moisture content * the number of cattle in the feild next to you etc. etc. etc.)
3… I’d just pop about 2-5 grams into my PWO shake post weight training and/or sprinting
It looks like you really need to put some mass. I’ve only started training this year (without proper weight training) and my pb is 12.21h at 5’ 6" at 150 lbs at 15 years old. According to Kelly Baggett, 10% increase in mass = 30% increase in strength, if you are a beginner. Since you said you are one, I think you shouldn’t analyze water/creatine intake that much…at least for now. Just drink a lot of water. Take creatine after workout, whether sprint/weights session (T-nation’s David Barr).
So just put on some mass and strength will come for now.
yon only want to put the mass on if you can keep your strength ratio, no point putting on mass and still been weak, alway go for an increase in strength, and you put on some mass by doing that.
i was always going to train for strength and power. but i just thought maybe mass was just a perk you may say for training for srength and taking creatine…
Creatine is a cell volumizer, so you will appear to have gained some weight; not much though (maybe in the 5-10 lb range at most from what I have seen in my experiences).
Take it post workout, 2-5g with your PWO drink.
Keep eating and lifting for what you want to acheive (strength/speed) and the byproducts of that will follow. Good luck!
i take it every day at about 3 grams. if i workout, i take it after the workout on that day. if i dont workout i take it with my oatmeal in the morning.
herb on this site has also recommended every day use of creatine.
EXACTLY, supplements have a time and a place and i willa rgue with anyone who says you should just take a supplement all the time. Most people, no most athletes dont train hard enough to justify their use. and when they do take them there are all these half cocked ideas on how it should be done. if your diet isnt perfect dont even think about poopin a pill other than a multi vitamin/mineral. people would be more than suprised the results achievable if you truely kno how to eat right. and NO “i think i eat pretty cleanly” is not goot enough. i only rant because i have been there i use to think i could pop a pill and get this strong pop a pil and get this fast take this new formula and jump this high. it wasnt until i threw all that bull out and really learned how to eat did i start seeing the results that i was after, started recovering faster, started sleeping better, and started understanding what my body truely needed.
hey richo, creatine is top stuff and wouldnt hurt at all. be sure not to take it though with citrus juices, this will only nutralize its effect on you, the best i have been told is red grape juice. a nutritionist told me this and it went really well. also be sure not to get cought up in taking too much. can cause some serious gastro
you be shitting for weeks.
Also, the more you train, the hotter it is ect, the more water you need. A great way of telling if you are hydrated enough is by the colour of ya wee! clear is tops, dark orange is bad. So keep up with the water. You will find you may need another 1ltr of water per day on creatine. Creatine also depends on your diet. I have seen massive gains from vegeterains! That is because they get alsmost none in there diet. Red meat has a pretty big supply of natural creatine. Hence big red meat eaters will gain with suppliment creatine but nowhere near as mush as say a veggie.
go with 10 grams a day to be most effective. 5 grams 30 minutes before workout. and 5 grams immediatly after workout. this will show much better results than 2-5 grams. make sure your water intake is high enough so you dont get dehydrated. AND AVOID CAFFIENE! IT CAN DOWNGRADE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CREATINE!
In the take home section:
However, it must be mentioned that not all studies demonstrate an inhibitory effect of caffeine on the benefits afforded by creatine and may be a result of how creatine was administered, ie whether in liquid or tablet form.
I can find a study that says just about anything. Doesn’t mean it’s true. So what did they study? 9 people? And just what was the “physical benefit of creatine” that the caffeine users didn’t get? What did they test? This study is very vague as with most.
haha. ok. these studies have been coming out for over a year. i dont have time to prove to you, since you probably dont even take supplements. any personal trainer or expert in supplements has known this for quit some time. sorry you didnt. but its the truth.
Caffeine consumption has been reported to adversely affect the efficacy of creatine supplementation. Since creatine uptake is dependent upon extracellular Na+, Vandenberghe et al [13] hypothesized that adrenergic stimulation of the sarcolemma might enhance muscle creatine uptake via increased Na±K±ATPase pump activity. In a double-blind, repeated-measures, crossover study, they compared creatine uptake, isometric force and isokinetic knee-extension torque production in nine healthy males following 6 days of both creatine supplementation (0.5 g/kg/day) and creatine (0.5 g/kg/day) in combination with caffeine (5 g/kg/day). A 3-week washout period intervened between treatments. While muscle [PCr] was increased following both treatments, torque production was increased only following creatine supplementation. They concluded that the ergogenic effect of creatine is completely eliminated by caffeine consumption. In a follow-up study using the same protocol, Vandenberghe et al [14] reported that caffeine inhibits PCr resynthesis during recovery. These data suggest that, in contrast to potentiating the ergogenic effects of creatine, caffeine ingested in combination with creatine nullifies any ergogenic effect.