No nonsense - Is creatine worth taking?

[Big N]

are u kidding me? that is what that makes ronnie coleman physique....

Why are you misleading him 

[dj181]

First time I used it I gained 13 pounds over the course of 6 weeks, and my skinfolds didn't increase

[JasonH]

I've used creatine on and off for years. Definitely works and has made obvious improvements to my workouts. Stick with good-old fashioned monohydrate, stay away from ethyl-ester and all the other new-fangled crap.

No need to do all the loading stuff - I just use 30grams a day on the days I train. I've found that if I take it on the days I don't train as well then I tend to bloat out a bit but nothing too serious. You don't need to use it on non-training days.

[supernick]

I still use it....

I never load...

I only use it on work out days, 5 g before, 5 g after lifting

Don't use it on days I don't work out...


Don't really cycle... if I'm lifting, I'm taking it, if I'm not lifting I'm not taking it!

exactly the same here... except i only take 5 g after i work out

[supernick]

I've used creatine on and off for years. Definitely works and has made obvious improvements to my workouts. Stick with good-old fashioned monohydrate, stay away from ethyl-ester and all the other new-fangled crap.

No need to do all the loading stuff - I just use 30grams a day on the days I train. I've found that if I take it on the days I don't train as well then I tend to bloat out a bit but nothing too serious. You don't need to use it on non-training days.

u take 30 g a day

[Overload]

It's the only supplement that actually gave me some real results.  I just buy a large jug of the Creatine Mono and put 5g's in a shake twice a day.  I remember the first time i used it i gained a good 10-12 pounds and noticed a decent strength boost.  Also it seemed to add a few extra reps on all my heavy working sets.

For the price it's not a bad option these days.  10-15g's a day is plenty and $30-45 can get you a year supply if you buy straight mono.

[JasonH]

u take 30 g a day

Yep - 10g in the morning with my protein shake, 10g pre-workout and another 10g post workout. None on non-training days though.

[supernick]

Yep - 10g in the morning with my protein shake, 10g pre-workout and another 10g post workout. None on non-training days though.

wow seems like alot... whatever works.  Sounds like your on the loading phase all the time

[maxkane69]

Creatine is a great supplement for CONSTIPATION!
Creatine should be used by every bodybuilder who have difficulty in empyiting the bowels!

[dan18]

i'll add a question. Recently somebody told me the loading phase is bullshit marketing and that you can take it ordinarily from the start. Any truth to this?

True no need to load 1st, and yes it works for me i have a shoulder issue and when i do dv presses anything over 80s it hurts. when im on creatin it feels better possible it may be the water in my joints not sure but it helps.

[Dr Dutch]

Like many of us, I wasted a fortune on useles supplements as a kid.
But I really think creatine is the ONLY one that's actually worth the money. Plus cheap.
No loading phase needed.

[gatorr]

That snake oil still around? Ask GH 15.

[gh15]

creatine is one of the worst scam ever made,, what you gain is little water weeight that is it ,, i consider creatine as risk to kidnys unlike trenbolona which i consider ZERO risk to kidnys ...creatine i do consider risk to kidnys kidny stones

gh15 approved

[badlad]

Can only speak from my personal experience.
1/ Loading not needed.
2/ Like others have said pretty much (at least when  I used it) only used it on training days.
3/ For me gave me good strength gains but also alot of water weight (7-8 kgs bodyweight in a week on very moderate dosages). Keep in mind however I was carrying around 20%bf so likely compounds the water effect.
4/ Like Gh15 said hard on the kidneys (was in my case severely elevating creatinaise levels). Suspect that long term use will damage kidneys.
5/ I would only ever use it for a few weeks at a time and way below the recommended dosages but got good results. Used it really only as a way to break through the odd weight plateau and found it quite effective. Is the only across the counter supplement (apart from whey protein that I would ever use). Like I say would only use it for two/three weeks at a time and found that even after a break of two to three months or so the efficacy would be greatly reduced from the first time used.
Hope that helps.

[OneMoreRep]

I took creatine for about a week when it was first marketed back in the late 90's.

I found it to be as effective as simply consuming a table spoon worth of salt daily.

For me at least, not very effective for anything more than retaining water.

"1"

[BiGHer]

I work for one of these damn devilish supplement companies so let me enlighten a few people here  ...

Creatine acts as a cell volumizer and assists with water uptake into the muscle.  This water won't stick though and often people complain of a bloated look.  Creatine also works wonders on many peoples digestive systems as many of you have experienced lol.

Creatine is a basic combination of amino acids and because of this, it does speed up recovery, but in a minimal amount.

A loading phase is NOT NECESSARY, but companies will advise it to help move your product use along quicker.  Also, if a company doesn't advise a loading phase, they will advertise that they don't!  (Again, boosting sales!)

My overall advice: save your money.  If you can get some for free then sure, enjoy.  Otherwise, not worth it.

[Rami]

no, because your body doesn't need it, so it's only counter productive

[badlad]

Oh, one more thing. Like someone else suggested - just use the standard old monohydrate - no need for the scientific breakthrough shit and also try dissolving the powder in a little tepid water before consuming, may make it a bit easier on your digestive system. Personally I never had any digestive issues but that was years ago. Back then I could drink milk - nowadays I am instantly lactose intolerant so I may well have digestion problems as age has made me more sensitive to a range of things.

[Hulkotron]

Lets face it, the greatest use of Creatine was for those on a 3 grams of test a week to claim "yeah Bro, Im taking creatine, Ive gained 40 pounds in 3 months"

haha

[NordicNerd]

Is the loading phase worth it? Strength gains?

Any visual improvements? It's supposed to draw water into the muscle, although a lot of people claim they hold water under the skin and look bloated

Creatine works very well. This has been shown scientifically in several studies. My personal experience is also that it is very effective. I was able to gain strength continously during a 5 month cut at the age of 41. Have trained for about 16 years, most of the time without creatine, thus I should know that it works for me.

Studies:

J Physiol. 2006 Jun 1;573(Pt 2):525-34. Epub 2006 Mar 31.
Creatine supplementation augments the increase in satellite cell and myonuclei number in human skeletal muscle induced by strength training.
Olsen S, Aagaard P, Kadi F, Tufekovic G, Verney J, Olesen JL, Suetta C, Kjaer M.
Source
Institute of Sports Medicine Copenhagen, Bispebjerg Hospital, Build. 8, 1. floor, DK-2400 Copenhagen NV, Denmark.
Erratum in
J Physiol. 2006 Sep 15;575(Pt 3):971.
Abstract
The present study investigated the influence of creatine and protein supplementation on satellite cell frequency and number of myonuclei in human skeletal muscle during 16 weeks of heavy-resistance training. In a double-blinded design 32 healthy, male subjects (19-26 years) were assigned to strength training (STR) while receiving a timed intake of creatine (STR-CRE) (n=9), protein (STR-PRO) (n=8) or placebo (STR-CON) (n=8), or serving as a non-training control group (CON) (n=7). Supplementation was given daily (STR-CRE: 6-24 g creatine monohydrate, STR-PRO: 20 g protein, STR-CON: placebo). Furthermore, timed protein/placebo intake were administered at all training sessions. Muscle biopsies were obtained at week 0, 4, 8 (week 8 not CON) and 16 of resistance training (3 days per week). Satellite cells were identified by immunohistochemistry. Muscle mean fibre (MFA) area was determined after histochemical analysis. All training regimes were found to increase the proportion of satellite cells, but significantly greater enhancements were observed with creatine supplementation at week 4 (compared to STR-CON) and at week 8 (compared to STR-PRO and STR-CON) (P<0.01-0.05). At week 16, satellite cell number was no longer elevated in STR-CRE, while it remained elevated in STR-PRO and STR-CON. Furthermore, creatine supplementation resulted in an increased number of myonuclei per fibre and increases of 14-17% in MFA at week 4, 8 and 16 (P<0.01). In contrast, STR-PRO showed increase in MFA only in the later (16 week, +8%) and STR-CON only in the early (week 4, +14%) phases of training, respectively (P<0.05). In STR-CRE a positive relationship was found between the percentage increases in MFA and myonuclei from baseline to week 16, respectively (r=0.67, P<0.05). No changes were observed in the control group (CON). In conclusion, the present study demonstrates for the first time that creatine supplementation in combination with strength training amplifies the training-induced increase in satellite cell number and myonuclei concentration in human skeletal muscle fibres, thereby allowing an enhanced muscle fibre growth in response to strength training.

J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Sep 14. [Epub ahead of print]
THE EFFECTS OF CREATINE MONOHYDRATE LOADING ON ANAEROBIC PERFORMANCE AND 1-RM STRENGTH.
Zuniga JM, Housh TJ, Camic CL, Hendrix CR, Mielke M, Johnson GO, Housh DJ, Schmidt RJ.
Source
1Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68583; 2College of Science and Health, Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, WI 54601; 3Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Lincoln, Nebraska 68583.
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of 7 days of supplementation with 20 g·d of creatine monohydrate (CM) on mean power (MP) and peak power (PP) from the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT), body weight (BW), one repetition maximum (1-RM) bilateral leg extension (LE) strength, and 1-RM bench press (BP) strength. This study used a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design. Twenty-two men (mean ± SD age = 22.1 ± 2.0 yr; height = 178.0 ± 5.8 cm; BW = 77.6 ± 7.6 kg) were randomly assigned to either a supplement (SUPP; n = 10) or placebo (PLAC; n = 12) group. The SUPP group ingested 20 g·d of CM powder for 7 days, while the PLAC ingested 20 g·d of maltodextrin powder. Measurements for the PLAC and SUPP groups included BW, PP, and MP from two 30-second WAnTs (separated by 7 min), and 1-RM strength for LE and BP. Testing was conducted before (PRE) and after (POST) 7 days of ingesting either the supplement or placebo. The results of the present study indicated that there was a significant (p ≤ 0.05) increase from PRE to POST testing in MP for the SUPP group (5.4%), but not the PLAC group (-0.3%). There were no between group differences, however, for 1-RM LE and 1-RM BP strength. Furthermore, there were no changes in PP or BW for either group. The findings of the present study indicated that loading with 20 g·d of CM for 7 days increased MP (5.4% increase) from the WAnT, but had no effect on strength (1-RM LE and 1-RM BP), PP, or BW.


Amino Acids. 2011 Jul 9. [Epub ahead of print]
Creatine but not betaine supplementation increases muscle phosphorylcreatine content and strength performance.
Del Favero S, Roschel H, Artioli G, Ugrinowitsch C, Tricoli V, Costa A, Barroso R, Negrelli AL, Otaduy MC, da Costa Leite C, Lancha-Junior AH, Gualano B.
Source
School of Physical Education and Sport, University of Sao Paulo, Av Mello de Moraes, 65-Butantã, Sao Paulo, SP, 05508-030, Brazil.
Abstract
We aimed to investigate the role of betaine supplementation on muscle phosphorylcreatine (PCr) content and strength performance in untrained subjects. Additionally, we compared the ergogenic and physiological responses to betaine versus creatine supplementation. Finally, we also tested the possible additive effects of creatine and betaine supplementation. This was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Subjects were assigned to receive betaine (BET; 2 g/day), creatine (CR; 20 g/day), betaine plus creatine (BET + CR; 2 + 20 g/day, respectively) or placebo (PL). At baseline and after 10 days of supplementation, we assessed muscle strength and power, muscle PCr content, and body composition. The CR and BET + CR groups presented greater increase in muscle PCr content than PL (p = 0.004 and p = 0.006, respectively). PCr content was comparable between BET versus PL (p = 0.78) and CR versus BET + CR (p = 0.99). CR and BET + CR presented greater muscle power output than PL in the squat exercise following supplementation (p = 0.003 and p = 0.041, respectively). Similarly, bench press average power was significantly greater for the CR-supplemented groups. CR and BET + CR groups also showed significant pre- to post-test increase in 1-RM squat and bench press (CR: p = 0.027 and p < 0.0001; BET + CR: p = 0.03 and p < 0.0001 for upper- and lower-body assessments, respectively) No significant differences for 1-RM strength and power were observed between BET versus PL and CR versus BET + CR. Body composition did not differ between the groups. In conclusion, we reported that betaine supplementation does not augment muscle PCr content. Furthermore, we showed that betaine supplementation combined or not with creatine supplementation does not affect strength and power performance in untrained subjects.

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2008 Jan;102(2):223-31. Epub 2007 Oct 18.
Creatine supplementation improves muscular performance in older women.
Gotshalk LA, Kraemer WJ, Mendonca MA, Vingren JL, Kenny AM, Spiering BA, Hatfield DL, Fragala MS, Volek JS.
Source
Department of Health and Physical Education, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo, HI 96720-4091, USA.
Abstract
Muscle power and strength decrease with age leading to reduced independence and increased health risk from falls. Creatine supplementation can increase muscle power and strength. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of 7 days of creatine supplementation on body composition, muscular strength, and lower-body motor functional performance in older women. Thirty 58-71 year old women performed three test sessions (T1-T3) each separated by one week. Each session consisted of one repetition maximum tests for bench press and leg press, and isometric hand-grip, tandem gait, upper-body ergometer, and lower-body ergometer tests. Following T2, subjects were assigned to a creatine monohydrate (0.3 g kg body mass(-1) for 7 days) (CR: 63.31 +/- 1.22 year, 160.00 +/- 1.58 cm, 67.11 +/- 4.38 kg) or a placebo (PL: 62.98 +/- 1.11 year, 162.25 +/- 2.09 cm, 67.84 +/- 3.90 kg) supplementation group. CR significantly (P < 0.05) increased bench press (1.7 +/- 0.4 kg), leg press (5.2 +/- 1.8 kg), body mass (0.49 +/- 0.04 kg) and fat free mass (0.52 +/- 0.05) and decreased completion time on the functional tandem gait tests from T2-T3. No significant changes were found for PL on any of the measured variables. No adverse side-effects were reported by either group. Short-term creatine supplementation resulted in an increase in strength, power, and lower-body motor functional performance in older women without any adverse side effects.

[dj181]

The late great Mike Mentzer endorsed it, so therefore you know it's gotta work

[Jovo]

creatine is one of the worst scam ever made,, what you gain is little water weeight that is it ,, i consider creatine as risk to kidnys unlike trenbolona which i consider ZERO risk to kidnys ...creatine i do consider risk to kidnys kidny stones

gh15 approved

The water in your muscle will help you lift more, and recover better.. theoretically... anyway you wont go broke from it, it costs 15$ for a KG lol

but if your oon hormones i would guess its stupid to even think of it.. better buy a vail of test  lol

[closeline]

fact

on hormones creatin synhesis in muscle is increased dramatically (info: body doesn t need exogenous creatin supply in generall)

much more than ever measured with creatin supplementation studies

so, if on hormones, creatin supp is stupid as hell , load on kidneys wasten of money + water rentention in midsection

if you want to take it anyway

be carfull , dose low, studies show (not the ones promoted by the supp industry) , that overdosing results in decreased sorage levels in the muscle because of negative feedback of the body, flushing out a lot of it

[Per Se]

i'll add a question. Recently somebody told me the loading phase is bullshit marketing and that you can take it ordinarily from the start. Any truth to this?

Creatine is an excellent supp, but there is NO value in the 'loading phase' (BS marketing ploy).

30 mins before training is fine in my opinion.

[Natural Man]

Creatine creates water retention in muscles and under skin. It's all fake. As soon as you stop all the water muscle and mass illusion disapear after all the water is drained naturally out of body. When you re "on" (   ) you have more endurance, energy, but it's all induced by the creatine use and water retention, as soon as you stop it you go back to your original self. In some individuals it produces creatinin and "rocks" in uretra leading to painful urinating , if your kidneys are genetically not that strong the odds are higher.

Just like every artificial, external chemical help, it's just an illusion.