Question about creatine
- Thread starter TekToN
- Start date
you don't need to cycle creatine. It was recomended to cycle before because they didn't know the long term effects of it, but now, long term studies have been done showing no bad effects. I'd take it on my off days too just to be sure. It's dirt cheap, so it doesn't really cost a lot to be sure.
Taking it on your off days is fine.
There is no strict rules on cycling and the research that used to suggest cycling due to them no knowing the long term effects is basically null.
There is however a good argument to cycle to some effect, this is due to the fact that if you use creatine (or any supplement) for prolonged periods then your body sometimes becomes amune to it. This is by no means set in stone but there has been a lot of research done where this has been the case.
Personally when I am using supplements I will look at a 6 week hit and then clean my body out with a week detox, then have a normal week and then look at another 6 weeks. Like I said this is not set in stone but this is what works for me, what works for me may be different to what works for you because we are all different.
Hope this helps.
then why are you even taking creatine? clearly you don't understand how it works, or you'd know that what you are doing is wasting creatine.
I think you need to step back from all the advice you are giving around here, because most of it's wrong.
:violent:
Re-read all the creatine stickies and you'll come to realize that it offers no 'boost to a workout'. It takes approx 21 days of daily 5g doses of creatine monohydrate for a 200lb male to reach saturation.
to see benefits you're looking at a minimum of 10 days of daily 5g doses before you've got enough excess to grind out those last few reps (as creatine does NOTHING for strength).
Seriously...you need to stop dishing out advice in a way that misleads others into thinking you are an expert.
A guy I trained with took creatine for a prolonged period of time and realised less effects than when he gave it a break. He said he had improved results when he was not on it all the time but rather left his body without extra creatine for certain periods.
hope that helps
it doesn't, you said there has been a lot of research to show it, but you can't cite any papers? What one person experiences doesn't really say anything, no way to control for all the other things he did.
Well, here's the deal: while creatine does actually work (unlike most 'supplements' out there), its not crucial.
If you feel safer cycling off every few months, do it. I'm always the first person to play devil's advocate, and since creatine isn't a miracle in a bottle, there's no reason to feel like you HAVE to be on it. Take a month off here and there, though the excess creatine in your muscles should exit the body in around 10 days (assuming you are saturated when you stop taking it).
We lose saturation faster than it takes to build it up (about 3 weeks with daily doses), since the body is constantly using/depleting it.
If you feel safer cycling off every few months, do it. I'm always the first person to play devil's advocate, and since creatine isn't a miracle in a bottle, there's no reason to feel like you HAVE to be on it. Take a month off here and there, though the excess creatine in your muscles should exit the body in around 10 days (assuming you are saturated when you stop taking it).
We lose saturation faster than it takes to build it up (about 3 weeks with daily doses), since the body is constantly using/depleting it.
Dude, stop bitching, if you don't want to take the advice or don't agree with it then thats up to you.
I'm not bitching.. If you haven't read any research on it (which I'm guessing you haven't, since you didn't actually produce any references when I asked) then don't say there has been a lot of research where it has been shown, you will get called out on it.
Creatine is for me just like anything else in life so I take a break from it. I don't eat tonnes of read meat 24/7 and cycle protein sources. Pro bodybuilders also have an offseason where they chill out (and gain fat) and some of us take breaks from traiinig to come out stronger.
For me creatine cycling is just like alternating protein sources so as to give the body a chance to recover. I've heard of people on juice's bodies stopping production of testosterone, so i don't know if people who take tonnes of creatine for lenghts of time will mean their bodies cannot produce creatine naturally? Thats for the professors not fer me.
For me creatine cycling is just like alternating protein sources so as to give the body a chance to recover. I've heard of people on juice's bodies stopping production of testosterone, so i don't know if people who take tonnes of creatine for lenghts of time will mean their bodies cannot produce creatine naturally? Thats for the professors not fer me.
When I do take creatine, I usually take it every day. Now I have been taking supplements containg creatine prior to and after my work out.
I have taken creatine off and on for the last ten years. I have found it does boost your strength training, I can get a few more reps in and adds a little size, water weight to your muscles.
I have taken creatine off and on for the last ten years. I have found it does boost your strength training, I can get a few more reps in and adds a little size, water weight to your muscles.
The grams I consume are based on my body weight, and I usually encircle the dosage around my workouts on training days, and usually just simply space out my usage during the day on non-training days, but I have taken Creatine on training days and on off days, because it takes a small time frame for it to build up in the system.
And, I just recently started to experiment with it--meaning the last two years recent. I have been very successful without it (the first year of training, and my first goal attempt).
Do I think its an "essential" supplement? Absolutely not.
What type of Creatine I take just depends on my diet trend or better put, the "overall purpose of my diet".
For example, if I am cycling carbohydrates down (which erodes my water uptake, and like wise water retention reduce), I will take Creatine Ethyl Ester. With Creatine Mono, water retention and water uptake is essential for optimal transmission; with Creatine Ethyl Ester, I do not have a concern about this. Additionally, I do not want any water masking my weight at certain goal point positions-->dependent. For example, if I am just cutting calories (and leaving carbohydrates normal), and the goal position is right, I would want more water retention in a deficit, and will take Creatine Mono, as Carbohydrates are normal and water uptake (for the most part) are near normal as a deficit allows.
Because the diet effects Creatine's potential, IMO (more specifically Creatine Mono), and less with Creatine Ethyl Ester (concerning water, mainly).
So I choose to supplement with CEE during certain dietary times which eliminates these sorts of "uptake problems" associated with Mono. Additionally, I get the same benefits of Mono, but do not have to be concerned in screening out water retention (if cycling to get lean). Water retention wouldn't be the greatest anyway, with Carbohydrates low or in some cases nonexistent.
If I cycle carbohydrates up (and this makes water retention return, and Insulin more active as compared to the contrary), I will choose Creatine Mono.
Its an actual better environment for it, because water and Insulin will assist in getting the creatine in the muscle, which can be severely reduced in a low or no carbohydrate environment, and I want the added water weight (volumization) it provides within this period, of which CEE will not do.
"Some" can cut their own performance throats, on a "cut" taking Creatine Mono, because they do not understand the relationship carbohydrates, water, and Insulin, play in getting creatine in the muscle................>if they are low-carbing. Water uptake is essential, and carbohydrates and Insulin are critical in the variable "participant" process.
It's obvious my opinion is, that carbohydrates and insulin response play a role when taking Creatine mono. Eat good carbohydrates and drink plenty of water with Creatine Mono, IMO. It will assist with creatine absorption and (if) Insulin is present (doing one of its IMPORTANT JOBS), it will assist in shuttling it into the appropriate cells. Eating carbohydrates "assists" this process.
Additionally, when choosing a Mono product, I choose the powder over the capsules/caplets. The reasoning behind this is simple. If a large chunk of Mono sits in the stomach, it can be hard for the body to digest/process it, and "some can get bloated and get gassy because of this". If I put some in a protein shake or other beverages it eliminates this problem. Additionally, if one is getting bloated/gassy on Mono, they "could" be having an creatine absorption complication. With CEE, it doesn't matter. I choose caplets.
The bottom line is I cycle between Creatine Mono and Creatine Ethyl Ester, because of the differences they can bring to the table within certain positions within my diet.
Remember when "supplementing" Creatine in the diet, this is exactly what it is: You are simply supplementing your diet with an external item where you may be deficient or wanting to improve upon. If you are getting Creatine from various meats and fish, and supplementing with Creatine, and get too much, your body will simply get rid of it since it has no need for it. You body only has a capacity to hold so much, and the excess is simply discarded.
Therefore, some could use more than others, just through there "deficiency in their diet" (not getting enough meat/fish as example. Like a vegetarian, or one not being too smart with their diet). This could make the dosage higher, than one who is eating adequate amounts of meat and fish.
Additionally, we have creatine that is used/discarded throughout the day when we do not weight train, and when you add in intense weight training (etc), then this is a lot higher. But the body's capacity potential to hold creatine is simply limited.
Its my opinion, that the body's capacity, (or the amount) it can hold depends on the person. There is no blanket party in opinion. Logically, there is a difference in need between 230 pound (lean natural BB), and one that weights 150/160 pounds. An obvious difference in lean body mass. Do you think the creatine gram dosage is the same for these exampled individuals? I think not. The 230 pound body builder has a greater needs throughout (calories, macro nutrients, water, and so forth) than the lesser weight person exampled. 230 lb BB Creatine capacity his higher.
International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: Creatine Supplementation and Exercise.
(This is one of the original research articles--I believe anyway), it will take some time (few more seconds, he, he) to load.
This article will answer a lot of your personal questions. Such as how much creatine to take per day, should you have a loading/maintenance period, etc, etc.
BE SURE TO READ IT.
Best wishes for success in all that you do.
Chillen
I personally don't take it on my day's off and I don't knowtice any muscle rention or loss of bulk. And as said earlier you don't need to cycle creatine really, there's been no problem's found with it if taken properly.