I am currently taking creatine after my workout with a protein shake and some carbs. Is this the best idea for creatine take. Ive always thought as long as you take it consistently at the same time its effects will be the same-but someone recently told me i should take it before. I didnt think it mattered but whats your thoughts?
Creatine before or after workout
- Thread starter Dom815
- Start date
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when i took it, i took it before. about an hour before with some simple carbs. but i've heard from a lot of people that as long as u take it consistently it doesn't matter. but i've also heard to take it after.. so many different opinions!! i noticed the best effect before the workout, just my .02$
i have tried both, consistantly taking it before a workout, and then consistantly taking it after a workout. Honestly i could onlny notice the effects when i took it before a workout. It didn't really help me much taking it after a workout, but when i took it about an hour before a work out i could definitely tell that i had a lot more energy to work out. I was able to lift a high weight more than i usually could. But yes in my experience it's better to take before your workout.
The point of creatine is to provide energy to the muscles (the idea is you can get more reps taking it than otherwise). Creatine is a nutrient that occurs naturally in the body and is used in energy production in the muscle.
It's practically pointless to take it afterward, since you're not longer working your muscles out and the energy won't be utilized.
It's practically pointless to take it afterward, since you're not longer working your muscles out and the energy won't be utilized.
My question is this:
even if you take it after won't it be stored in the muscle for the next day of exercising or will it be flushed out quickly from the system?
even if you take it after won't it be stored in the muscle for the next day of exercising or will it be flushed out quickly from the system?
I disagree. Initially when starting training and taking creatine, this might happen. However the body adapts rapidly to what you do to it. If you start training intensely, and increase creatine levels, the body knows its going to need that creatine, and it's not going to flush it from the system.Fil said:
All of the literature I read still says to take your creatine post workout, with protein and simple carbs, at a 1:2 ratio.
malkore said:
Thats probably why they require a loading stage when you first start taking creatine. Either that or to suck in more of your money :\.
I talked to my NSCA certified buddy today about it (he's been in fitness for 13 years). He says that before or after works for increasing your base creatine production and storage over time, but if you do it before, you make the ingested creatine more bioavailable (whereas otherwise you're relying solely on what your body produces - which is not bad, by why waste that surplus creatine?).
my bottle of creatine says to take after your workout. so i'm just following instructions on the bottle.
from christian finn
Exercise also increases the rate of creatine uptake. A research group led by Professor Roger Harris showed that levels of creatine following supplementation in the muscles of an exercised leg rose by 38%. In the rested leg, creatine levels only increased by 26%.
So, it appears that the best time to use creatine is after exercise. There is no benefit to taking creatine before exercise. In fact, creatine taken during (or slightly before) exercise appears to "interfere" with the performance gains linked with prior creatine loading.
from layne norton
Will Taking Creatine Before a Workout Give Me More Energy?
No, not exactly. Once again for creatine to work your muscle cells must be saturated with it. This takes at least a week to do, so doing it once before a workout will not make a difference. Now if your cells are already saturated with creatine then it will still not make a difference if you take it before you workout. Your body must process it first and that takes time. The creatine your body will use in the upcoming workout will come from the creatine phosphate stores already in the cells, not from the creatine you just ingested.
theres good arguments on both sides. everyone is looking at the same research and coming to different conclusions. i tell ppl if you take it, just take it.
whether you choose before, after, 6am, 6pm, whatever you'll find good ppl to back you up.
Exercise also increases the rate of creatine uptake. A research group led by Professor Roger Harris showed that levels of creatine following supplementation in the muscles of an exercised leg rose by 38%. In the rested leg, creatine levels only increased by 26%.
So, it appears that the best time to use creatine is after exercise. There is no benefit to taking creatine before exercise. In fact, creatine taken during (or slightly before) exercise appears to "interfere" with the performance gains linked with prior creatine loading.
from layne norton
Will Taking Creatine Before a Workout Give Me More Energy?
No, not exactly. Once again for creatine to work your muscle cells must be saturated with it. This takes at least a week to do, so doing it once before a workout will not make a difference. Now if your cells are already saturated with creatine then it will still not make a difference if you take it before you workout. Your body must process it first and that takes time. The creatine your body will use in the upcoming workout will come from the creatine phosphate stores already in the cells, not from the creatine you just ingested.
theres good arguments on both sides. everyone is looking at the same research and coming to different conclusions. i tell ppl if you take it, just take it.
whether you choose before, after, 6am, 6pm, whatever you'll find good ppl to back you up.