Hey guys... About half of my highschool football team takes creatine adn they say it works great. I was wondering if i should start to take it to build muscle mass or if it is harmfull to your health?.....Im also debating about it because i would feel guilty because i wouldnt 100% legit. So please post your takes on creating..thnx btw im 16 yrs.
Creatine
- Thread starter marinefootball
- Start date
creatine basically increases the water volume your muscles can hold. thus they look bigger due to water retention.
the theory is that with more water in the muscle, it can pump more weight.
but once you stop taking it, the muscles lose the water. its worth trying, as you may make some new gains, but drink lots of water, stick to 5g a day, and every couple months, cycle off of it for a few weeks.
Also some peopel do not respond to creatine.
the theory is that with more water in the muscle, it can pump more weight.
but once you stop taking it, the muscles lose the water. its worth trying, as you may make some new gains, but drink lots of water, stick to 5g a day, and every couple months, cycle off of it for a few weeks.
Also some peopel do not respond to creatine.
Creatine will add some strength while you are on it, but it will seriously mess with your endurance system. In football, you need the endurance so stay the hell away from creatine. It's only good for guys who do lifting competitions, and even then it's just ok. It also won't give you any lean mass gains.
well, i would use it, but first, a disclaimer: most experts recommend creatine for those who are 18 and older...is it safe for those under 18? probably. however, the effects on a growing body are not known. just keep that in mind...risks are involved.
for your purposes, taking creatine is a trade off. you will probably gain weight, which is extra mass to lug around on the field. however, you will also likely gain more explosive strength and power. football takes endurance, but it is repeated short, explosive spurts. if youre a lineman or a linebacker, creatine would be very beneficial. if you are a wideout or a corner, it will likely be helpul in sprinting and strength, but may hinder top speed. a study that can be found here: discusses the effects of creatine on endurance athletes. the athletes in this study were taking a way more creatine than necessary (30 grams per day). i wouldnt recommend taking near that much unless you really have something against your kidneys. if you do decide to take it, drink lots and lots of water to protect those kidneys.
for your purposes, taking creatine is a trade off. you will probably gain weight, which is extra mass to lug around on the field. however, you will also likely gain more explosive strength and power. football takes endurance, but it is repeated short, explosive spurts. if youre a lineman or a linebacker, creatine would be very beneficial. if you are a wideout or a corner, it will likely be helpul in sprinting and strength, but may hinder top speed. a study that can be found here: discusses the effects of creatine on endurance athletes. the athletes in this study were taking a way more creatine than necessary (30 grams per day). i wouldnt recommend taking near that much unless you really have something against your kidneys. if you do decide to take it, drink lots and lots of water to protect those kidneys.
First of all, creatine is like any other drug/suppliment, effective with RESPONSIBLE use.
If you have been working out for a while now, and you have plateau'd, i recommend getting a good protein powder. You will probably break through just with that. If you are like the rest of us older guys, you have been using powder for years now and need to break through again.
You can actually go to a doctor and they will creatine test you and tell you what a healthy dose for your body type/ fitness level and weight is.
On my next bulking cycle I will take a serving with my post workout protein to help with the absorbtion. Once the cycle is over I go off the stuff and let all the water I'm retaining flow away, leaving my figure more cut; a nice start to a cutting or rest cycle.
Creatine is still a drug, and i have seen people get hooked on the stuff. They like the juiced up look. Use it responsibly for the best "healthy" results.
If you have been working out for a while now, and you have plateau'd, i recommend getting a good protein powder. You will probably break through just with that. If you are like the rest of us older guys, you have been using powder for years now and need to break through again.
You can actually go to a doctor and they will creatine test you and tell you what a healthy dose for your body type/ fitness level and weight is.
On my next bulking cycle I will take a serving with my post workout protein to help with the absorbtion. Once the cycle is over I go off the stuff and let all the water I'm retaining flow away, leaving my figure more cut; a nice start to a cutting or rest cycle.
Creatine is still a drug, and i have seen people get hooked on the stuff. They like the juiced up look. Use it responsibly for the best "healthy" results.
mine
my coach said he took it when he was in college and didnt know what he was doing so he ended up pulling all the muscles in his leg. i dont know how much has changed since he was in college but this is just something.
I used it and saw that I could lift more and I got more "pumped". Once I stopped using it I lost some of my strength.
If you're playing football then who cares what you look like. Dont be fooled by "pump" just get strong, fast and flexible.
my coach said he took it when he was in college and didnt know what he was doing so he ended up pulling all the muscles in his leg. i dont know how much has changed since he was in college but this is just something.
I used it and saw that I could lift more and I got more "pumped". Once I stopped using it I lost some of my strength.
If you're playing football then who cares what you look like. Dont be fooled by "pump" just get strong, fast and flexible.
well, i would agree that its not a drug, but i just would like to reiterate the fact that it should be taken carefully. like many other beneficial suppliments, taking more than the recommended dose is not healthy.
as far as dependency...well, i would not say creatine causes a dependency. If you are on creatine, you may be able to workout with more intensity than before. Obviously (if it works), when you stop taking it, you wont be at the same intensity, but at worst, you'll be at the intensity you were before you started. You may lose some mass, because creatine causes water retention, and you will lose that water. So, OK, you may be dependant on it to maintain the "new" level of intensity, but you wont be dependant on it for any level intensity. The point is, when you stop taking creatine, you may not feel the same intensity as while you were on it, but you wont NEED it to workout with intensity.
and i do recommend, if you take it, you stop for 6-8 weeks every 6-8 weeks.
as far as dependency...well, i would not say creatine causes a dependency. If you are on creatine, you may be able to workout with more intensity than before. Obviously (if it works), when you stop taking it, you wont be at the same intensity, but at worst, you'll be at the intensity you were before you started. You may lose some mass, because creatine causes water retention, and you will lose that water. So, OK, you may be dependant on it to maintain the "new" level of intensity, but you wont be dependant on it for any level intensity. The point is, when you stop taking creatine, you may not feel the same intensity as while you were on it, but you wont NEED it to workout with intensity.
and i do recommend, if you take it, you stop for 6-8 weeks every 6-8 weeks.
Johnny said:
That's just rediculous. On average, creatine users gain up to as much as 50% more lean muscle mass than someone who is not on creatine. It increases the explosiveness of the muscles, decreases fatigue, and will actually increase muscular endurance. Why would creatine only be good for guys taking part in powerlifting competitions? At these competitions, the goal is to see what one's maxes are. Creatine does not help in this area. Creatine will increase the amount of weight you will be able to lift for a set amount of reps. Creatine will have no affect on your 1 rep maximums, however (which is the very substance of powerlifing competitions). The only way creatine will mess with your endurance is if you do not take in enough water. Creatine is great. I've tried it. My friends have tried it. We all like it. I've found that for the most part, and I do emphasize THE MOST PART, people who do not find success off of using creatine usually have less than adequate diets and crappy training programs.
and like, i said, if you try it, make sure its worth the money before you go out and buy 1000 grams of it. ive seen it work wonders in people. it didnt do squat for me. its different for everyone, and i can tell you that you will probably see increased performance, but you can never know until you try it.
well im quite dissapointed that so many know soo little the only accurate comments were made by genius and abear, to my supprise Johnny's comments were way off. guess I willl have to clear this crap up. as genius has said it was made up of 3 amino acids which are, glycine, arginine, and methionine. Creatine is also produced by the body and found in high protein sources of meat such as fish and red meat. It is NOT a lab synthesized compound, it is natural, when we cook our meat a large percentage of creatine and other chemicals are cooked away.
After creatine enters the body (or after it is produced by the body) it firsts binds with a phosphate molecule to form Creatine phosphate. Now here is where I'm going to lay a bit of biochemistry on you so I'll do my best to keep it simple. ATP (Adenine Tri-Phosphate) IS the body's energy source. When your body oxidizes carbs, protein, or fat it is doing this process in order to produce ATP. ATP is responsible for driving almost every body process there is. Hell ATP is even involved in creating ATP. ATP works like this. Energy is needed to drive bodily process. ATP provides this energy by hydrolyzing a phosphate group.
When a phosphate group is hydrolyzed, energy in the form of heat is given off and this energy is used to drive whatever process is being performed, for example muscle contraction. Because one phosphate has been lost from the ATP it is now called ADP (adenine Di-phosphate). The reaction is as follows ATP (hydrolysis)=ADP + Energy. Now you have free ADP as a product from the ATP hydrolysis. ADP is pretty much useless in the body unless it is converted back into ATP. Now this is where creatine comes into play. The phosphate bound creatine donates it's phosphate group to the ADP to re-form ATP! I assume you see where this is going now. By allowing you to return ADP to ATP creatine will increase your ATP stores, thus allowing you to train harder and longer.Creatine is a combination of three different amino acids, glycine, arginine, and methionine.
Another benefit of creatine is that creatine itself is a fuel source. In fact your body's first choice of energy when performing anaerobic activity (such as weightlifting) is your creatine phosphate stores. By supplementing with creatine phosphate you will increase these stores, thus giving you more energy for your workouts. There is another anabolic property that creatine holds and this is it's ability to hydrate muscle cells.1 When muscle cells are hydrated a few things happen. The most notable being an increase in protein synthesis.
the second being an increase of ions into the cell. Since the cell is holding more water, it can also hold more ions since the ions will follow water into the cell in order to keep the concentration the same. When more ions are present in muscle cells (the most important being nitrogen) muscle protein synthesis also increases. safty now to date there is not one, I repeat not one reputable study that shows creatine has any dangerous side-effects, it has been on the market for around 8-9 years now. so I hope this clears up all your questions, come on jonnny you should know this.
After creatine enters the body (or after it is produced by the body) it firsts binds with a phosphate molecule to form Creatine phosphate. Now here is where I'm going to lay a bit of biochemistry on you so I'll do my best to keep it simple. ATP (Adenine Tri-Phosphate) IS the body's energy source. When your body oxidizes carbs, protein, or fat it is doing this process in order to produce ATP. ATP is responsible for driving almost every body process there is. Hell ATP is even involved in creating ATP. ATP works like this. Energy is needed to drive bodily process. ATP provides this energy by hydrolyzing a phosphate group.
When a phosphate group is hydrolyzed, energy in the form of heat is given off and this energy is used to drive whatever process is being performed, for example muscle contraction. Because one phosphate has been lost from the ATP it is now called ADP (adenine Di-phosphate). The reaction is as follows ATP (hydrolysis)=ADP + Energy. Now you have free ADP as a product from the ATP hydrolysis. ADP is pretty much useless in the body unless it is converted back into ATP. Now this is where creatine comes into play. The phosphate bound creatine donates it's phosphate group to the ADP to re-form ATP! I assume you see where this is going now. By allowing you to return ADP to ATP creatine will increase your ATP stores, thus allowing you to train harder and longer.Creatine is a combination of three different amino acids, glycine, arginine, and methionine.
Another benefit of creatine is that creatine itself is a fuel source. In fact your body's first choice of energy when performing anaerobic activity (such as weightlifting) is your creatine phosphate stores. By supplementing with creatine phosphate you will increase these stores, thus giving you more energy for your workouts. There is another anabolic property that creatine holds and this is it's ability to hydrate muscle cells.1 When muscle cells are hydrated a few things happen. The most notable being an increase in protein synthesis.
the second being an increase of ions into the cell. Since the cell is holding more water, it can also hold more ions since the ions will follow water into the cell in order to keep the concentration the same. When more ions are present in muscle cells (the most important being nitrogen) muscle protein synthesis also increases. safty now to date there is not one, I repeat not one reputable study that shows creatine has any dangerous side-effects, it has been on the market for around 8-9 years now. so I hope this clears up all your questions, come on jonnny you should know this.
also it is chemicaly impossable to become dependant on creatine, in other words it's just as addictive as drinking water or eating a hamburger. it is advised you do not take more than 20g, it is suggested you just take the recommended. about 10% of the population is whats called a nonresponder which means it's not working if thats the case you can switch to a different type/or brand of creatine which works some of the times. note the the mojority of the population know little about creatine and if they do it's almost always myths, like football coatches even my own, and many many doctors , even many sports doctors don't know nearly what they should.
phaledax said:
i agree with you that it is probably very safe when recommended doses are taken. in fact, i believe that it is so safe, that if it did much for me, i would use it. however, before one can conclude that it is 100% safe (not putting words in your mouth, just want to put this out on the table), people have only been using it as a dietary suppliment for a relatively short time. does anyone really know the long term effects? we can guess that it is safe, but we wont really know until a few decades down the road. are the studies you cite using the rcommended doses? i would venture to guess that exceeding the recommended doses can harm the kidneys.
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well if anyone started taking creatine now, you can know that there is a large group of people that have been taking it for 8-9 years now and will continue to take it Until a major problem occures or they grow too old (or what ever). you can take some comfort in that if there is going to be a problem down the road, chances are your going to know well before the problems can occur in you. We already know that very large doses is hard on your kidneys. as with any substance it being water to milk or alcohol too much is hard on your body, can even cause a fatal condition. so if your taking the recommended dosage and drink enough water being a gallon a day then you don't have realy anything to fear.
i'm gonna kinda sorta go off topic here but what the hey 
personally, i've been using creatine off and on since 1995. now the reason i started using it i'm not proud of, i was getting results and i wanted faster results. when i learned better and reevaluated its use, i decided to continue using it.
i can understand ppls concerns. to get anal about it, what exactly is this?
Creatine was discovered in the first half of the 19th century as a component of beef tea and for quite some time Liebigs Fleischextrakt (a meat extract) was the only source for Creatine. In the 1990’s chemical synthesis became more efficient and has been established in the large-scale industrial production. Degussa developed a synthetic route (cf. US patent 5,719,319) guaranteeing highest quality, purity and safety and is marketing this product under the Creapure brand. Due to the fact that Creapure (Creatine Monohydrate) is synthesized by chemical reaction using non-animal based starting materials Creapure is GUARANTEED FREE of BSE transmissible agents and suitable for vegetarians.
i believe creatine is not anywhere a concern as most of the crap the fda allows ppl to consume. splenda? tons of concerns over that stuff but i should worry about creatine.
trans fats? high fructose corn syrup? prescription drugs? my wife took baycol years ago and still has to get her liver checked every 6 months. but creatine is unsafe.
fast food joints? i read somewhere that it takes a combination of almost 50 chemicals to make the strawberry flavor in a strawberry shake? but i should worry about creatine.
theres bigger problems out there we need to be concerned with. creatine is no where near them. remember ephedra? been around for thousands and thousands of years used by millions and millions of ppl. got in the hands of too many dense and ignorant ppl and gets banned.
same thing is gonna probably happen with creatine eventually. pretty pathetic that the general public is allowed to get sicker and sicker and ppl are becoming fatter and unhealthier but creatine needs to be banned.
too many ppl need to stop being brainwashed by CNN and learn the facts. oh, and let me throw one more in here.
anyways thats my opinion. let me step down from my soapbox
personally, i've been using creatine off and on since 1995. now the reason i started using it i'm not proud of, i was getting results and i wanted faster results. when i learned better and reevaluated its use, i decided to continue using it.
i can understand ppls concerns. to get anal about it, what exactly is this?
Creatine was discovered in the first half of the 19th century as a component of beef tea and for quite some time Liebigs Fleischextrakt (a meat extract) was the only source for Creatine. In the 1990’s chemical synthesis became more efficient and has been established in the large-scale industrial production. Degussa developed a synthetic route (cf. US patent 5,719,319) guaranteeing highest quality, purity and safety and is marketing this product under the Creapure brand. Due to the fact that Creapure (Creatine Monohydrate) is synthesized by chemical reaction using non-animal based starting materials Creapure is GUARANTEED FREE of BSE transmissible agents and suitable for vegetarians.
i believe creatine is not anywhere a concern as most of the crap the fda allows ppl to consume. splenda? tons of concerns over that stuff but i should worry about creatine.
trans fats? high fructose corn syrup? prescription drugs? my wife took baycol years ago and still has to get her liver checked every 6 months. but creatine is unsafe.
fast food joints? i read somewhere that it takes a combination of almost 50 chemicals to make the strawberry flavor in a strawberry shake? but i should worry about creatine.
theres bigger problems out there we need to be concerned with. creatine is no where near them. remember ephedra? been around for thousands and thousands of years used by millions and millions of ppl. got in the hands of too many dense and ignorant ppl and gets banned.
same thing is gonna probably happen with creatine eventually. pretty pathetic that the general public is allowed to get sicker and sicker and ppl are becoming fatter and unhealthier but creatine needs to be banned.
too many ppl need to stop being brainwashed by CNN and learn the facts. oh, and let me throw one more
in here. anyways thats my opinion. let me step down from my soapbox