T Nation

17 & Wondering About Creatine

Beginners
#1 
Hey guys, a friend of mine showed me this site, ive been reading it solid for the last couple weeks and finally decided to register

so yeah, im 17, i was first introduced to weight training sometime in jr high, however i really never stay with it and just did it on and off throughout my highschool years (just graduated this june)

now just recently ive been getting more serious about my workouts

my stats are

6 feet
175 lbs
16 percent body fat (according to this internet calculator i found, i don’t think its very accurate)

but anyways to get to the point, ive been contemplating taking creatine for the last little, but im weary of what it will actually do for me

what i want to happen, is to increase my strength and gain more muscle definition(which probably means lose body fat right)

would creatine help me with my goals? if i ate a healthy diet, lifted, and did cardio (sprinting and running) would this enable me to increase my lifts while reducing body fat?

from the short reading i did on bulking/cutting, it sounds like its impossible to be burning off tons of body fat and increase your lifts at the same time

so yeah, would creatine help me with this?
i read somewhere that creatine helps decrease body fat? is this true? or will it just water me down?

thanx alot guys

#2
  1. You can lose BF and gain in your lifts as a beginner. It gets harder the longer you have been at it.

2)Do a little research here, creatine has been beaten to death over and over in details. I remember the first time I took creatine I thought it was like a steroid. Its in red meat, its not that big of a deal. It helps you in your lifts a bit and its dirt cheap to buy. It really has no downside as far as I know.

The best advice I have for you is learn how to use the search function. I wish I spent a lot more time researching stuff before I spent money on it…cough…nitric oxide boosters…cough…instead of just taking other peoples hype (advice).

#3

I say just stick with Whole Wheat Pasta, Yams, Chicken Breasts and Veggies. IF you are thinking about getting serious pick up some Protein and Surge.

#4

thanx for the responses

hey i know how to use the search function, and i have read up a fair amount on creatine

also, id like to add that my creatine research pointed me towards taking a sort of new kind called Dymatize Xpand

does anyone have any opinions on that brand?

also i am taking Whey protein at the moment,
i will now look into this Surge product you have mentioned
:slight_smile:

#5

I was also thinking about buying creatine, but then I found out that creatine is already in your body and you get it from food anyways.

The person at the store said that she wouldn’t have sold it to me if she thought I was going to be taking 10+grams per day though, she said 5g is fine for a teenager.

#6

[quote]michaelangelos wrote:
I was also thinking about buying creatine, but then I found out that creatine is already in your body and you get it from food anyways.

The person at the store said that she wouldn’t have sold it to me if she thought I was going to be taking 10+grams per day though, she said 5g is fine for a teenager.[/quote]

5 grams per day is plenty for anybody.

#7

[quote]michaelangelos wrote:
I was also thinking about buying creatine, but then I found out that creatine is already in your body and you get it from food anyways.

The person at the store said that she wouldn’t have sold it to me if she thought I was going to be taking 10+grams per day though, she said 5g is fine for a teenager.[/quote]

Yeah, 5 is enough but wtf is she talkin about sayin she wouldnt have sold you it if you were going to be takeing 10 grams per day.

Unless there is a age limit on buying creatine she should be fired.

#8

[quote]n3wb wrote:
michaelangelos wrote:
I was also thinking about buying creatine, but then I found out that creatine is already in your body and you get it from food anyways.

The person at the store said that she wouldn’t have sold it to me if she thought I was going to be taking 10+grams per day though, she said 5g is fine for a teenager.

Yeah, 5 is enough but wtf is she talkin about sayin she wouldnt have sold you it if you were going to be takeing 10 grams per day.

Unless there is a age limit on buying creatine she should be fired.

[/quote]

I think she meant she wouldn’t have felt comfortable selling it to me.

#9

Creatine is generally considered to be one of the few “no-brainer” supplements. It’s true that you get it from meat and fish but you’d have to eat many pounds of either to absorb an effective dose. Simply put, the mitochondria in your cells convert Adenosine TRI Phosphate (ATP) to Adenosine DI Phosphate (ADP) when they perform work (lifting weight).

Creatine monohydrate (the form you ingest) is converted to creatine phosphate in the body. The phosphate molecule is stripped off to turn the ADP back into ATP and, shazam, it’s re-energized and ready to do more work. An abundance of creatine phosphate in the muscle cells means faster short term recovery and the capacity to perform a few more reps or lift a greater load.

5 grams/day is plenty and loading (taking multiple doses/day for the first week in order to saturate the muscle cells) is not really necessary. Stomach upset, bloating and water retention can occur at high doses but it’s not an issue if used as recommended.

I’m not familiar with the brand you mentioned but a good quality micronized version of the german made Creapure creatine is generally considered to be best. No surprise, you can get just that in the Biotest store right here at T-Nation!

#10

No offense meant brother, but creatine is the most talked about supplement I can think of. Asking peoples opinions is fine, I was just letting you know, you will have more info than you know what to do with just searching on this site alone.

That said, I have not heard of any of the “new and improved” creatines being anywhere near as good as some plain white micronized creatine. Most of the newer ones have worst absorption from how I understand it. Biotest has a good creatine and its dirt cheap price wise.

As far as people at supplement stores, I was on a business trip and stopped at some local supplement story to pick up some protein for the week- I asked the lady about creatine and she asked me for ID (I’m 21, 6’4" and 240ish and people always think I’m 25-30). She said creatine is dangerous and she wouldn’t sell to people under 21. She then tried to get a fat burner to gain lean muscle as she said. Point being, there are some people working at supplement stories who don’t know anything about it.

#11

I’d take the creatine over some random fat burner - who knows what’s in that shit.

I swear that athletes have fucked the supplement industry by telling folks they were on creatine or andro when they were just on steroids. If you’re around those that take lifting seriously it’s easy to spot who has steroid gains vs who’s natural.

Creatine is not even close to steroids in its potential to add lean mass. The experts can chime in, but I’d estimate that for lean mass an average creatine cycle is only 20% as effective as an average steriod cycle.

Creatine exists in red meat, but to get an equivalent “dose” you’d need to eat way too much meat. Essentially you would never poop again and each meal would resemble a conquistador packing a musket.

#12

[quote]Kruiser wrote:
Creatine is generally considered to be one of the few “no-brainer” supplements. It’s true that you get it from meat and fish but you’d have to eat many pounds of either to absorb an effective dose. Simply put, the mitochondria in your cells convert Adenosine TRI Phosphate (ATP) to Adenosine DI Phosphate (ADP) when they perform work (lifting weight).

Creatine monohydrate (the form you ingest) is converted to creatine phosphate in the body. The phosphate molecule is stripped off to turn the ADP back into ATP and, shazam, it’s re-energized and ready to do more work. An abundance of creatine phosphate in the muscle cells means faster short term recovery and the capacity to perform a few more reps or lift a greater load.

5 grams/day is plenty and loading (taking multiple doses/day for the first week in order to saturate the muscle cells) is not really necessary. Stomach upset, bloating and water retention can occur at high doses but it’s not an issue if used as recommended.

I’m not familiar with the brand you mentioned but a good quality micronized version of the german made Creapure creatine is generally considered to be best. No surprise, you can get just that in the Biotest store right here at T-Nation![/quote]

hmm wow that Biotest creatine shit is way cheap! may just have to go with that,
well i did some more looking into the that dymatize xpand stuff, i guess it has NO in it, which after reading some discussion on it, well it has seemed to be proved as BS

#13

also, would it be a good idea to be taking Creatine and Surge?

#14

[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
also, would it be a good idea to be taking Creatine and Surge?[/quote]

Yes. Those who take both usually add the creatine to the their Surge post workout drink.

It’s cheap, simple and works!

#15

[quote]danger-kelly wrote:

Creatine exists in red meat, but to get an equivalent “dose” you’d need to eat way too much meat. Essentially you would never poop again and each meal would resemble a conquistador packing a musket.

[/quote]

That’s world-class right there. Easily the funniest thing I’ve read here.

#16

[quote]4est wrote:
GrindOverMatter wrote:
also, would it be a good idea to be taking Creatine and Surge?

Yes. Those who take both usually add the creatine to the their Surge post workout drink.

It’s cheap, simple and works![/quote]

i would agree to an extent but everybody responds differently. i went on creatine for a 6 week period loading w/ 20 grams the first week nd 5 for the rest of the time and saw no extradinary gains in muscle endurance or any of the other claims the supplement companys provide. ihave friends tht have responded very well to creatine so everybody respnds differently

#17

Should creatine by cycled, or can it be a daily suppliment?

#18

I first took creatine the summer after my senior year in high school. It seemed to get me pretty cut and I got a little bigger too.

Only real advise is i read somewhere that it dries out your ligaments or something but anyways me and some friends started a fight club my freshman year in college and I ended up tearing everything in my ankle, i think part of it had to do with taking creatine.

But yeah, mono hydrate is cheap, ethyl ester is supposed to be better and more expensive but they seemed to work the same for me.

#19

Stay natural, so no to creatine

#20

[quote]detazathoth wrote:
Stay natural, so no to creatine[/quote]

I dig the nevermore avatar…but if you aren’t being sarcasic, you shouldn’t be posting in the beginner section where people might take it seriously.