Creatine

I started my creatine a couple of days ago. On the label it says to dissolve it in water and drink it. Someone told me to take it with juice instead because its not as effective with water. Is this true? And as far as the loading cycle goes, I just skipped it because from what I hear, there is no need to load it. Please let me know if what I’m doing is right. Thanks.

Please run a search. You will find all the answers you want plus a whole lot of other info you probably don’t even want to know.

Juice is not “wrong” but it’s not necessary either. Just take your creatine with carbs and protein, in other words put it into a protein shake or take it with water right before or right after a meal.

I’m not sure about the “loading” phase being necessary, but I would take 20 to 30 grams a day in general, especially if this is your first time on creatine. That’s more than what some people suggest (5-10 grams only). That means take it 4 to 6 times a day, possibly every time you eat something.

Make sure you stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water.

And do that search, as was recommended. There is a lot of available info on creatine, it is considered “tried & true” by most people.

Everything I’ve read points to the fact that Juice + Creatine = Creatinine (The metabolic byproduct). This means that when you drink your creatine with juice your gulping down a whole shitload of nothing.
Creatine is already overrated. But if you feel you must, just drink it with water, and maybe your protein drink.

Whoa! 20-30 grams!

I’m over 200lbs and 5 grams works great. When I go up to 10g/day I start getting muscle strains & pulls that I never get while on less (or none).

There is no need to “frontload” creatine. In fact, it’s probably a better idea (and less of a shock to your body) to just let the levels build gradually.

My $0.02

Warhorse-Ive gotten maybe three muscle strains in my whole life. How many do you get to warrant blaming it on creatine? There have been a shitload of studies done on creatine and im aware of none that say creatine causes strains or cramps. And while we are at it where the hell did that guy get that creatine + juice=creatinine? Who has ever said this? everybody is an expert.

I like to take my creatine via an l suppository… feels so good you know it’s working.

I gained about 20 pounds of bodyweight and a lot of new strength when I first started using Creatine. Granted, some of that was water weight, but so what… I was bigger and stronger. This was after years of previous training experience, not as a newbie.

I believe the benefit of Creatine is ultimately it helps you recover faster.

While 20-30 grams is considered a loading phase and not a maintenance phase by some people, it worked well for me, and i also did it after reading Charles Poliquin suggest it. According to Poliquin (a few years ago) the biggest problem with creatine is that most people under-dose on it.

If you think Creatine is over-rated, it is possible you aren’t taking enough of it.

Again, taking Creatine with juice is not wrong, but a lot of people think juice has too many carbs to fit into the rest of their diet. And you also want some protein with your Creatine as well. Just take Creatine with the food you’d be eating anyway.

Goldberg: Your going off on warhorse because he had some side effects that he thinks might of had something to do with creatine. I agree that he is most likely mistaken but lumpy once again is spreading the biggest garbage i have ever seen. I mean you hate creatine and think it is soo overrated, and lumpy wants everyone to take 30-40 grams a day, not loading but just every day because shiting creatine is fun and he wants to record the biggest creatine shit ever!! All i am saying is that some people are wrong but mean well and others should be shot and killed, kill lumpy lol

Goldberg:

I got 3-4 strains in a 16 week period–most of them in my chest on bench. I was pushing myself really, really hard. Then, I had a non-related injury in my hand and couldn’t grip a bar for several months.

When I came back, I followed the same program, and due to lost strength (injury), I was basically progressing through the same weights (again) on bench. I took only 5g of creatine this time, and never got injured.

Scientific? I think it’s about as scientific I can get on myself, but obviously it’s no double blind placebo controlled study.

There are a couple “official” creatine studies not specifically studying muscle pulls out there that noted muscle pulls as side effects while using creatine.

Some people may be more susceptable than others. I just wanted to throw in my $0.02, you can take it or leave it.

DJS
I am just reporting my good results, after following Charles Poliquin’s suggestions. 20 pounds of bodyweight and significant strength gains, as an older lifter with a long time training.

Poliquin generally seems to know what he’s talking about, why don’t you try trash-talking him instead…

Also, I suggested 20 to 30 grams of Creatine per day, not 30 to 40 grams like you claim I said.

Your right about the dose. I didn’t mean to exagerate. My language was a bit to harsh and unnesessary but I still disagree with that dose. We’ll leave it at that.