I’ve used mono on and off. I’ve just started using it again after a long break, but mainly because I’m dieting and feel I could do with a bit of oomph. (Plus, I had a shit ton in the cupboard and didn’t want to waste it). It’s pretty cheap as supplements go - no reason not to try it.
Some people are creatine non-responders but there’s no way to tell until you’ve used it for several weeks.
Having said that, I wouldn’t consider it an essential supplement. It’s just that…a supplement. It can’t make up for a shitty diet or insufficient rest.
About PW…when PW was created, Muscle Sorority was much more active than it is now and the content was more like what you’d find on FA. I always thought the idea was to create a place for women who were interested in strength sports (or just being really fucking strong) and avoid all the bullshit and fluff that tended to be in the sorority.
This isn’t “supposed to be” anything other than a place to talk about getting really fucking strong. That can be in the form of posting training logs, “inspirational videos”, discussing diet and training protocols, or even things like the best yoga pants to fit my big fat powerful ass. Like bear said, it is what you make it.
It should not be a place where people come in an ask stupid questions like if heavy deadlifting could make a woman’s uterus shoot out. But at the same time, there’s no need to get all up in arms when someone posts something other than a training log. I personally think it would be cool to keep questions in a q&a thread. And maybe even a few other threads dedicated to specific topics. Like food. Yeah. Definitely food.
About teh creatinez…
I inherited a tub of creatine ethyl ester and took it (2-4g) for a while along with beta alanine and Alpha GPC while I was going through the higher volume portion of my meet training cycle. I generally had a bunch of good workouts during that time. Not saying the stuff made a measurable difference, but I generally felt good and performed well. I don’t remember having any major bloat issues either.
Now that I think about it, I might have to go back to using it. The only real reason I stopped was because I was too lazy to dump a few powders into water…
I creatine like a mofo for a few reasons.
I dont eat much red meat, which is where a lot of people get a natural dose of creatine in their diet. Not because I have anything against red meat nutritionally, I just dont enjoy steak all that much. Yes, i said it: I dont enjoy the taste of steak/burgers. I am a cheap date.
It absolutely makes a huge difference for me in both low rep/high load workouts and metabolic workouts (lots of reps). Like Cal said, there are responders and non-responders to creatine. Im not sure if there is significant research to predict exactly who will and wont respond, but I have heard that it might involve the type of muscle fiber makeup that each person has uniquely.
I know some people are concerned with creatine making you hold water weight and get bloated. This hasnt necessarily been the case with me personally, but some swear it happens. I do know that creatine uses water within the body and pulls it into cells whereas I think bloating is an extracellular thing.
Its cheap, so worth a try. I think Biotest sells theirs for 20 bones, which aint bad. 
Ok, I got an issue. How does a Woman decide where to keep her training log?
If PW is all about ‘getting really fucking strong’ and lifting heavy shit, then I kinda feel like I’m out of place.
I enjoy lifting and I enjoy progressing over time. I keep track of every lift and rep and try to add to it weekly, in some way.
My sole focus is not on the Big 3. I’m not a PL’er, I don’t train like one, I don’t compete in strongman and my goals are not fully centered around gaining pure strength.
I post my diet. I talk about losing weight and I train like a bb’er most of the time.(if I had to describe my training)
I’m dealing with health issues and have other stuff going on in my life that tends to come out in my log that does not relate to being strong. At least not in the weight room.
Bought my creatine mono 25$ for 400 grams. Pretty cheap in terms of supps.
I take 2 scoops (10 grams) post workout. Don’t know about water retention because I drink a couple of beers and wine during the week and I would attribute any bloat to that first.
In terms of perfermance, I’ve been going through a pretty good streak these days. I argue that there are different factors: sleep and food first, creatine and preworkout as back up.
[quote]buckeye girl wrote:
heavy deadlifting could make a woman’s uterus shoot out. [/quote]
i wish!! how much do I have to lift to make this happen!?? I’m so done with that fucking bloody bag of hormonic rage!
I am relatively new to this site, so I might not have much sway in the matter nor do I yet deserve an opinion, but heres what I get out of PW…
I don’t exactly know how to identify my training either…but I know what I want: I want to be as strong and as metabolically capable as possible and still feel like a woman. When I first stumbled on tnation, I didnt find this section immediately but when I did the thing that I really liked was the sense camaraderie. I dont know that everyone here is really looking to be the most competitive oly/power lifter on earth. They are just looking to better their own skills. Through that, there is is a wealth of knowledge and experience.
Its nice to see a group of women that chose a more gutsy existence than that of a calorie fearing, match-stick arm wanting, muscle adverse cardio bunny.
MiM, for what its worth, I likey your log. 
[quote]ThePerfectDrug wrote:
[quote]buckeye girl wrote:
heavy deadlifting could make a woman’s uterus shoot out. [/quote]
i wish!! how much do I have to lift to make this happen!?? I’m so done with that fucking bloody bag of hormonic rage! [/quote]
I hear 500lbs is the magic number where one loses their vagina. Deadlifting it is one way to go; weighing that much is the other.
[quote]ironcross wrote:
[quote]ThePerfectDrug wrote:
[quote]buckeye girl wrote:
heavy deadlifting could make a woman’s uterus shoot out. [/quote]
i wish!! how much do I have to lift to make this happen!?? I’m so done with that fucking bloody bag of hormonic rage! [/quote]
I hear 500lbs is the magic number where one loses their vagina. Deadlifting it is one way to go; weighing that much is the other. [/quote]
It’s the feminine version of a prolapsed rectum. On the other hand, you could just wait for menopause. That’s nice too.
On the subject on creatine, I’ve tried it off and on but never felt I got much out of it. It isn’t terribly expensive so I’d try it and see individually if anyone gets much from it. I think different people respond differently and it certainly doesn’t hurt to give it a go.
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
Ok, I got an issue. How does a Woman decide where to keep her training log?
If PW is all about ‘getting really fucking strong’ and lifting heavy shit, then I kinda feel like I’m out of place.
I enjoy lifting and I enjoy progressing over time. I keep track of every lift and rep and try to add to it weekly, in some way.
My sole focus is not on the Big 3. I’m not a PL’er, I don’t train like one, I don’t compete in strongman and my goals are not fully centered around gaining pure strength.
I post my diet. I talk about losing weight and I train like a bb’er most of the time.(if I had to describe my training)
I’m dealing with health issues and have other stuff going on in my life that tends to come out in my log that does not relate to being strong. At least not in the weight room.
[/quote]
I think you’re right where you belong, MIM.
When I said that I thought PW was supposed to be about getting really fucking strong, I wasn’t suggesting that it wasn’t supposed to be about anything else. There are a lot of topics relating to lifting that are totally relevant too.
You don’t have to compete. You don’t have to train like an O-lifter or a PLer. You don’t have to worry about strength at all costs. Its not unacceptable to care about how you look. Avoiding discussions on health topics is silly. Injuries happen. Diet is important. And there’s definitely an emotional/motivational aspect to it too. And heck, my definition of “being really fucking strong” is probably really different from a lot of the other women on the board.
But I thought the one thing that we all (should?) have in common is that we lift heavy and push ourselves to lift heavier. My point was that this isn’t a place to talk about knitting, or Pro-Tan, or how to win a marathon. Its about lifting weights. We may have very different goals, training approaches, and reasons for lifting and that’s totally ok.
I definitely notice a difference in my performance especially with those last few “squeak out” reps when I take my creatine mono; however, this could be placebo/inconclusive subjective perception of relative difficulty. I never really do the recommended “loading” phase when I cycle it on. I’ll just use 5 grams typically in a protein shake or dissolved in water.
That being said, I have noticed increased bloat when I take it, but like others have said before, I don’t know if I can attribute it to the creatine. Last time I was taking it consistently, I was also on hormonal birth control with estrogen in it and was experience extreme bloating. I was also chewing a lot of gum/eating things with sugar alcohols in them both of which I know from experience cause me to bloat. Since then, I have switched to progesterone/progestin-only birth control, stopped with the artificial sugar, and also quit taking the creatine. I have noticed extreme decrease in bloating. I am inclined to think that bloating was largely hormonal/dietary and didn’t have much, if anything to do with the creatine.
Perhaps I will try the creatine again sans other factors and update with anecdotal evidence of creatine mono causing/not causing bloat. I have a bunch of it lying around anyway and I really think it does positively effect my performance.
[quote]Dasher wrote:
I am relatively new to this site, so I might not have much sway in the matter nor do I yet deserve an opinion, but heres what I get out of PW…
I don’t exactly know how to identify my training either…but I know what I want: I want to be as strong and as metabolically capable as possible and still feel like a woman. When I first stumbled on tnation, I didnt find this section immediately but when I did the thing that I really liked was the sense camaraderie. I dont know that everyone here is really looking to be the most competitive oly/power lifter on earth. They are just looking to better their own skills. Through that, there is is a wealth of knowledge and experience.
Its nice to see a group of women that chose a more gutsy existence than that of a calorie fearing, match-stick arm wanting, muscle adverse cardio bunny.
MiM, for what its worth, I likey your log. :)[/quote]
Well said Dasher! I agree wholeheartedly.
EDIT:
BG: Also a wonderful post.
Perhaps the difference or ‘requirement’ of the PW ladies if you will, is that we are women willing to become a better/stronger/faster/whatever version OF ourselves FOR ourselves instead of women that are trying to fit in to some societal construct, or please someone else. We walk the less traveled path and the rewards are ours and ours alone.
Thanks…
BG- why did you stop posting here? If it weren’t for that whole other FUBAR’d debacle that I won’t mention…
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
BG- why did you stop posting here? If it weren’t for that whole other FUBAR’d debacle that I won’t mention…
[/quote]
When I had my log moved I said this…
[quote]buckeye girl wrote:
Also. Log has moved.
I decided I no longer want to be a Powerful Woman. I want to be a Badass Bitch. And badass bitches don’t train at Curves or hide out in the women’s only section. [/quote]
I haven’t liked the climate of the board for a while. There seems to be an attitude (that seems to be more common amongst the FNGs, oddly enough) where outsiders are only allowed if they tell people what they want to hear, that the women who post here deserve respect simply because they are here, but they have free reign to be disrespectful towards others.
I’m not talking about the bullshit threads where some dude asks if his gf will turn into a man if she deadlifts. Its the shit like what was posted in Molly’s DL challenge thread. Or when Cbear was a bitch for making a “fake training video” to make fun of Nikki, when the video was clearly from 2009.
I think I’ve said this before, there are a number of women who post on here whose logs I enjoy and I continue to keep up with, but I don’t think this place is for me.
Oh, and to add to that creatine discussion, I mixed some up for yesterday’s workout, which happened to go surprisingly well.
I’m glad someone brought it up. I kinda forgot about it. It may not help a lot, but taking it will do more than just letting it sit on the shelf.
you guys are making me want to try it.
pegg told me a long time ago that i should be using it, and i just haven’t. sitting in the closet still.
also, while i’m at it, there was an article on FA awhile back that seems fitting…
http://figureathlete.T-Nation.com/free_online_article/special_reports/creatine_for_women
I trained without it this morning and felt flat.
Could be placebo effect. Whatev.
<----addicted to creatine? Maybe
I stick it in my PWO shake. I don’t take any carbs with it. I’m pretty sure it’s one of the reasons I am able to train hard on low cals/carbs, since I’m recomping a the moment.
I don’t train at curves.
Wanna take this out back?
I don’t like the drama either. I know this is just the internet, it’s not that serious. And we’re posting on a site that is essentially trying to sell there product.
But the connections I’ve made, the support I’ve had and everything I’ve learned along the way from others is pretty neat.
I think about moving my log because this place was originally for women who are really really REALLY into strength training. Then again, who cares?
Then again maybe I’d get more feedback and advice regarding my goals. Which right now is to look good nekkid. Sorry, it’s true.
Hmmm, there’s been a new addition added to the Training Logs section.
Did FA finally choke and burn? I wonder if authors such as Jen and Olesya will be back as well??
I might hide in the regular training logs after all.