Vintage Mustang Forums banner

O/T - Creatine, does anyone here take it?

1K views 20 replies 16 participants last post by  KENK66 
#1 ·
In my quest for more power in my own body instead of my car for once, I'v started taking creatine supplements - I haven't "loaded" on them, rather, I'm taking smaller doses than recommended to see if I can notice any muscular improvement this way. I generally have been taking 5 grams of creatine mixed with 10 ounces of warm water 15 minutes after a 90 minute workout. It's been about a week, and I can lift about 15 more pounds on almost every type of machine available to me. The results are amazing, even with small doses.

I mainly am concerned about long-term health problems. I've experienced no ill-effects after having taken creatine - I understand that it can overstress your liver and kidneys and as such, I've taken milk thistle as well, which bolsters the liver's strength. I'm doing everything exactly how the doctors say I should. I even consulted my primary physician and she said I was a green light for creatine as long as I followed her guidelines which I've done.

I'm wondering if anyone here has personal experience using it? I am only 19 and I realize I'm pretty naive so I'd like some of the more seasoned people here to chime in. I feel absolutely great though - My workouts get better and better every day. Could it be pyschological as well?
 
#4 ·
I wouldn't take it. There are unknown health risks, and yes it could be partially psychological at this point as well.

50 years ago, they thought it was safe to spray DDT in the baby's room to kill bugs. That doesn't mean they were right.

Steve
 
#5 ·
I'm amazed almost every week when I hear about high school and college athletes who casually use "performance enhancers". This was unheard of 20 years ago. Where did this come from? Reads like a page right out of the East German Women's Shottputting Team manual to me.

If creatine really works, then it is doing something totally unatural to the normal functions of your organs and muscles, IMO.

You don't have to look far to find examples of great athletes who've paid the price for messing around with mother nature. Do a web search on the name "Lyle Azado" and you'll read a very sad story. Any idea why Arnold Schwartzeneger had to have his ticker rebuilt at 50?

The decision to use unproven substances to change what nature has in mind for you should not be taken lightly. Like any major committment, I'd get more than one opinion on it, too. Find 2 more objective physicians and see if they agree with the first's view. I'll bet you will find they do not.

Exercise is natural - changing the way your body replaces cells and builds organs is not. Leave those substances to guys like Mark McGuire, who's apparently accepted the fact that he'll likely never see 60 years old.
 
#6 ·
Just eat right and work out properly and you will be fine.
It really makes me wonder why people risk so much just to try and look good.
Hell, you're 19!! You get a good program going now and you'll be fine. I went from 175 to 215 lbs between age 18-21. Now I'm....well bigger at 40 (ok I'm 250 but I am 6'4" tall!) If your not a professional athlete making big bucks why risk it?
 
#7 ·
Why gamble on stuff like that? It has been available for less than 10 years. If you noticed but just recently they have found out that women's supplemental hormones' bad side-effects are greater than the good effects. Yes, creatine is legal, so were hormones in sports until 1972.

If you haven't exercised for years that kind of improvement is quite natural with or without doping. Also, it is quite natural for muscular strength and also nerves that command these muscles to develop at intervals, like a month without progress and then two records in two weeks.
 
#8 ·
If you make the decision to take creatine be advised of a few things. Don't take it with caffiene, try the effervescent type for better results and make sure that you go off of it for a week or two after every six weeks. Since your doctor gave you the green light, why not try it? You will also see some nice gains in your lifting if you use high quality protein shakes ("safer alternative"). The rapid initial progress that you have gotten from creatine will slow down with time and will come to a halt if you don't cycle off it every so often as mentioned before. Good luck with your lifting
 
#9 ·
Just a thought, your only 19 and you want to build a strong foundation for athletics and a healthy life style. Eating right, a balanced training program and taking care of your self will do far more for you in the long-term than supplements. In the short-term, some supplements seem to inflate your progress but the affect seems to even out with just maintaining a focused, healthy life-style in the long-term. If you’re looking for a boost, try a complex carbo source before a workout (IE. Twin Labs Ultra Fuel, no connection with the company, just like their product) and a protein source after like a 6 oz can of Tuna. If your building muscle mass, balance it with some high intensity cardio work like running 3 miles twice a week. Lean muscle looks good on anyone at any age but be careful not the sacrifice your future for the present. On a side note, I was competitive at the amateur ranks with middle and long distance triathlons in my 20’s and I’m still running marathons while a lot of people my age complain about mowing the lawn. And fairly recently, Plummer55 past away with hart failure. I did not know him or the details about his demise but he was only 40. Just something to think about.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for the input, guys.

I've been working out 4 times a week for about 8 months now, and I've seen incredible gains in my muscle mass and losses in my overall body fat. I'm very happy, but despite my hard work lifting weights, my muscles are not noticably larger, and that bothers me.

I'll probably stop the creatine use for a month and see how it affects my performance. I live a very healthy life and I eat as well as a 19 yearold kid can, lol.

Thanks guys
 
G
#11 ·
I've taken creatine twice, but never for longer than 3 months at a time. In other words, I cycled it on/off every three months. The reson i decided to take it was because after working out for about 6 months I hit a wall, i.e my gains just stopped and i was just stuck. It worked great, I saw noticeble strength gains within 2 weeks of taking it. My muscles also got bigger. Also, Once you stop taking it your muscles will get a bit smaller and you will get a bit weaker. Not too much but you'll notice. Pros: you will get stronger and bigger in the long run. Cons: No one knows the long term effects of creatine on a persons body. Good luck
 
#12 ·
Do you still take it regularly cycled?
 
#13 ·
What kind of lifting do you do? There is certain "styles" of lifting that produce different results, such as hypertrophy (enlargening, or swelling of muscles). Based on what you said, my guess is that your training goal would be hypertrophy. A hypertrophy training program calls out for 3-6 sets of 6-12 reps at 67-85 percent of your 1 rep max, with only 30s-1.5min in between sets. The other type of training program that develops muscle mass is aimed solely at strength. A strength workout calls for 2-6 sets of less than 6 reps at greater than 85 percent of your 1RM, with 2-5 minutes in between sets. Both types of program will develop muscles mass, although the strength program will develop slightly more. However, with the strength program, you will also achieve what I call the 'blah" effect. You will gain large bulky muscles, but they will be undefined for the most part and you will look just like a rounded, bulky individual. With the hypertrophy program you will develop more defined muscles, while maintaining a lower overall body weight. You will not be able to lift quite as much weight in the hypertrophy program. I look at it this way though, you can either be able to tell your buds how much you can lift, or you can have the "look." Those are your choices. Anyways, back to your original question about creatine. I have not and will not ever use "strength gaining" supplements. If you have a solid workout program and keep to it, there is no reason for the risk. Not to put myself up on a platform, but I can lift as much, or more in some cases, than people I know who use creatine, while having a drastically better form, and 10 fold their muscular endurance.

I could rattle on forever, but I think I have taken up enough space, so if you would like any more details send me a PM.

Dave
 
G
#14 ·
Like i said in my previous post. I only used it twice and that was 2 years ago. I went 3 months on, 3 off, then 3 on, then just stayed off. There's no real reason why I stopped taking it. I guess I just decided to go the natural way. But to be honest Creatine helped a lot.
 
#15 ·
Well, you have been given good advice to support why you should or should not take supplements. I am not going to fortify that debate. Instead, I am going to tell you a few things about taking creatine that you should know. Here goes:

1) take it with room temp red grape juice. Not just water, and not with white grape juice or any citrus juices. Citrus acid will break down the creatine molecule before it can do it's job for you. The transporter to get creatine into you're bloodstream is glucose. If you do not have red grape juice, mix some natural sugar into the water until it is fully disolved.

2) while taking creatine, drink as much water throughout the day as is humanly possible. The function of creatine molecule is to load a water molecule into the muscle. However, in doing so, it will deprive the rest of your organs and tissue of the available water in your body. (this is why people are fearful of organ damage) Many people complain of cramping when they load creatine, and this is directly attributable to not drinking enough water. The effect of the water loading is to make the muscle more efficient with regard to recovery. This is a similar effect provided by a steroid. The chemicles do nothing to make your muscles bigger by themselves ( a popular misconception), but rather allow the muscle to recover more quickly than would otherwise be possible. In order for creatine to be effective, drink LOTS of water. The side benefit is that a saturated muscle is larger than a dehydrated one.

editorial comment: at 19, assuming you have a normal build, you are going to have a tough time packing on any real mass without eating like a horse. However, bear this in mind, what you do today will show itself in 3-6 mo. (as a loose rule) Therefore, do not get discouraged. The best way to see the changes is to take pictures of yourself every 3 months or so. Only then will you see the changes that you will not be able to see in the mirror every day.
 
#16 ·
I used to take creatine, then I got appedicitis and I stoppped. I don't know if it was related to me taking creatine but I have reason to believe it was. If you do take creatine, make sure you drink a lot of water a day. To me, creatine (and other supplements) are not worth it.

I think your problem might be that you are overworking yourself. I only work out 2 times a week for about 40 minutes each time. I used to spend 2 hours a day at the gym, every other day. And there I'd be doing all these sets of whatever. I was in good shape but something didn't seem right.

One website that really helped me was www.cyberpump.com . It has a program called HIT (high intensity training). I use that program now and I am in the best shape I've ever been. Check the site out, you might want to try it out. Also, I don't take any supplements at all anymore, but TwinLabs stuff tastes the best.
 
#18 ·
Well, I have first hand experience. I took the gorilla powder for about one year about two years ago. I bought the big powder jugs from Walmart...fairly cheap. Loaded big for a week and then dropped back a bit (not much). Took with grape juice.

Results? Bench went up about about 90 lbs in six months (315 to 405) In a nut shell...unbelievable results. I'm a (now) 43 year old weight lifter that trains fairly religiously (four times a week) and at the time was following the old east german training method....lots of reps...heavy weight...not much rest. I think the harder you train the more effects you will see. With the advent of Creatine you started seeing high school athletes benching/deadlifting/squating numbers that just a few years ago were NFL levels.

Frankly...I got spooked. several friends at the gym experienced muscle tears because of the fast growth, but I saw no side effects. I just could not get over anabolic steriod results from a powder bought at Walmart!!!

I'm off it for the past couple of years and yes I am no where near as strong as I used to be. We still talk about "our" Creatine days at the gym.

In retrospect, I just don't know. Does it work? Hell yes. Is it psychological? NO! Is it safe? I dunno. I found that I couldn't take the risk, as I'm not an athlete and don't need to lift zilch to make my living.

Gym rats are now telling me that there is even better additives (HMBs, etc.), now than Creatine.

My advice. I'd skip it if I had it to do over again. Just hope a years worth doesn't bite me down the road.

Jeff
 
G
#19 ·
Creatine triphosphate was first identified in the human body in the 1890's... it's function was gradually mapped out in the 1920's and 30's...first synthesized (making it's use practical as a supplement) in the late 50's...not exactly a new substance...
 
#20 ·
Actually DDT was one of the safest insectasides ever known. However, for reasons the media has covered up to the general public, the EPA banned it. Interesting subject to research =)
 
#21 ·
If you are not a highly developed athlete, you’ll get enough growth from a normal consistent workout program. If you are well developed physically, you can definitely get extra bulk with the intense workouts possible with Creatine, a compound prevalent in steak. 2 gms/day works, forget the marketing hype of 5 –10 gms/day plus “loading phases”. Creatine is "probably" safe at 2 gms per day, but nobody knows. Remember a year ago when you couldn’t take too much E? When you stop taking Creatine, you'll lose that bulk, or you can just keep at it until your joints or tendons shut you down with lingering injuries. Smart people quickly realize the fallacy of using Creatine and quit, but the marketing effort out there sucks in hundreds of new victims every day!
My advice – basic amino acids & vitamin supplements are probably harmless, might even be healthy (nobody really knows) so stick to these. Allow your body to strengthen at its own healthy pace. All the money you save on Creatine will buy some nice Mustang parts!!!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top