Can anyone tell me how creatine works, what it can do for you, and is it worth taking?

Can anyone tell me how creatine works, what it can do for you, and is it worth taking?

dont take it. all it does is feel your muscles w/ water. And if your boxer thats not a good thing.

plus if you dont drink a **** load of water w/ creatine, it can phuck up your liver.

simply put for body building yes boxing NO.

no. do your research. it doesnt just fill your muscles with water because if that were true then everyone would have a difficult time losing weight due to muscle water retention because creatine is a natural occurring compound in our body. http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/creatine.html
creatine can benefit all athletes no just body builders. ive done the creatine load and taken it on a consistent basis while training and havent noticed any water retention that would show up on the scale. didnt gain anything at all.

It makes you put on alot of weight and has alot of side effects. Very bad for you even though it is legal. I think it is the same as or even worse than some performance enhancers such as ephedrine or nandrolone. It is definitely a drug, even though it is not banned in all sports.

unless you take it and experience something from it as far as side effects its from a person to person basis. ive taken it and still do and havent had any sort of weight gain or side effects. i know people who have take it for years and years on a daily basis and are completely healthy and experience no side effects. unless your one of those special cases or your abusing it then you should honestly not feel any side effects. and it it is bad for you then we know what to blame USA's Obesity on. The natural amount of creatine that is in the body and the muscles using as energy. Kudos to that one. seriously people do your research. its like back to steroids. no actual human studies have been done to prove all the "May Cause" list of side effects.

I'v been taking it and its not as bad, it all depends on how your body responds to it. Usually before I go to the gym I take 2 tablespoons(don't overdo it), mix it in with some whey protein and make a shake. I find that it gives me more energy when working out. It's supposed to work your fast twitch muscle fibers, these are used for quick and explosive movements. It's also really important that you drink a lot of water. You won't really find a straight answer here because everyone will have different opinions but you should try it out and see how it works for yourself.

...i dont see how it's that bad, your body naturally produces creatine after every meal

I'v been taking it and its not as bad, it all depends on how your body responds to it. Usually before I go to the gym I take 2 tablespoons(don't overdo it), mix it in with some whey protein and make a shake. I find that it gives me more energy when working out. It's supposed to work your fast twitch muscle fibers, these are used for quick and explosive movements. It's also really important that you drink a lot of water. You won't really find a straight answer here because everyone will have different opinions but you should try it out and see how it works for yourself.

...i dont see how it's that bad, your body naturally produces creatine after every meal

cool story bro

It aids in muscle recovery and muscular endurance. In short, it removes the waste and lactic acid(i think thats what it is, unsure) from your muscle fibers. Resulting in healthier more durable muscle. Some make you retain water but those are the out of date ones, the ones that are old and aren't modern(creatine monohydrates). Now companies make creatine that doesnt make you retain water.

I just baught this creatine supplement from MRI. Dude! Its crazy. Its weird because I can go forever without even getting tired. Then when I finally do get tired I recover in ****ing SECONDS not minutes. Imagine recovering COMPLETELY in 20-30secs after 1 mile, 10 stadium steps sprints, and 5 50yrd sprints. Thats how it feels. I was killing it bro. No lie.

Pretty much the only downside is drinking a **** load of water which = a ton of peeing.

It makes you put on alot of weight and has alot of side effects. Very bad for you even though it is legal. I think it is the same as or even worse than some performance enhancers such as ephedrine or nandrolone. It is definitely a drug, even though it is not banned in all sports.

what??? show me a study that says creatine has bad side effects..

Creatine is side effect FREE unless you have a bad kidney..

And its good, it can help you with your endurance and recovery

I tried creatine once after reading that its good for you for training i had a sample that i got free at GNC because i got some pro nos a while ago so i think it was MRI. But i tried this stuff went to the gym and worked out for about 2 hours 30 mins usually i go for about 1.5 - 2 hours. When i got home my piss looked like Hawaiian punch only a little cloudier and oranger and i drank more then 2 liters of water while exercising took 3 days before my piss went back to normal...Never took creatine again and never will.

I tried creatine once after reading that its good for you for training i had a sample that i got free at GNC because i got some pro nos a while ago so i think it was MRI. But i tried this stuff went to the gym and worked out for about 2 hours 30 mins usually i go for about 1.5 - 2 hours. When i got home my piss looked like Hawaiian punch only a little cloudier and oranger and i drank more then 2 liters of water while exercising took 3 days before my piss went back to normal...Never took creatine again and never will.

extra vitamins turn your piss a different color. It's from the water-soluble B2 vitamin Riboflavin; the max you can absorb at one time is 27mg, and the rest you excrete harmlessly. Turning your piss other colors, typically neon green/yellow.

No reason for you to be pissing "red" though. If thats the case then your body had something wrong with it not what you were taking.

I had come to the conclusion that i had over trained and probably broken down to much muscle increasing protein in my blood therefore increasing protein in my urine. No so much that it was red more so browish yellow but but it looked like a dark orange.

ive taken vitamins and i know what that looks like with the neon yellow and it definately wasnt that.

I've been thinking of using creatine, what type of creatine would people reccomend? I want to lose fat and tone up my physique.

Though i cant reccomend creatine the mri assortment of nos products like the shake with black works pretty well id imagine any of their creatine products would be good do some research there are diffrent kinds like akg mono i dont really know one kind you have to eat like 100 g of carbs with? but im sure if you check out gnc online and look through the mri stuff youll find something good. their shakes are the best ive had i think their better with water then milk actually, and the sample creatine i tried was some akg stuff that was lemon lime powder and really good just dont over do it exercising

seems to be a few ppl here who have tried it and let off. I know a little kid 12 who's dad gives him creatine, since the time he started, he got ****ing ripped, fighting at a stronger pace, kid even has grown a few inches in the past few months. we need the opinion of an actual boxer who has taken it for a few month

Creatine if used right works very well. It makes you bigger, stronger, and again if you use it right it shouldnt slow you down.

But the problem is it will make you put on weight, and if you use it then stop lifting after you should lose muscle.

If your focus is boxing it wont kill you but it is probably not worth taking it, but if your trying to get bigger muscle wise i would say go for it

seems to be a few ppl here who have tried it and let off. I know a little kid 12 who's dad gives him creatine, since the time he started, he got ****ing ripped, fighting at a stronger pace, kid even has grown a few inches in the past few months. we need the opinion of an actual boxer who has taken it for a few month

I havent taken it for a month yet but whatever the results are, I can let you know. Pretty much, i have increased endurance.

Creatine if used right works very well. It makes you bigger, stronger, and again if you use it right it shouldnt slow you down.

But the problem is it will make you put on weight, and if you use it then stop lifting after you should lose muscle.

If your focus is boxing it wont kill you but it is probably not worth taking it, but if your trying to get bigger muscle wise i would say go for it

It doesn't necessarily make you "bigger" per say. It allows you to do more reps and more weight which = bigger muscle if wanted. If you use it in a different way, instead of bodybuilding(lifting for bigger muscles). Im sure it will aid in overall boxing performance. Sice punching is also part muscle memory. More muscular endurance + boxing training = increased boxing ability

Since its a natural nutrient your body makes, you dont even have to cycle it. Which makes it that much better. Still, I havent used it for very long though. So I dont know what the results will be.

I have taken creatine and noticed no side effects at all. I was able to consistently work out for 3 plus hours three times per week and I ended up gaining 20 lbs of muscle in about 6 months. Once you quit taking it though, the mass goes away but the majority of the strength remains. Read the info below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creatine

Here:

Creatine is a nitrogenous organic acid that occurs naturally in vertebrates and helps to supply energy to muscle. Creatine was identified in 1832 when Michel Eugène Chevreul discovered it as a component of skeletal muscle, which he later named creatine after the Greek word for flesh, Kreas.

Biosynthesis

In humans and animals, approximately half of stored creatine originates from food (mainly from fresh meat). Since vegetables do not contain creatine, vegetarians show lower levels of muscle creatine which, upon creatine supplementation, rise to a level higher than in meat-eaters.[1]

In humans, about half of the daily creatine is biosynthesized from three different amino acids - arginine, glycine, and methionine. The rest is taken in by alimentary sources. Ninety-five percent of creatine is later stored in the skeletal muscles.

The enzyme GAMT (L-arginine:glycine amidinotransferase (AGAT), EC 2.1.4.1) is a mitochondrial enzyme responsible for catalyzing the first rate-limiting step of creatine biosynthesis, and is primarily expressed in the kidneys and pancreas.[2]

The second enzyme in the pathway (GAMT, guanidinoacetate N-methyltransferase, EC:2.1.1.2) is primarily expressed in the liver and pancreas[2].

Genetic deficiencies in the creatine biosynthetic pathway lead to various severe neurological defects.[3]

Treatment of diseases
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Creatine has been demonstrated to cause modest increases in strength in people with a variety of neuromuscular disorders.[4] Creatine supplementation has been, and continues to be, investigated as a possible therapeutic approach for the treatment of muscular, neuromuscular, neurological and neurodegenerative diseases (arthritis, congestive heart failure, Parkinson's disease, disuse atrophy, gyrate atrophy, McArdle's disease, Huntington's disease, miscellaneous neuromuscular diseases, mitochondrial diseases, muscular dystrophy, and neuroprotection).[citation needed]

A study demonstrated that creatine is twice as effective as the prescription drug riluzole in extending the lives of mice with the degenerative neural disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease). The neuroprotective effects of creatine in the mouse model of ALS may be due either to an increased availability of energy to injured nerve cells or to a blocking of the chemical pathway that leads to cell death.[5] A similarly promising result has been obtained in prolonging the life of transgenic mice affected by Huntington's disease. Creatine treatment lessened brain atrophy and the formation of intranuclear inclusions, attenuated reductions in striatal N-acetylaspartate, and delayed the development of hyperglycemia.[6]

Given the results in animal studies, creatine is just beginning to be explored in several multi-center clinical studies in the USA and elsewhere.[citation needed].

Side effects
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The use of creatine in healthy individuals is generally considered safe. Studies have not yet been able to demonstrate that either long-term or short-term creatine supplementation results in adverse health effects.[7] Creatine supplementation using recommended dosages has not been linked with any adverse side effects beyond occasional dehydration due to increased muscular water uptake from the rest of the body.[8] In fact, an increase in muscle mass and therefore body mass because of increased muscle hydration is the most widely accepted side effect of creatine supplementation.[9][10]

In an opinion statement published by the European Food Safety Authorities (EFSA), it is suggested that "the safety and bioavailability of the requested source of creatine, creatine monohydrate in foods for particular nutritional uses, is not a matter of concern provided that there is adequate control of the purity of this source of creatine (minimum 99.95%) with respect to dicyandiamide and dihydro-1,3,5-triazine derivatives, as well as heavy metal contamination. The EFSA Panel endorses the previous opinion of the SCF that high loading doses (20 gram / day) of creatine should be avoided.[11] Provided high purity creatine monohydrate is used in foods for particular nutritional uses, the Panel considers that the consumption of doses of up to 3g/day of supplemental creatine, similar to the daily turnover rate of creatine, is unlikely to pose any risk".[12]

Side effects that produce lower leg pain may be associated with the use of creatine. Creatine may be the cause of an increase in the anterior pressures of the lower leg. This is usually found in post-creatine use when at rest and after exercise. Normal at-rest pressures have been found to be highly elevated by subjects who used creatine within the prior 35 days when compared to no supplementation. This can produce an extreme amount of pain in the lower leg due to the rigidity of the anterior compartment of the lower leg and lack of fluid drainage out of the compartment. It may also be exacerbated by the increase of water content in the muscle fibers, putting more pressure on the anterior compartment. If this condition persists, check with your doctor and inform them of your creatine use and dosage. Although this condition may and usually does subside, if left untreated complications may occur that require emergency medical attention. If the levels remain high for a long period of time, irreversible damage to tissue may occur, particularly to the peroneal nerve. These conditions can further be found under Chronic Compartment Syndrome.[13]

A single case report in 2008 with a young patient with acute cholestatic liver injury who was supplementing with creatine and whey. However, the cause was inconclusive. The patient did recover after administering intravenous fluids and discontinuing supplementation. Cause was most likely severe dehydration due to overexertion.[14]

Cognitive ability

A placebo-controlled experiment found that vegetarians who took 5 grams of creatine per day for six weeks showed a significant improvement on two separate tests of fluid intelligence, Raven's Progressive Matrices and the backward digit span test from the WAIS. The treatment group was able to repeat back longer sequences of numbers from memory and had higher overall IQ scores than the control group. The researchers concluded that "supplementation with creatine significantly increased intelligence compared with placebo."[15] A subsequent study found that creatine supplements improved cognitive ability in the elderly.[16] A study on young adults (0.03 g/kg/day for six weeks) failed however to find any improvements possibly due to young adults' having the highest functioning brains.[17]

Controversy
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Creatine's effectiveness in the treatment of many muscular, neuromuscular, and neuro-degenerative diseases is well-documented,[18] yet the Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments (AFSSA) have proposed its banning as a performance enhancer.[19][20] Despite this, creatine remains popular with consumers, holding approximately a 10% share of the sports supplement market.[21]

thats a good idea

i remember at my old gym there were brothers only a year apart in age and one of em took creatine while the other didnt...the one who did take it got bigger but the one who didnt always outdid his sibling in sparring cause he was simply quicker.

ofcourse skill level isnt taken into account but they were pretty even from what i had previously seen. and this was throughout a stretch of like 6 months or so...